be size myself

My Newport-News order arrived yesterday.

The black patent Mary Janes were lovely and fit. The dresses did not and I returned them today for a refund.

I ordered both dresses in my size du jour (16) and nine out of ten times, 16 works, but this time, 16 was too small.

I did not bother exchanging them for a larger size because one dress was sold out in size 18 and the other was so small in size 16 that I was not sure that even a size 18 would fit.

I was very disappointed.

Sizing is always an issue when buying clothing online or via mail order. It is a crap shoot in which I can accept inconsistent sizing when you buy from different stores, but inconsistent sizing from the same store is inexcusable.

It is very frustrating and causes me to consider swearing off future online/mail order purchases.

crossdressed in the past

good call

After a busy weekend, I sat down in front of the television to vegetate for the hour before I usually go to bed.

One million channels and there was nothing much on for 60 minutes that piqued my interest, so I watched the Miss Universe pageant.

I tuned in late and missed the introduction of the 80 contestants, however, I tuned in just as they paired the 80 down to 20. The first of the 20 was Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza.

Without seeing another contestant, I thought that Miss Venezuela should win. The other 20 were knock-outs and Miss Colombia Taliana Vargas was my second choice, but Miss Venezuela was outstanding in my opinion. By the way, I will mention for readers of my previous blog posting that another of the 20, Miss Mexico Elisa Najera, is 6 feet tall.

By the way, whenever I watch a pageant, my picks usually lose, so I did not have much hope for Misses Venezuela and Colombia. When the judges paired the 20 down to 15, I figured my losing record was intact because after announcing 14 of the 15, Miss Venezuela was not among the 14 (although Miss Colombia was). I was very surprised when Miss Venezuela was the last of the 15 to be announced.

Then, I went to bed and just missed Miss USA's trip down the catwalk in her evening gown.

After I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check the results of the pageant. I was shocked: Miss Venezuela won and Miss Colombia was 1st runner up!

Perfect!

being tall

I am over six feet tall, so when I femulate, I am a tall woman.

About the time I started femulating in my early teens, I became interested in tall women because they affirmed my existence as a tall woman, i.e., I was not the only tall woman out and about in society. Few were as tall as me, but maybe there were enough out there so that I could blend in more easily as just another tall woman.

In the past, tall women tried to blend in with their shorter sisters, so they dressed down (pun intended); instead of celebrating their height, they tried to hide it (to appear less intimidating to men).

Also, tall women did not have a lot to choose from clothes-wise. Few clothiers catered to tall women, so tall women had to make do with what was available, which typically did not celebrate tall women's height.

Today, tall women are out and proud and celebrate their height. They have more clothing to choose from now that more clothiers recognize their potential as customers. They no longer dress down to hide their height. They wear high heels and leg baring skirts and dresses. They don't care if they are intimidating. They've come a long way!

It is a great time to be a tall woman, or a tall femulator. If you are interested in the celebration of tall women, check out the www.tallwomen.org Web site.

dress code

a little online shopping

Yesterday, my daily e-mail from Newport-News informed me that they were having a dress sale and shipping was free if your order was at least $75. I could do that, so I rushed to their Web site and did some shopping.

Like Joe McCarthy, I was on the hunt for reds and found two that I liked, as well as a pair of red Mary Janes that were also on sale. After consulting with Patty, my fashion consultant, I got her thumbs up and went back online to order my choices, a scoopneck dress with fitted bodice and full, pleated skirt (a classic "Staci dress") and a "sophisticated" red floral-print shirtdress.

By the time I got back online to place my order, the scoopneck dress and shoes were no longer available in my size. Patty advised me to wait and they might return later in the day.

I started working on a Plan B for the red shoes and went to the Payless Web site to see what they had in red.

I hit pay dirt! They had an "online exclusive" on a pair of red platform pumps for $13.99. They also had the same shoe in black and white two tone for the same price. I ordered both.

