Shopped ‘Til She Dropped

I never get tired of shopping for women’s clothing. Browsing through the racks and finding a half-dozen outfits to take to the changing room is just as much fun today as it was when I would browse through my mother’s closet and find outfits to try on in front of her full-length mirror.

Just writing about shopping motivates me to take a day off to go shopping. After all I do need something new to wear when I attend the upcoming trans conferences (as if I don’t already have a half-dozen dresses hanging in my closet that still have their price tags attached).

Someday my tombstone will read, “Shopped ‘Til She Dropped.”

Anyway…

“How can someone who is transgender shop for clothes in the women's clothing department/stores?” is a question that Quora readers took stabs at answering. The readers’ responses offered some good advice (read it here), but I wanted to add some of my own advice.

👩 If a store associate is available when going to the changing room to try on your finds, play dumb and ask where the changing rooms are located. I do this whenever possible for insurance purposes; if somebody complains about a dude in the lady’s dressing room, the dude can say that’s where the store associate told me to go.

👩 Take as many outfits as possible to try on when you go to the changing room. Some stores limit the number you can take in, some don’t, but in any case, go for the max in order to minimize the number of times you have to strip off your street clothes.

👩 Shop at smaller women’s clothing stores rather than big department stores. You won’t get a lot of hands-on assistance in large department stores, however, you usually will get assistance in smaller women’s clothing stores. For example, when you are ready to try on your finds, an associate may “start” a dressing room for you (your very own queendom) and sometimes they will even put a sign on the door reserving that room for you with your femme name emblazoned on the sign. If something is the wrong size, the associate will fetch another size to try on saving you the trouble of getting back into your street clothes to do the fetching yourself. Savvy associates will size you up and recommend clothing for you to try on (the polka dot dress I wore on this Christmas card was an associate’s recommendation; she even suggested accessorizing with red heels and a red bag, which I did).

👩 Speaking of street clothes, wear an outfit that you can strip off and put back on easily. I own a sweater dress that has a full-length zipper in front, which is perfect for quick undressing/dressing. Jumpsuits also work well.

👩 The associates want to sell, so if they compliment you on what you try on, take the compliment with a grain of salt. If you go shopping with a friend, your friend’s compliments may not be any more valuable than the store associate’s because your friend may not want to hurt your feelings. So here is a way I get an independent appraisal of what I am trying on… I step out of the dressing room on the pretense of viewing myself in the full-length mirrors usually hung throughout the store. My goal is for another customer to see me while I am doing this. If they gush over what I am wearing, it is a bingo! Whenever I have done this, other customers always check me out while I am checking me out and if they like what they see, they let me know.

👩 For a quick self-appraisal, take a selfie or have an associate take your photo. The difference between what you “see” in a mirror and what you “see” in a photo is surprising ― trust the photo, not the mirror. (Remember to turn off the flash if you take a selfie in the dressing room; you don't want to be accused of being a pervert taking photos of other customers.)

Shopping for women’s clothing is almost as much fun as wearing women’s clothing! So go girls and have some fun.

Wearing Rag & Bone blouse and Alexis skirt.

Brendan Jordan

Dressing Like a Human

Last week, I wrote that in my world, most women wear slacks, trousers, jeans, etc., rather than dresses and skirts, that is, garments that I am more likely to see on a transwoman than a cisgender woman (not that there is anything wrong with that). And I concluded that "I dress like a woman when I am in boy mode and I dress like a transwoman when I am in girl mode."

A few days later, a source who worked on Trump’s campaign revealed that the President "likes the women who work for him to dress like women. Women who worked in felt pressure to wear dresses to impress Trump.”

That notion was dismissed by many writers as being outmoded in this day and age when woman are on the front lines working along side their equals: men. Women are too busy getting the job done to be concerned with what a man deems to be proper attire for a working woman.

In light of this dispute, it is interesting to note that the redefinition of masculinity marches on.

Take a gander at how fashion designers are dressing men these days. At first glance, I thought I was viewing images from womenswear collections, when, in fact, I was looking at the latest in menswear (from Luomo Strano and Paloma Spain)!

Someday, a female president may prefer that the men who worked for her dressed like these men.

Wearing Metisu.

Matthew Banasiuk femulates Kylie Minogue on Polish television's Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo.

Mean Day

Monday is the "mean" day of the week because it means we go back to work or back to school after a two-day reprieve from our busy weekday lives. To ease the transition, I have a new collection of yearbook images of womanless events gathered up from online high school yearbooks by Starla, our intrepid online treasure huntress.

Photos like the one on the right from a 1987 high school Halloween party are now available on flickr, where you may view the new photos by opening one of the Yearbooks sets (A through Z). There you will find the newest uploads at the end/bottom of each set. (The oldest uploads appear at the beginning/top of each set.)

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.

By the way, if you participated in your school's womanless beauty pageant or attended some other school activity en femme, I would love to post your photos along with any description you would like to provide. (No one has taken me up on this offer, so far, but I am hopeful and patient!)

Wearing Bric's Bellagio Collection.

Michalina Manios, Polish fashion model

Sunday is super in more than one way

First photo of me posted in Femulate.

Sunday is a big day.

It's Super Bowl Sunday and my favorite football team is in it!

Sunday is also the 10th anniversary of Femulate!

I cannot believe that I have been blogging Femulate for ten years. Where did the time go?

Reviewing my posts from 2007 when I started the blog was interesting and even revealing.

Back then, I still went by the name "Staci" and if anyone asked, I admitted to being a "plain vanilla crossdresser," but in my heart, I really thought I was a woman.

Would you believe that I did not post a photo of myself in the blog until seven weeks after starting Femulate!!!

