Various Items of Interest

Johnny Downs femulating in the 1941 film All-American Co-Ed

His/Herstory Dept.

“The history of drag on screen: Strutting from ancient times to CBC’s Queens” is an interesting take on drag history from a Canadian perspective. A few of the videos in the article are missing, but most of them can be found on YouTube. Click here to read the article.

How High Dept.

Some women are most comfortable in kitten heels or low wedges, while others feel right at home in 4 inch heels. But why?

Dr. Emma Supple, a London podiatrist, says it’s all in the structure and flexibility of your foot. When relaxed, your foot has a natural incline. This is the position in which your foot feels most comfortable. It is also your ideal heel height according to Dr. Supple.

“What is your ideal heel height?” will assist you in finding your ideal height. Click here to find it.

Needs a Two-Piece Dept.

Velma alerted me to a tv commercial for Sotyktu, a drug for psoriasis, where the father is wearing his wife’s red bikini bottoms. When he turns to a profile view, he shows off his man boobs and obviously needs to wear his wife’s bikini top, too!

Testing Dept.

Feeling better all the time, yesterday I slipped on a pair of knee-highs and a pair of Nine West high heels, then proceeded to walk around the house. 

My new knee did not complain about my footwear and that was very good news! So I expect that I will be heading out en femme sooner than later. I will be finished with rehab in two weeks, followed by a visit to my surgeon and then I think I will be good to go.

Wearing Bebe

William Bendix (center) and company femulating in the 1944 film Abroad With Two Yanks.

Someday Funnies: All in the Family

Wearing Ann Taylor

 

Pieter-Dirk Uys, South African professional femulator

Trending

According to Popsugar, “Maya Hawke gave the ‘no-pants’ trend a stylish spin at Milan Fashion Week on Feb. 23. On her way to Prada’s fall/winter 2023 womenswear show, the ‘Stranger Things’ star stepped out in a pair of sheer black tights and block heels with delicate ankle straps. She layered the tights under a collared shirt from the brand’s menswear collection.

“The shirt, which Hawke styled as a dress over a black bodysuit, featured a window-pane plaid pattern in white and baby blue. Across the chest and collar, the piece boasted a wavy white grosgrain embellishment. She wore the shirt partially unbuttoned at the top and bottom, transforming the button-up into an instant minidress.”

Maybe some fashion-forward males will adopt the no-pants trend. Stranger things have happened. 

In the meantime, men’s skirts are growing in popularity. Christian Allaire recently wrote For Vogue about his initial positive foray in skirts. After he wore his first skirt back in September, he was hooked and has added more skirts to his wardrobe.

It is worth noting that some of the men on the Internet wearing skirts are also wearing handbags. Skirts typically don’t have pockets, so fashion-forward fellows need handbags to carry their keys, wallets, makeup, spare pantyhose, etc.

Speaking of pantyhose, it is also worth noting that some Internet male skirt wearers have hairless legs and a few were wearing pantyhose (or some type of hosiery). 

And then there are the guys pairing their skirts with high heels.

And so it goes.

Wearing Elisabetta Franchi

Swedish singing group Pink Pistols
Click here to see them perform “I Am Somebody” at Melodifestivalen 2014.

Someday Funnies: Hemmed In No More

 

Wearing Ronny Kobo

Walter Evers, Paraguayan professional femulator

Wear a dress!

March 6, next Monday, is National Dress Day when we celebrate the most versatile and fun article of clothing there is — the dress! 

Fashion designer Ashley Lauren founded the day to help pay homage to dresses and the magical moments that happen when we wear them. “I remember the dresses I wore to my prom, first job interview, first date, competing in a pageant, my first red carpet event, the list goes on.”  (In our case, remembering the first dress we wore or the dress we wore the first time we were out among the civilians.)

“This is a fun day to cherish and celebrate those memories.”

The simplest way to celebrate National Dress Day is to wear a dress! Because the day falls during March, it may be cold where you live and maybe you’ve been wearing pants for months. Use the day as an excuse to get out your favorite dress — no matter how springy — put on some leggings or tights and make new memories in your favorite garment.

I hope you will wear a dress next Monday and if you do, take a selfie, send it to me and I will post it here to celebrate National Dress Day online.

By the way, next Wednesday is International Women’s Day, so if you can’t wear a dress on Monday, wear one on Wednesday (when I will be wearing my birthday dress). 

Even better, wear a dress on Monday and Wednesday!

