Got Mod?

Being a retro kind of girl, I like the styles ModCloth sells. Yet, I have only purchased one item from them mainly due to size issues (some of the items I liked were not available in my size).

As luck would have it, the ModCloth dress I did buy was a little too big, but not so big that I had to return it. I have not worn it since I lost weight, so it is probably way too big now, but I liked it a lot and may have it taken in once I reach my goal weight.

It seems that I am not the only gurly girl who likes ModCloth as evidenced by this image I found on the Internet recently!

Wearing ModCloth (Source: ModCloth)

Luz Violeta, professional femulator

Fear of Flying

Thank you for the advice and encouragement you readers provided regarding my plans to fly rather than drive to St. Louis in September.

To tell you the truth, I don't need much encouragement to fly as a woman. It is on my bucket list and is something I wanted to do for a long time.

I have no fear of flying, however, I do have a fear of packing for flying.

I am familiar with Big Brother's rules about how to pack, so that is not an issue. The problem is how to pack economically as a woman.

When I go to Hamvention, which is five days en femme, my Subaru is full of luggage... typically, a large suitcase, small suitcase, garment bag, cosmetics toolbox and computer bag. Taking all that on a flight would just about double the cost of my ticket with most carriers.

I could eliminate the cosmetics toolbox by just taking what I really need and I could eliminate the computer bag by carrying my laptop, iPhone and accessories in my big handbag. But how do I compact a large suitcase, small suitcase and garment bag into one piece of luggage weighing less than 50 pounds?

There's the rub.

Wearing Diane von Furstenberg (Source: Diane von Furstenberg)

The boys of Marshall High School in Marshall, Arkansas, 1986 (Source: Starla)

Christian Sharia: GOP House Bans Sleeveless Women

Christian Sharia: Modesty police in the the Republican controlled House of Representatives are enforcing a new dress code for women.

The Christian puritans are at the helm, and the bare arms of women must not be seen in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to a report filed by CBS, sleeveless dresses and blouses worn by women are no longer acceptable attire in the House chamber and the Speaker’s lobby, a location where reporters often wait for lawmakers in order to conduct brief interviews.

A senior GOP source told CBS News that House chamber security and the House Sergeant at Arms are enforcing new rules regarding proper attire for women entering the House chamber and the Speaker’s lobby, effectively becoming modesty police for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Under the direction of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the Republican controlled House of Representatives is enforcing a new dress code for women. No doubt the Taliban would approve.

(Source: www.patheos.com)

Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)

Source: "Piranha Club" formerly known as "Ernie" (Courtesy of Meg)

My Store is Closing!

In March, I opened Stana’s Femulate Boutique, an Amazon aStore, where you could purchase items on Amazon that I use and recommend. This was in response to readers who asked how they could support the blog monetarily.

Amazon recently announced that they will be phasing out the Amazon aStores and by the end of October, all the aStores will be gone including mine.

To tell you the truth, business at my aStore was slow and after initially investing a lot of time and effort into the business, I was so disappointed in the results that I stopped wasting my time with it.

Although my aStore is closing, my blog posts will continue to have links to Amazon. If you click on one of those links that takes you to Amazon and you make a purchase, the blog receives a percentage of your payment.

Anyway I want to thank the few who did support my aStore and thus, my blog. But it was hardly enough to give me the incentive to continue much longer.

And so it goes.  

Wearing Iro jacket, ALC top and shorts, Jimmy Choo sandals and Carrera sunglasses (Source: Intermix)

Throwback Thursday – Eve and Marie – When a "Flight Attendant" was a "Stewardess"

Up in the Air

I started writing this post early yesterday morning before our cookout began. I assumed I would be able to finish the post after the relatives left with full tummies.

Remember the Saturday Night Live skit about the guests who would not leave? It was not quite that bad — we were all having a good time and the cookout did not break up until well after dark.

Being a meticulous housewife, I do not relax until everything was clean and put back in its right place. By then, it was time to slip into a negligee and go to bed. (For the curious, here is a photo that approximates the negligee I wore last night.)

So here I am writing today's post today instead of yesterday, but such is life!

I missed Hamvention this year, but I plan to go to my group's annual conference in September. This year, our conference is in St. Louis. That's 16 hours as Stana drives and when I mentioned the roadtrip at the cookout yesterday, everyone thought I was crazy to drive that distance and that I should fly instead.

I know things have changed dramatically since I the last time I flied a dozen years go. But since I assumed I would not be flying anywhere soon, I have not paid attention to the details. So I began to get detailed and in the process, I found this article on the Fabulous After 40 blog about what to wear for air travel. I also revisited Kim's comprehensive article about flying en femme.

