Femulating Faculty

Starla sent along another 99 images of femulating students (and one faculty member) that she found in online school yearbooks.

I always suspect that something is up trans-wise when a faculty member femulates along with the students and in this batch, we find a student-teacher who "shows off his feminine side on Halloween." Does Miss Waugh's perfect wig or cleanly shaved legs or slingback pumps hint that she shows off her feminine side on other occasions? Just wondering.

One of my high school teachers femulated at my high school for some occasion, which I cannot recall. I learned later that she femulated on other occasions that had nothing to do with school if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the 99 images from Starla now reside in the Yearbooks collection on flickr and you may view them in two ways:

Method 1: Open one of the Yearbooks sets (A through Z) and you will find the newest uploads at the end/bottom of the set. (The oldest uploads appear at the beginning/top of the set.)

Method 2: Open this photostream and you will find the newest uploads at the top of page 1. The uploads get older as the page numbers get higher with the oldest uploads on the last page.

By the way, the contents of the Yearbook A through Z sets are organized according to school name, for example, the photos from Sacred Heart High School would be in the Yearbooks S set.

The Dublin Drag Orchestra.

 

Wearing Anna Sui.

Casa Susanna on Broadway

Four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein is set to return to Broadway with Casa Valentina, about a group of heterosexual men in the Catskills in the 1960s who enjoy getting together to dress up like women. Problems begin when the men must decide whether or not to go public with their organization. (Source: Entertainment Weekly)

In real life, Casa Valentina was Casa Susanna. The New York Times printed a story about it in 2007, which came on the heels of the publication of a photo book containing flea market found snapshots of the girls who femulated at Casa Susanna.

Casa Susanna was also the site of the 1968 book A Year Among the Girls by Darrell G. Raynor, the “Uncensored and Unexpurgated – the World-Famous Autobiographical Report on the Men Who Dress in Woman’s Clothing – the Transvestites” …the book that opened my eyes to the fact that I was not alone.

(Thanks to Aunty Marlena for the heads-up about this story.)

 

Olvin Medalen femulating in the 1920s.

 

 

Wearing Albert Ferretti.

Just Pictures

Actor Dave Foley femulating on a Halloween episode of television's Newsradio in 1996.

Wearing Boston Proper.

Namoli Brennet: In the Flesh

Singer-songwriter Namoli Brennet performs intimate folk concert at Congregational Church in Cornwall,  CT

Cornwall,  CT  (September  2013)—Dubbed  “among  the  best  folk-rock  artists  in  the country,"  by  the  Tucson  Weekly,  singer-songwriter  and  Connecticut  native  Namoli Brennet is known for the honesty and intensity of her live shows, as well as her quirky and comedic performance patter. A trans woman who was named one of the inaugural Trans 100 on the first ever list highlighting accomplished members of the transgender community across the United States, Brennet will perform a live concert of her soulful, witty songs on Saturday, October 19, 2013, at 7 pm at the United Church of Christ in Cornwall, Connecticut.

***

I  lunched with Namoli at  the True Color Conference in 2007. Here is what I wrote about it back then:

"I had lunch with D and J, two girls from my support group, and Namoli Brennet, a Tucson-based trans/genderqueer songwriter, who has been touring the country since 2002 when she released her first CD, Boy in a Dress. It was the first time I ever rubbed elbows with a rock star.

"Namoli performed at the conference and also conducted a workshop. She is a very nice person in person!

"Funny thing is that I am familiar with the song Boy in a Dress (I have it on my iPod), but I did not connect the song with her, the person with whom I was breaking bread."

I doubt if Namoli remembers me, but I sure do remember her and plan to attend her Connecticut concert next month. If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you attend, too, and hope to see you there!

 "Boy in a Dress" photographed by Anna Mimoumi.

 Wearing Boston Proper.

Friday the 13th

I received my daily e-mail from Payless ShoeSource reminding me that they still have a BOGO sale in progress, that is, buy one and get one for half-price. To sweeten the pot, today's e-mail included a 13% off coupon in honor of Friday the 13th.

I need a new pair of sneakers. The ones I bought in the spring are literally falling apart, so how can I resist the Payless sale. So I was off to the local Payless this morning with the coupon tucked in my purse.

The saleswoman at the register was new to me. Some of the saleswoman in the local Payless stores know about me and don’t blink an eye when I start trying on ladies’ shoes while in bou mode.

Anyway, I went to the rack containing male sneakers, which is in the same aisle as female size 10 to 13 footwear. How perfect is that! I quickly found a pair of sneakers that I liked, tried them on and they were a perfect fit.

Now I turned my attention to the female footwear across the aisle. Although the pickings were slim, I found two pairs to try on. I helped myself to the free peds that the store has on hand, removed my shoes and my pink ankle socks, slipped on the peds and tried on the shoes (a size 11 and a size 12).

While I was trying on the female footwear, the saleswoman came by and asked if I needed any assistance. I said I was fine and added that "I am trans, so don't mind me.”

