a good question

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my girdle is killing me... not

Mom, who was my role model wore girdles, so I wore girdles, too.

Truth be told, my first girdles were her girdles. They were "mine" only in a temporary sense; I wore them when I was home alone and returned them to her dresser drawer when my dressing session ended.

She owned a variety of girdle styles and it was wonderful experimenting with them all, but my favorites were the high-waisted, short-legged variety, which is the style I bought for myself when I began buying my own. And it is the style I favored throughout my lady life, until now.

I recently discovered the Spanx line of body-shaping undergarments and its copycats. Avon sells some of the copycats and since I am an Avon representative, I could not resist buying one with my representative discount.

I purchased a high-waisted panty-style body shaper and during my recent trip to Dayton, I wore it instead of my normal girdle and waist cincher combo.

The body-shaper is lighter in weight and more comfortable than the girdle-cincher combo. Its body-shaping capabilities were equal to if not better than the girdle-cincher combo. Since the body-shaper is a smooth, one-piece garment, I was not concerned about revealing any lumps or bumps that the various parts of the girdle-cincher combo sometimes show through my clothes.

"My girdle is killing me," is now a thing of the past. I am sold on these body-shaper undergarments and am adding other styles to my wardrobe.

However, a word of caution: these new body-shapers grip your body like a steel trap, so if you feel the need to attend to mother nature, don't wait until the last minute to visit the ladies' room because slipping out of these body-shapers can be challenging.

The Femulated readers

Today's The Femulated image is a photo of Femulate reader, Cyrsti, who sent in two photos "for consideration."

I did not solicit the photos, but I think it is a great idea to use reader photos in The Femulated spot occasionally. Therefore, I welcome all Femulate readers to send me photos of their femulations for consideration.

slashdotted

Slashdot slashdotted Femulate on Monday, which explains the 20% spike in hits that day. (The Femulate reference is buried here.)

I was wrong

One year ago, I had just concluded my long weekend en femme in Manhattan attending a workshop.

Recalling that wonderful experience, it occurred to me that I was in error concerning my aborted girls' night out (GNO) tonight. I erroneously stated that it would be "be my very first GNO with a genetic female."

Wrong!

When I was in Manhattan last June, I dined at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with one of the women from the workshop and her daughter.

During dinner, I did some outreach.

As I wrote last June, "While we dined, we talked about our lives and during a lull in the conversation, I asked her if she wanted to know about my transness.

"She admitted that she was dying to ask, but did not ask because she respected my privacy. I told her I love to talk about it and I proceeded to do so.

"She got 'it' as was evidenced by her questions."

Jane, a college professor from Kansas, was the first person to engage me in conversation at the workshop. That broke the ice for me and I turned a corner in my life that weekend and have never looked back.

playing with dolls

Yesterday's post "Barbie beats NASCAR" resulted in the following comment from Anonymous, "Boys have been playing with dolls - e.g., G. I Joe."

True, but in my opinion, there is a difference between a boy playing with a G. I. Joe doll and a boy playing with a Barbie doll, i.e., the boy playing with a Barbie probably has all the makings of becoming a girl.

I never played with a G. I. Joe doll because it came out after I stopped playing with toys, however, I did play with my sister's Barbie dolls when no one was watching.

My favorite Barbie outfit was the stewardess uniform. What boy playing with Barbie dolls back then didn't want to be a stewardess when he grew up?

I didn't become a stewardess, but I did become a girl, well sort-of.

Barbie beats NASCAR

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Tony’s femulations

Last night, I watched the Tony Awards television broadcast. I had no intention of watching the broadcast, but my timing was perfect.

When I switched to the channel broadcasting the Awards show, I found six tall and leggy showgirls performing. My T-dar became activated instantaneously and sure enough, the showgirls were from the Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles, so I decided to watch the show for any other femulations.

My decision paid off.  There was another performance from La Cage and the Awards host, Sean Hayes, appeared in Little Orphan Annie drag. The former was excellent, the latter, not so much.

you can call her Meg

Long time Femulate reader, Meg, plans to fly en femme for the first time and she is documenting the experience at her new blog, Call Me Meg.

I will be following her adventure closely because someday I may fly again and I'd prefer to do it en femme. I think Meg's will be an exciting and informative story, so check out Meg's blog for yourself.

like father, like son

Don't forget, Father's Day is only one week way, so make sure to give your Dad a Father's Day she will remember.

Instead of buying Dad a new tie or a bottle of wine, get her a gift certificate from Victoria's Secret or a bottle of Chanel No. 5. To make Dad's day complete, tell Dad to wear her most feminine outfit, then take Dad out to her favorite restaurant. It will be a Father's Day that she will never forget.

As always, click on the image to make it appear larger!

a friend in need

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I need to put on some weight

Last makeover, the makeover artist mentioned that my eyelashes are blond and thin. She suggested that I try an eyelash growth stimulator to add some heft to my lashes.

I checked out the available products and was taken aback by their price especially in light of some of the articles I have read on the Web that suggest that these products are snake oil.

Perusing the latest Avon catalog last week, my wife mentioned that Avon now has an eyelash growth serum in their product line. Since I am an Avon rep, the rep discount price for the product was very attractive, so I ordered a tube.

This product comes in a three-part tube. There is a sub-tube of mascara on one end, a sub-tube of eyelash serum on the other end, and the applicators are in the middle sub-tube. For what it's worth, one reviewer claims that "The mascara is the best that AVON sells."