Back to Newport-News and hour later and the dress was back in my size again, but the shoes were not. Since I had implemented Plan B for the red shoe, I was not concerned about that. But my order was still $21 short of free shipping, so I ordered the same shoes in black patent, which was still available in my size. Like Patty said, "The black patent are a staple and should be in everyone's closet." Soon, they will be in mine.

the pot calling the kettle black

In this story about a trans being booted off a Bi personal Web site for being trans, "Daryl Herrschaft, director of Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Workforce Equality Project, said that HRC works to educate gay-owned businesses about the transgender community, but he could not recall an instance of a gay-owned business being so blatant in discriminating against transgender people."

That is amusing since HRC is the group responsible for getting trans booted off the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)! Maybe the gay-owned business is just following HRC's lead.

before Vicky's, there was Freddy's.

Circa 1975, I bought my first wig, bra, and waist cincher at Frederick's of Hollywood at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Massachusetts. Back then, Frederick's was as common a store at your local mall as Victoria's Secret is today.

Vicky has stores everywhere today, Freddy.. not so much (not even at teh Eastfield Mall). Too bad because Freddy's was practically a one-stop crossdresser's shop. You could buy wigs, shoes, dresses, hosiery, lingerie, and foundation garments, whereas Vicky's offers some, but not all of those femulation staples.

Michelia alerted me that Freddy's is having a big close-out sale and that there are coupons on Yahoo! that offer even greater savings.

Happy shopping!

building a platform that includes transgender Americans

Steve Ralls writes:
...
The Democratic National Committee and Senator Barack Obama have announced that the 2008 party platform will be put together through a more "open" process that includes numerous opportunities for the public to weigh in with their ideas on what the party should stand for. The party, and the candidate, will hold public forums in all 50 states and invite voters to meet with party officials, and policy advisers, in a national discussion about the vision of the Democratic party.
...
It is imperative that gay and transgender Americans, and our allies, participate in this new platform process, and encourage the party to assemble a vision that includes us all.

Among the priorities LGBT voters in both political parties should be focusing on are:
...
Including transgender Americans as equals in the American family . . . and in the eyes of the law. Transgender Americans have been at the forefront of the LGBT civil rights movement. In many ways, you could even say they invented it. From riots at Stonewall to rights in Sacramento (where a transgender attorney won the historic California marriage case), our transgender neighbors and friends have given us all too much to be left behind. Neither gender identity nor expression should be grounds for employment discrimination, dismissal from the armed forces or discrimination in housing or the like. The transgender community must be included in all of our efforts to secure full equality, because we are not fully equal until they are, too.
...
Read all about it here.

fall fever

It is very hot and humid in Southern New England today, a "beach day," but I am not a "beach girl" and I am looking forward to fall, which has become my favorite season.

Sans hurricanes, the weather is beautiful here in September. It is cool enough to femulate without worrying about wig, makeup, and/or foundation garment perspiration, yet it is warm enough to go out without a coat.

Also, the fall fashions are my favorites and I am anxiously waiting for all my favorite online boutiques to start showing their fall offerings. So far, Victoria's Secret is the only one showing their fall lineup, but as the month progresses, I expect that the others will, too.

And as the fall fashions begin appearing, that means clearance sales of the previous seasons' fashions, when I usually can find a bargain or two.

And more importantly, all the previously-mentioned features of fall mean that I will start going out en femme again after the summer hiatus.*

* If the opportunity arises and the weather is moderate, I will go out en femme in the summer, but those conditions seldom are in sync, so I don't count on dressing much during July and August.

art

Months ago, I received an e-mail from an artist, Tamsin Cornish, who wanted to incorporate some phrases from my blog into the trans-oriented paintings she was creating. I was honored by her request and have been in anticipation of her creations ever since.

Days ago, Tamsin e-mailed photos of the two paintings that incorporated my words. The two are titled Green Satin Shoes and Switching Modes.

If you look closely, you can see phrases interspersed throughout the paintings. Tamsin also sent me a close-up of Green Satin Shoes zoomed into the neckline of the dress where my following words appear: Why do I crossdress? Because it's fun.

I hope you will enjoy Tamsin's work as much as I do! Click on the paintings below for an expanded view and read more about Tamsin below her paintings.

Green Satin Shoes by Tasmin Cornish

Switching Modes by Tasmin Cornish

Close-up of Green Satin Shoes

About Tamsin: Tamsin Cornish lives in Surrey, in England and has just completed her joint degree, one side of which was art.