She said, “Well if you need any help, let me know.”

The size 12 (a glam glam sandal) did not fit. Actually, my foot fit in the shoe, but the ankle strap was too short. The size 11 (an ivory open-toed bow sandal) fit and was to die for. Look at the photo and I think you will agree.

I removed the peds, put my socks and shoes back on and took my purchases up to the saleswoman at the register.

While she was ringing up my purchase, I took out my iPhone and surfed to an image of me en femme on flickr. I held up the iPhone and said to the saleswoman, "This is me."

As she looked at the iPhone, her eyes grew bigger and she said, "Wow!"

"Thank you for the 'wow'," was my response.

She added, "I love the shoes you bought."

"I love them, too." As I spoke those words, I noticed that my voice had shifted to my femme voice without even thinking about it!

How cool is that!

 

Actor Jared Leto femulating in the Summer 2013 issue of Candy magazine.

 

 

 

Wearing Versus.

Selfies

Last week, I mentioned that I take a lot of selfies.

I started taking selfies about the same time I started dressing en femme from head to toe. I wanted to see how others would see the female me rather than how I saw myself in that full-length mirror mounted on my mother's closet door.

Self-photography provided the means to do that, but it was expensive because you had to use real film. You had to buy film to take your selfies and then pay to have your selfies processed. You also had to buy flash bulbs to take good selfies indoors.

And then there was the potential for being embarrassed and outed if the person processing the film realized that the girl posing in your selfies was actually you! I wonder how many femulators built darkrooms in their basements to avoid being outed?

I avoided the problem by using a Polaroid SX-70 camera. Polaroid film was more expensive, but I did not have to take the photos of my "girlfriend" anywhere to be processed.

However, the expense did prevent me from taking mass quantities of selfies. Then the Apple QuickTake digital camera entered my life and changed everything.

Quality-wise, the QuickTake was a step backward from the Polaroid, but the film was now "free" and I could take as many selfies as I wanted, at least until the camera's battery ran down.

And I did take a LOT of selfies! Thousands to be inexact.

As digital cameras improved, I graduated from the QuickTake to the Canon PowerShot. And as the Canons improved, I upgraded my PowerShots and currently own my third, a Canon PowerShot SD940 IS. It is full-featured, takes excellent photos, and I thought it was the cat's meow until I started taking photos with my iPhone 5.

Comparing photos taken during the same photoshoot with the Canon and the iPhone, the iPhone does a better job (IMHO). Or should I say, I do a better job taking photos with the iPhone than I do with the Canon. Perhaps if I was a better or more knowledgable photographer, I could do a better job with the Canon, but for now, the iPhone is my go-to camera.

The iPhone does have a couple of drawbacks as a camera.

Whereas the Canon allows me to take timed selfies, iPhone's Camera app does not have that feature. I corrected that problem quickly by obtaining camera apps (Top Camera and Camera+) that do include the self-timer function. Now I can take self-timed selfies.

The other drawback is the inability to use a tripod with the iPhone. Sure, you can take self-timed selfies without a tripod --- I've done it and it is a pain in the dupa. So I fixed that problem too by purchasing a tripod designed for cell phone camera applications: the Case Star Octopus Style Portable and Adjustable Tripod.

So you can count on seeing more and better quality selfies here in the future.

 

European vacation femulating.

 

Wearing DressBarn.

Juxtapose

Juxtapose – isn’t that a great word?

The juxtaposition of today’s Femulator and Femulate Her images below reminds me of a scene in the film Trainspotting.

Sitting in a nightclub checking out the clientele, which seems to include straight, gay, trans, and androgynous folk, the character played by Ewan McGregor muses, “The world is changing. Music is changing. Drugs are changing. Even men and women are changing. One thousand years from now, there won't be any guys and there won't be any girls...”

Although the boy in the Femulator image is wearing items from milady’s closet as well as makeup and a feminine hairdo, he is not really femulating (“Look Ma, no boobs!”). Rather, he is presenting as androgynous.

Similarly, the Femulate Her model is wearing an androgynous outfit that is influenced by menswear. But that is nothing new; girls have been borrowing from the boy’s closet like forever. Well, it seem like forever because girls have been wearing boy’s clothing throughout my lifetime. But boys borrowing girl’s stuff is a relatively recent fashion/social phenomena. And it is a growing trend.

Visit websites like Juan’s The New Male Fashions for the Alternative Man to see what’s going on. Juan not only shows what the fashion designers are hoping boys will wear, but he also shows photos of real life boys actually wearing the new fashions.

And then there is my little corner of the world.

In the recent past, I would see males carrying handbags that could be mistaken for computer bags; you know the kind – big, black, utilitarian and ugly.

Lately, boys’ handbags have gotten more – do I dare say “dainty.” They come a variety of shapes and colors, have thinner straps and handles and are smaller in size. Boys handbags will never be mistaken for computer bags again.