My order arrived yesterday and last night, I began the regimen of applying the serum in the AM and PM. I will let you know the results in a couple of weeks.

one of those days

Do you ever wake up with a "hell with the world" attitude?

You feel like going to the closet, putting on your most feminine outfit, then going out in the world and letting the chips fall where they may?

That's the way I feel today! 

girl's not out

My girls' night out ended before it got started!

Don't know if it was a little transphobia or what, but after considering the matter for two days, my friend at work informed me that she had changed her mind and did not want to do a girls' night out with me.

I was very disappointed!

Her departing words were that she promised not to tell anyone about my trans-state, as if that was going to make me feel better!

girls' night out

My best female friend at work and I are doing a girls' night out (GNO) next Thursday!

It will be my very first GNO with a genetic female who happens to be a very attractive genetic female.

For starters, we plan to have a bite to eat and drinks. After that, we will play it by ear.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to the evening out with my friend.

my favorite things

The first item of women's clothing I ever wore were a pair of my mother's nylon stockings. I recall looking in the floor-length mirror mounted on the inside of her closet door and admiring my prepubertal hairless legs believing that they looked just like women's legs!

With my mother's closet door wide open, I noticed the stack of shoe boxes on the closet floor and I suddenly felt motivated to try on a pair of her high heel pumps. I opened a random box and found a pair in a floral fabric with a 3-inch heel. I slipped on the heels and they fit perfectly.

I looked in the mirror and the combination of nylons and high heels was exhilarating! Not only did my legs look like women's legs, but now they looked shapely and sexy, too!

I have been a big fan of high heels ever since. When en femme, I seldom wear anything else on my feet. Unless the occasion absolutely screams for flats, I wear heels.

Once upon a time, I thought that at 6-feet-2, wearing heels would make it more difficult to pass. But I came to the realization that if I can pass at 6-foot-2 wearing flats, then I can pass at 6-foot-6 wearing 4-inch heels.

I love wearing heels. They make my legs look more shapely and more importantly, I feel more feminine, more lady-like wearing heels. Wearing heels makes my femulation complete. I know it’s my late-1950s/early-1960s socialization that makes me feel this way, but that's me and I'm not changing shoe styles at this late date.

Genetic females often compliment me about my proficiency in walking in heels and ask if it was difficult learning how. Truth is that I took to heels like Daisy Duck took to heels.

As a child, my mother often mentioned that I walked on my tiptoes. I assumed that walking on my tiptoes was not the way a male was supposed to walk, but nobody ever taught me the "correct" way to walk. So I took the path of least resistance and continued to walk on my tiptoes.

I believe that my penchant for walking on my tiptoes made walking in high heels a natural thing to do. True or not, from day one, I never had a problem walking in heels.

Heels hurt. I have high heels that begin hurting as soon as I slip them on and I have heels that I can wear all day with little or no pain.
I discovered that the height of the heel is not critical as far as pain is concerned. Some of my most comfortable shoes have 4-inch stiletto heels. Go figure!

Despite the pain, I will never give up wearing heels; you will have to remove my high heels from my cold, dead feet.

dressing for work

At work, the mode of dress is business casual. Women tend to wear slacks or pants, seldom skirts or dresses. Same goes for the men.

I am not ready to come out at work (I may never be ready to come out at work). However, I have been considering wearing women's clothing to work. No skirts or dresses, but rather women's slacks and tops that are androgynous or unisexual; items of clothing that look masculine enough that the casual observer will not notice that they are actually women's clothing.

I already own women's flats that are unisexual and when the weather turns cooler, I have women's sweaters that can go either way.

I am unsure about the unmentionables to wear. Women's socks are a given, but what about knee-highs? Spanx will definitely be part of my wardrobe, but what about sports bras (I can use the support) and camisoles?

I already wear moisturizer and eye cream on a daily basis; I can definitely see adding a lip balm to the mix.

Getting a unisexual hairdo is another option and I have also been thinking about getting my ears pierced.

I think if I slowly introduce these feminine items into my wardrobe, my co-workers will not notice that I am wearing women's clothing.

The important thing is that I will know that appropriately I am wearing women's clothing.

Womanless News

Some readers suggested that I add a sidebar to the blog featuring womanless events.

Your wish is my command and Womanless News now appears in the left sidebar featuring the latest in womanless beauty pageants, fashion shows, weddings, Relay for Life events, etc. that you can view on the Internet.

a dream of a different color

I recalled another dream.

I do not remember the details of last night's adventure in dreamland, but I remember the dream had nothing to do with my trans state. The fact I was en femme throughout the dream was not an issue for me or anyone I encountered in the dream. Dressing en femme was the most natural thing in the world for me!

I call that "progress."

dreams

As I have mentioned here numerous times in the past, I seldom remember my dreams and the few that I do remember are usually trans-related. (For all I know, all my dreams may be trans-related!)

Last night, I had a trans-dream, which made me recall that I had a similar dream the night before.

Two nights ago, I dreamed I was returning home fully dressed after a night out en femme. However, home was the house where I grew up with my parents and not my current residence.

I recall getting out of the car and walking to the house while being concerned that the neighbors might see me. Then I woke up.

Fast forward to last night and I have the same dream, but instead of waking up after my concern about the neighbors, I made it inside the house. To my surprise, the house is full of friends and relatives.

I distinctly remember an aunt looking up and smiling at me, then my best friend comes into the room and warmly greets me. (As far as I know, most or all of these people are unaware of my trans-ness.) Then I woke up.