About Tamsin's paintings: My paintings portray personal glimpses into others' private lifestyles, lifestyles that most people would class as 'perverse' or 'unhealthy.' Using the real words of those who live out their desires, I have tried to open up the avenue of thought that these people feel happier and more complete living as they do, and to show that anyone could be living like this, but keep it so secret that no one would ever know. Rather than a damning of the unnatural, I wanted my paintings to be a journey to uncover and accept the unknown.

Contact Tamsin: ms.t.cornish @ googlemail.com

memories en femme

With nothing much on television last night that held my interest, I selected a DVD to watch instead: Saturday Night Live, season 2, disk number 8.

After watching a so-so SNL hosted by Buck Henry, I checked the extras on the DVD and noticed that it included the special SNL show that was broadcast from the Mardi Gras in New Orleans back in 1977. I saw that show when it was originally shown "live from New Orleans," but had not seen it since.

I was not interested in seeing it again because I recall that it was not very good. But then I recalled a very old memory from that show: a segment from a drag ball with Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams describing the event.

I fast-forwarded the DVD and watched the segment about the drag ball showing males in debutante drag being presented as debutantes are. Ms. Marshall sans Ms. Williams seemed very uncomfortable describing the action and admitted that she had not been told in advance what she would be seeing. She was also exhausted.

(You can read all about the SNL Mardi Gras show here. You can also read the transcripts and view photos from the drag ball segment here and here.)

This was just another one of my old memories en femme that I had forgotten about, but had an opportunity to revisit.

do I look fat?

I want to lose some weight.

I am about 25 pounds overweight, but I don't want to lose 25 pounds because then I would not have any fat to displace to my hips and breasts to give me my girlish figure when I wear my foundation garments. So, instead of losing 25 pounds, I'd like to lose about 15 pounds, which would give me 10 pounds to play with.

I have been trying to lose 15 pounds forever. Well, not forever, but for about a year. I start a diet and I am a good girl for a few days, maybe even as long as a week, lose a few pounds, then cheat on my diet and soon find myself back where I started. Bad girl!

It occurred to me that I should start a new diet and to keep me on track, publicize my progress here. In that way, I will be less likely to cheat because I would be embarrassed when I publicize any weight gains here.

My goal is to lose 16 pounds by September 1. I chose 16 pounds instead of 15 pounds because 16 divided by 8 weeks results in a whole number, i.e., 2 pounds per week instead of 15 divided by 8 which equals a yucky 1.875.

My diet begins on Monday. Wish me luck!

vintage clothing

Girlfriend Robin posted an e-mail on my support group's e-mail list last night about an online vintage clothing store, Unique Vintage. I checked out their Web site and this fashionista recommends it, so much so that I added their Web site to my Tool Links list.

If you like vintage clothing, I think you will like Unique Vintage, so check it out.

advice

Occasionally, I receive e-mails asking for advice. Often, the writers of these e-mails indicate that they are hesitant about writing to me for advice because they don't want to bother me.

On the contrary, I love receiving e-mails asking for advice. My maternal side loves to help others if she can, so please feel free to ask. Maybe I can help you and maybe you will help me by expanding my knowledge of the transworld. And maybe our e-mail exchange will inspire me to write an interesting blog posting.

So, use the "send me e-mail" link on the right to write to me.

transgender rights, transgender perks

Kate Bornstein writes, "Hijras are people who belong to a socially and spiritually recognized third gender in India. They are also the most universally-despised citizens of that country. When you're a hijra, you can't get a job. If you've got the courage to risk getting beaten up, you can go begging, or you can do sex work. That's about it. But hijras have an universally known and respected advantage: they have the power to bless or to curse. For example, you can't have a wedding in India--or give birth to a boy child--without hijras being present to bless the occasion. You certainly don't want one of their curses. Nevertheless, you're not likely to go long in your life as a hijra without being raped or beaten-up. That's what happens to sex and gender outlaws in most countries."

Read the rest of the story here.

window shopping

stranger than fictionmania*

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I like that in a man

if the shoes fits, buy it

I went to Payless during lunch and the shoes I liked, did not fit, so I bought none.