Whereas boys of the recent past quietly wore cosmetics, recently I overheard boys conversing about makeup and moisturizers rather than quarterbacks and grand slams.

At the rate things are going, it will not take one thousand years for there to be no guys nor girls. It’s happening right before our eyes!  

 

Modern male.

 

Wearing Alice + Olivia.

Devil is in the Details

I did not go into details  yesterday in my post about going to Mass en femme. So, here they are.

Actually, it was the second time I went to Mass en femme. The first time was at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, but I was very anonymous there. At my parish church on Sunday, I was much less anonymous. Although I have not been involved in my parish for many years, it was likely that there were parishioners in attendance who knew me from way back when. There was also a chance that neighbors might be in attendance. And then there was the Pastor of the church who I have known most of my life.

I saw no neighbors and no parishioners I knew personally, although I did recognize some faces. And I did have a face-to-face encounter with the Pastor. I don't think he recognized me, but perhaps he did and did not want to embarrass me.

When I entered the church before Mass, the congregation was facing the front of the church, so I could not see any reactions as I walked down the aisle.

During the "sign of peace" portion of the Mass, everyone around me, both male and female of various ages, offered to shake my hand and say, "Peace be with you" without batting an eye.

As the congregation filed out at the end of the Mass, I noticed a few people looking at me and three different women, a 20-something, a 40-something, and a senior woman my own age smiled at me and said, "Hello." The male companion (I assume husband) of the senior woman also smiled and said, "Hello."

No one I noticed reacted negatively and so it goes.

 

Actors femulating in the 1970 film The Phynx. Warner Brothers Studios thought
the film was so bad that they decided at the last minute not to release it!

 

 

 

Wearing Dolores Promesas.

Mass

I went to Mass en femme yesterday. I have not gone to Mass in years, but I had an overwhelming urge to go on Sunday.

In my youth, people dressed up to go to church. Men wore ties with suits or sports jackets; women wore dresses, heels and hats.

Today, anything goes.

Being a senior citizen, I dressed somewhere in between anything goes mode and the dress, heels and hat mode. I wore black slacks, pink jacket, white camisole, and black booties.

I was in a rush and the photos I took look it. So instead of burdening you with a blurry photo from yesterday, I offer an old photo of me basically wearing the same outfit. The only difference was I wore my pageboy hairdo, a different cami and bag.

I went solo because the other agnostics in the house had no interest in going or they did not want to be seen in public with a tranny (take your pick).

I went to the church I usually attended when I was more religious about attending. I have known the Pastor since high school and over the years, became acquainted with some of the parishioners to one degree or another.

The 10:30 AM Mass is usually packed and yesterday was no exception; the parking lot was full and when I entered the church I had to search for a seat. I found a seat in an empty row about two-thirds down the aisle and laid claim to it.

I recognized a few Parishioners, but no one I knew by name. The Mass was uneventful and over an hour later, we filed out of the church.

The Pastor always stands at the exit to say goodbye to his flock and as I filed by, he said, “Welcome to our church.”

“Thank you, Father,” I replied.

“I hope we will see you again,” he added.

I smiled and said, “Maybe.”

 

Akihiro Miwa, Japanese singer, actor, director, composer and author
being chauffeured on a Tokyo nightclub tour.

 

Wearing Alice + Olivia.

Early September in Connecticut

Weather-wise, early September is my favorite time of year.

The sky is a perfect shade of blue and the angle of the sun makes the clouds look perfect, too. The days are warm, but the humidity of summer is gone. And the nights are cool --- perfect for sleeping soundly the whole night through.

My sister and I were discussing this perfect weather the other day and I remarked that it was a “9/11 kind of day.”

Although the weather is perfect (in my humble opinion), it always brings to my mind September 11, 2001 because this is the way the weather was on that terrible day.

And things will never be the same again.

 

Rena is a Femulate reader who lives fulltime as a woman in Florida.

 

Wearing a jacket from Newport News.

Say Cheese

My spouse was perusing the Avon outlet catalog and when she spotted a necklace that I bought earlier in the year, she remarked, “Didn’t I see you wearing this necklace?” I did not recall the occasion, but knowing I owned the necklace in question, I assumed she saw me wearing it. “I guess so,” was my reply. But I wasn’t so sure. For the past few years, I have gotten into the habit of photographing every outfit I wear or plan to wear. I do this for a couple of reasons: - To see if the outfit makes me look fat. - To post the photo on Femulate (so you can see if the outfit makes me look fat). What I see in the mirror often looks different in a photograph. Photographing my fashion faux pas allows me to make adjustments (e.g., tighten my corset) so I don’t look fat. Anyways, I have hundreds of selfies. (I just checked and I am embarrassed to tell you how many I actually have. Let’s just say that the number is four-digits long). I checked all my photos for the past year and there was nary a one in which I am wearing the necklace. Go figure!

Two female femulators enjoying the last days of summer.

Wearing Alice + Olivia.