I plan to wear a dress on those days. But it is too early to wear heels. Everything I’ve read says that you have to wait three months after knee replacement surgery before you can wear high heels. I guess I could pose for a few selfies in heels, but I won’t be hoofing anywhere in stilettos for awhile.

My recovery from surgery progresses. I no longer need a cane to get around, however, for my own sense of security, I use a cane when I am going down stairs (although I have navigated the stairs a few times when I forgot my cane).

I had my first rehab session on Friday and the therapist says I am recovering fast, so it won’t be long (yeah) before I will be able to go out en femme again.

Wearing Millie

Lilo Wanders, German professional femulator

Someday Funnies: The Prodigal “Daughter” Returns

Wearing Gracia

Jonny Beauchamp femulating on television’s Katy Keene.

Femulating Foto Fun

Recovering from knee replacement surgery, I have been spending a lot of time browsing the Internet when I am not doing physical therapy. One thing leads to another on the Internet and on Wednesday,  I explored websites that transform photos of males to female and vice versa. I ended up on the gender swap filter page of the AI Lab Wondershare website. 

You simply upload a photo to the website and after a second or two or three, the website displays your gender swap. (The website permits you to make ten swaps. After ten, you have to register to continue swapping.)

I uploaded a handful of recent photos and the gender swaps were interesting. I could definitely see the male me in the resulting female swaps. Here are two of the best swaps:

Then I tried something different. I uploaded some photos of moi en femme and the results were amazing. (I’d do the results!) Here are the best – blond, brunette and the redhead image at the top of this post:

In my opinion, the redhead swap was best at retaining my male visage, although I do see me in all the photos that I swapped.

One lesson I learned from all the swaps: I’d probably look more feminine if I thinned my eyebrows more than I have already thinned them.

Anyway, this online app is very addictive. You can spend hours swapping your gender. Have fun!

Wearing Black Halo

Christian De Sica femulating in the 2018 Italian film Amici Come Prima (Friends Like Before).

Someday Funnies: Bro-Borrowing

Wearing Bebe

Gabriel Sanches femulating on Brazilian television’s Pega Pega (The Big Catch).

Our Conundrum

By Paula Gaikowski

Conundrum: a problem or puzzle which is difficult or impossible to solve. 

Jan Morris

I cannot think of a better way to describe being transgender. And perhaps neither could the travel writer and historian Jan Morris, which is why she chose “conundrum” as the title to her autobiography chronicling her transition from James to Jan. 

What is most interesting about her transition is it occurred in 1972 when gender transition was still a rarity. While Renee Richards was making headlines, Jan Morris very quietly transitioned and continued writing and publishing highly acclaimed books. One of her best-known was the Pax Britannica Trilogy, a history of the British empire. I had heard about her transition back in 1972 and consumed anything I could find about her in newspapers and magazines. But I never got to read her autobiography.

Jump ahead to the 1990’s and I was working as a field engineer for Motorola in northern New Jersey. In between service calls, we needed to stay in our territory. Subsequently, I found local libraries a great place to do paperwork and read while waiting for the next service call. The Morris County library was a huge regional library that had many books on sexuality and topics like transgender, which was still very new. I would read anything I could find by transgender authors like Caroline Cossey, April Ashley, Paula Grossman, Lili Elbe, Coccinelle, Renee Richards, Christine Jorgensen and I finally came across Jan Morris’s book Conundrum.

I just want to add a bit of context here. I was reading and researching in a library (using the Internet was not an option then). When that happened, our world would open – we would be connected and able to share with each other as we do here in the Femulate community. However, in the 1990’s, we were isolated souls lost in the forest trying to find our way. 

It took me a few days to finish the book. I’d visit the library and grab the book and find my favorite chair off to the side and read for a while. Finally, as I neared the end of the book, I was feeling a bit melancholy and downhearted. As I turned the last page, in the back I noticed a folded piece of paper tucked away in the cover. A piece of lined notepad, ripped and heavily creased, I unfolded it with mild anticipation and there written in blue ink in a friendly cursive script were the words, Know, that you are not alone. 

My heart quickened, my mouth was opened in a gasp, I looked around fearful of what I’m not sure. Then I quickly came to the realization that I wasn’t the only one like this! Someone else cared. There were others like me right here, they came to this place and read the same books. Perhaps then, just maybe we could find our way out of the forest. Our conundrum.

Wearing Joie

Ross Adams femulating in British televisions Hollyoaks.

Someday Funnies: Cross Dress Code

Wearing Bebe

Paul Gilbert (center) femulating in the 1965 film Sylvia.