Looks like I will have to adjust my wardrobe for flying in September.

Wearing The Kooples bag (Source: Vogue)

His and her bridal lingerie (Source: Carltheriault.com)

Short Shorts

Don't forget:

Independence Day falls on the 4th this year!

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Eddie Izzard: It took me 30 years to deal with coming out as transgender!

I can sympathize with Eddie and you can read the whole story here.

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Fly Me!

Patty O knows I have an affinity for flight attendant drag, so she sent me this photo of Dustin Izzat at Seattle Pride.

A "stewardess" by any other name!

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Troupe L’oeil: Ooh La La!

My newest gurlfriend, Rhondsocks, wrote, "I wanted to give a strong endorsement for a new fashion designer: Bunker Bradley. His website is Bunker Bradley Couture. A former car designer from Detroit now located in Las Vegas, his designs are really cool. The dresses he designs are  transgender friendly as the prints on the dresses actually make you look thinner by utilizing the troupe l’oeil technique of drawing your attention to parts other than where a bit of fat may show. His partner, Roselynn Poon, is the business person and is so very transgender friendly, going out of her way to make sure I was able to wear their beautiful dress at a transgender gathering in May called 'Wildside.'"

Rhondsocks wearing Bradley Bunker

Wearing Nine West (Source: Nine West)

It's a bull market for femulators. (Source: Rain Dove)

Cathy's Initiation

Hi everyone, I'm Cathy from Los Angeles, and I'm so happy to share some of my story, along with photos recently found by my sisters while cleaning out our parents' home back in Pennsylvania.

This first photo is me on the back stoop, dressed up by my older sisters, Donna and Debbie.  It has "Sept 1960 - Willow Rd" written in pen on the back, so I'm two and a half years old (Donna 7, Debbie 5) and a younger sister, Dee Dee, was seven months. Along with our single mother, we lived with our twice divorced Aunt Catherine at her house where four kids shared bedroom.

Our very quirky mother, raised during the Depression, saved everything! So all the girls' old clothes were in two large steamer trunks in the basement. It was those dresses, lacy socks, panties, camis, slips, tights, jumpers and sweaters that introduced me to love all things girly and feminine.

It started as a private dress-up game, but then our mother saw me and passively allowed it, while our Aunt actively encouraged it and participated with my sisters in my femulations. What began as once or twice a week for maybe an hour each time, turned into four, five and six days a week and for an entire morning or all afternoon, even all day and into the evening when they switched me into baby doll PJs or a red plaid flannel granny nightgown with pink fuzzy slippers.

In this photo, they tried a barrette in my short hair, but over time our mother allowed my hair to grow longer, which made looking like a girl even easier.

More to come.

Wearing Express (Source: Express)

Actor Dylan Sprouse femulates in an 2005 episode of television's The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.

Wednesday Continued

Membership Director

Wednesday was another day out as a woman and it was wonderful. Here is the rest of the story continued from my previous post.

The Meeting

After dining and shopping at the mall, I drove to the hall where the Connecticut Outreach Society (COS) meets. I was early — about 45 minutes before the 8 PM start time, so I was surprised that there were quite a few vehicles already parked around the hall. Turned out that apizza was served at 7 PM, so most of the attendees showed up early to dine on the cuisine.

There were a dozen attendees. I kind of recognized a few, but the only one I knew for sure was my good friend Diana. However, with my new hairdo, she did not recognize me! LOL

It has been almost seven years since I attended a COS meeting, so I was not surprised that I did not recognize many faces, but I was surprised that there were a few female-to-males in attendance. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but my presentation was intended for a male-to-female audience. The female-to-males would be bored, so I hoped they would at least enjoy the occasional attempts at humor that peppered my presentation. 

Before my presentation, there was some organizational business to deal with including the election of officers. The Membership Director slot was open. I mentioned that because of my blog, I often receive e-mails asking for help and whenever the request comes from a person living in area, I always recommend COS as an excellent place to get support. (The organization has been around for almost 30 years, so it is not going to fly by night.) 

I don't know how many new members I am responsible for, but since I was already doing some of the work of a Membership Director, I might as well do the whole enchilada, so nominated myself for the Membership Director position. But first, I had to rejoin the organization, so I ponied up the annal membership fee ($0) and I was in. The election was held and, ta da, I am now the COS Membership Director!

After the election, I gave my presentation, which lasted about 40 minutes. It was interspersed with questions and comments and my audience truly seemed to be interested in what I had to say.

After the presentation, a few people came by to speak with me including one attendee in boy mode with whom I had an extensive conversation about our mutual trans lives.