During the first month, Femulate averaged 58 hits per day. During the first year, 250 hits per day. (Today, the blog averages 6,000 hits per day.)

Over ten years, Femulate has had its ups and downs and so have I. During the downs, I have considered giving up the blog and doing something else with my time. But about once a week, I receive an e-mail from a reader who thanks me for the blog.

Some readers remain closeted, but thank me for allowing them to escape from the closet vicariously through my adventures. Other readers say the blog helped them accept themselves and to begin living their lives outside the closet as the women they really are.

And so it goes.

Wearing Madeleine.

Kamil Bijos femulates Mariah Carey on the Polish version of television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Off the Mojo Wire

Husbands Dress As Wives For A Day

I don't understand Japanese, so I was a little perplexed when I viewed this Nissan ad on YouTube. But Aunty Marlena passed along this story from Hawaii News Now that explained what was going on.

I would love to see a USA version of this ad, but I am not holding my breath.


Texas Mayor Comes Out As Transgender

Aunty also passed along this story from the New York Times about Jess Herbst, the mayor of New Hope, TX, made an official announcement that she is transgender.

According to the Times article, "Ms. Herbst informed residents in a statement on the town’s website about the change, and the joys of her life as a woman, including her preference in pronouns and the endurance of her marriage."

Wearing Veronica Beard.

Mr. Bobbi Lake, 1960's professional femulator

Dressing Like a Woman

Today, women seldom wear skirts or a dresses. Instead, they wear tops with a bifurcated garment – slacks, trousers, jeans, etc.

Although my spouse owns skirts and dresses, I can't remember the last time she wore one. Similar story with my 30-something daughter; she owns a few skirts and dresses, but I can't recall her wearing one. Fact is the "man" of the house owns more skirts and dresses than the women of the house.

Skirts and dresses are as scarce at work as they are at home.

There are a half dozen women in my workplace and they seldom wear skirted garments. Working along side 60 guys in an engineering environment may encourage their daily wear, but just next door is a company that employs about 50 women in an office environment and they also prefer slacks, trousers and jeans. The only exception are two transwomen, who usually wear skirts or dresses (and heels) whenever I see them.

And so it goes, I dress like a woman when I am in boy mode and I dress like a transwoman when I am in girl mode.

Wearing SheIn.

Mr. Jim Kelly, 1960's femulator

Mrs. Cunberg

I found an interesting item on eBay about ten years ago. It is a photo of a crossdressed man. Although it is a nice colorized photo, it is the accompanying description that I found very interesting.

Here it is unedited:

"THIS IS ACTUALLY MY GRANDFATHER,HE WAS SO GOOD AT DRESSING LIKE A WOMAN THAT WHEN HE TOOK MY FATHER TO SCHOOL ALL HIS CLASSMATES WOULD GREET HIM AS MRS,CUNBERG,IM SHOCKED TO FIND PICTURE AS IT WAS HIDDEN VERY WELL IN ATTIC,MY FATHER WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT BUT SAID HE WAS A WONDERFULL MAN,"

Doing the math, I figure that Mrs. Cunberg was out and about in the early 20th Century. Her hairdo and clothing indicate that her photo may be from the 1920's, which was an era of more liberal thinking, especially in regards to non-traditional gender roles.

So it was a good time for Mrs. C to be open about her gender. She could have been a role model for the folks epitomized in the popular song of that era "Masculine Women, Feminine Men."

Source: Intermix

Billy Halle aka Koro, a professional femulator in the 1920s

Stopping Pickups

On more than one occasion, men have tried to pick me up. Women have, too. 

It is always flattering and a boost to my ego. However, I am happily married and a faithful spouse, so I have always rejected attempts to get into my panties.

I stop pickups in their tracks by pointing to my wedding ring. So far, that strategy has always worked for me.

Selfing

Lady J

Dancing

I told this story before, but I recently recalled a part of the story that I neglected to pass along before.

One of my first girly moments was related to the ballet. When I was 5-years-old, my mother enrolled my younger sister and I in a dancing school. My class had about 15 girls and one other boy. Once a week, we practiced tap and ballet for an hour under the tutelage of young female instructors.

I have no memory why my mother enrolled us at dancing school. I could understand enrolling my sister, but why did she immerse me, her only son, in that world of femininity? It certainly was not going to make a man out of me. Maybe she detected the girl in me and thought that I would enjoy participating in such a girly activity.

If that was her plan, she was correct. I enjoyed every minute of it!

I loved learning dance and being treated like the other girls. The young instructors became my role models. I even recall dreaming (both day-dreaming and sleep-dreaming) about dancing as a ballerina, wearing a pink leotard, tutu, ballet shoes, and makeup with my long blond hair put up in a pony-tail.

In the spring, we had a dance recital. It was held at the Loew's Poli Palace theater in Waterbury. "Registered as a National Historic treasure, the Palace's elegant lobbies, crystal chandeliers, gold detailing, almost 3,500 seat capacity auditorium, along with its Broadway-sized stage, make this the largest seating capacity theater of its kind in all of New England" when it was built in 1922 (Source: Cinema Treasures).

So my first (and last) appearance on stage was big time!

Now here's the part I recently recalled...

Since we were appearing on stage, we had to wear makeup. My mother was my makeup lady, but she knew bupkis about stage makeup. So when she applied our makeup, she made my face up just like my sister's face – lipstick, rouge, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, mascara – the works! Although I was wearing a boy's costume, I had the face of a girl!

Due to tight family finances, we only took dance classes for one year, but that one year immersion in femininity left a life-long impression on this girl.

Wearing Lanvin.

Femulators partying in the 1950s.

What's the problem!

Wearing Joie.

Trevor French (left) femulates in the 2015 stage production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.