summertime blues… no more

Summer was my favorite season until I began going out en femme in the late 1980s.

Back then, going out en femme meant attending support group meetings. However, there were no meetings during the summer because the meeting hall was not air-conditioned and the fear was that the average femulator in wig, makeup, and foundation garments, would melt away without air-conditioning.

I bought into the summer meltdown theory and did not dress en femme during the summer. As a result, I could not wait for summer to end so that I could start dressing again in the fall and I began to hate summers.

In the ensuing years, I had a few occasions to go out en femme on hot summer-like days in the spring and fall and lo and behold, I discovered that I did not melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West. I did glisten, but the heat was never a deal-breaker. So my attitude gradually changed and now I no longer shun summer forays en femme.

More significantly, I realized that genetic women can not pick and choose which days to be women; they are women in all kinds of weather. So, if I am truly the woman that I feel that I am, I must be that woman in rain, snow, sleet, hail, and heat, as well as on nice mild sunny days.

get the Get Smart look

I was not a fan of the 1960s television series Get Smart, but I occasionally watched an episode because I admired the look and style of Agent 99, as played by Barbara Feldon.

I liked the 2008 Get Smart film more than the old television series because I admired the look and style of Agent 99, as played by Anne Hathaway, even more than Barbara Feldon's take on Agent 99.

Makeup artist Napoleon Perdis wrote a piece in The Huffiington Post describing how to achieve the look of Anne Hathaway's Agent 99, as well as some other film femme fatales, most notably Angelina Jolie in the new film Salt.

You can read his informative article here.

coincidentally

I made a Wal*Mart run during lunch today to buy food for the menagerie.

The shoppers at this particular Wal*Mart are a diverse bunch especially during the lunch hour. In addition to your normal Wal*Mart crowd, there is a mix of better-dressed girls and boys from the various corporate parks in the area.

As I was wheeling my cart towards check-out, I admired a nicely-dressed woman in a skirt set and heels. Suddenly I realized she was wearing the exact same skirt set that I recently bought at JCPenney (see photo and click on it to see it better)!

I never before ran into a woman wearing the same clothes I own. Moreover, it was weirdly coincidental in light of my previous blog posting!

maybe both

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Tall Tuesday

Tuesday bring three new tall additions to our Famous Females of Height List:

5'8" actress Merrin Dungey of King of Queens television fame

5'9" actress Elizabeth Regen, brought to you by DLM

5'10" Victoria's Secret model Doutzen Kroes, whose image accompanies this post.

Also, a correction moves actress Amanda Byrnes down two notches from 5'10" to 5'8".

why men prefer T-women over G-women

“It is known that most of the bisexual and straight men are mad after transgender people, but why is it so?”

That is the question asked and answered in yesterday’s posting on Dark Q’s Gay Blog.

It is a good read, makes sense, and I recommend that you read it, too.

a good question

Click on the image to enlarge it.

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

Click on the image to make it larger.

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

Click on the image to enlarge it.

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!