The End

The meeting started breaking up around 9:30 PM, so I said my goodbyes and drove home with a new mascara and a new job! My life is seldom boring and I love it!  

Summer 2017 Paris Street Style (Source: The Cut)

Femulator Eddie Izzard (right) with actress Carol Vorderman

Wednesday

Wednesday was another day out as a woman and it was wonderful.

The Hair

I so liked the Sky large cap wig from Noriko that I purchased another in a different color, Kahlua Blast (medium brown base with honey blonde highlights in the front). It is a far cry from the blond shades I have usually been wearing for over ten years. I needed a change and I am very happy with my new hair color.

(It reminds me of the brunette hair style Janet Leigh wore in the film Bye Bye Birdie, which was a big switch from her previous normal blond color.)

The Dress

My JB by Julie Brown shift dress is not “new.” I bought it over two years ago and wore it once, so it is "like new." And the way it looks on my down-sized body is new!

I thought it looked great, but as I left the house Wednesday evening, my wife commented that the dress looked tight. I sort of agreed with her… it was tight in all the right places.

To accessorize, I wore silver jewelry, nude high heels and a darker shade (Utopia) of Berkshire thigh highs than I usually wear to make my legs look tanned. I also wore my new nude Christian Siriano bag from Payless.

The Mall

I drove to West Farms Mall in West Hartford arriving there at 5 PM. I entered through Macy’s, perused a couple of racks of clothing, then decided to get something to eat. Brio was next door and I enjoyed my previous meal there, so Brio it was.

Not too much to say about dinner. I had an excellent meal, their “Pesto Chicken & Quinoa Salad.” My waiter was respectful, willingly took my photo with and referred to me as “Miss,” so he got a big tip!

I returned to Macy’s after dinner and found the Lacome counter in order to buy a new tube of their Hypnose Drama mascara. It is the best mascara I have ever used and my tube was nearing its end, so it was time to restock.

The Lacome sales rep was very helpful when I asked her about the best way to apply mascara to lower lashes. Forever, I have been using the tip of the mascara wand to lightly graze the lower lashes. It is a hit or miss proposition and the results are OK, but not great.

The sales rep showed me a another way. She took a cotton swab, bent it into a V-shape, applied a little mascara at the bend and said to use the bent swab to apply mascara to the lower lashes. The procedure made sense. When I returned home, I tried it and it worked a lot better than the way I had been doing it.

We conversed a bit more about makeup, she complimented mine and gave me some free samples when she rang me up.

I still had time to kill before the support group meeting began, so I looked through the racks again and found a beautiful white dress that I thought was made of white lace, but upon closer inspection, I saw that it was actually composed of white flower appliqués. I found one in my size and took it to the dressing room to try it on. In the dressing room, I sized up the dress and concluded that it was too small in the bust area and would never fit me, so I did not bother struggling to try it on.

It was time to exit the mall and make the short trip to the meeting hall to present my transwoman makeup tutorial for my old support group.

The Meeting

I will continue my story in my next post.

Wearing Jonathan Simkhai dress, Sergio Rossi sandals, Miansai bracelet, Odette earrings (Source: Intermix)

Actor Alex Newell

New Do

Just got home from my night out as a woman and before I go to bed, I want to post a photo that my waiter took while I was dining at Brio. I'll have more to show and say about my night out in my next post.

Dreaming Vividly

Since becoming semi-retired, more often than not, I remember my dreams after I awake. My dreams seem more vivid than I remember them being before I semi-retired, but one thing has not changed: in my most of my dreams, I am a woman.

In some dreams, I am aware that I am a transwoman, who has transitioned one way or another. In other dreams, being trans is not part of the equation — I am a woman, plain and simple.

Last night, I had a transwoman dream. I was in Vegas, where I have never been in my life and I was having a wonderful time at a casino until I encountered a family acquaintance. The twist was that even though I was embarrassed encountering the acquaintance, the acquaintance was not fazed and interacted with me as if I always was a woman!

And so it goes.

Wearing Diane Von Furstenberg (Source: Diane Von Furstenberg)

Femulate reader Mindy wearing Calvin Klein from Dress Barn.

Out Wednesday

Wednesday evening, I will attend the meeting of the Connecticut Outreach Society (COS) where I will do my makeup presentation for transwomen.

COS ushered me out of the closet in the late 1970s and I was very active in the organization for over 20 years. It has been a few years since I last attended a meeting, so it will be a reunion of sorts for me and the organization that helped me be me. I'm looking forward to that as well as looking forward to wearing a new dress and new hairdo!

Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)

Cory and Kenny femulated for Opposite Day at Celeste (TX) High School in 1989 (Source: Starla)