Happy Independence Day!

(Will Elder's rendition of Diana Prince in Mad #10)

three men out

fat lashes

On Sunday, I wrote about the Avon eyelash growth stimulator that I had been using for two weeks to make my lashes lusher.

I had not noticed much improvement at that point in time, but now I am happy to report that my persistence is paying off. About half way through Week 3 of the experiment, I suddenly noticed a significant improvement on the lash line. My lashes look fuller and longer even without mascara!

I will continue using the serum and let you know if there is further improvement. 

TV TV

overdressing

I am an overdresser.

There --- I admitted it. I got it off my chest and now I don't have to worry about people accusing me of being an "overdresser" because I have come out to the world about it.

It is hard to overdress when you attend a crossdresser support group meeting; many of the attendees overdress because the meeting may be their only opportunity to dress at all, so they dress to kill.

That being said, when attended crossdresser support group meetings, I was usually the most overdressed girl at the meeting. Hands down. No question about it.

I carried on my overdressing when I began going out in public en femme. The woman in a cocktail dress and high heels shopping at Wal*Mart --- that was me. The woman in the sequin evening gown seated in the centerfield bleachers at Fenway Park --- that was me. The woman in the little black dress and pearls dining at Taco Bell --- you guessed it --- that was me, too.

At first, I worried about it because overdressing drew attention to me and by drawing attention to me, civilians might scrutinize me too closely and figure out that I was packing something extra underneath my periwinkle bridesmaid gown.

I sure did not want to out myself, so I began toning it down. But I soon found out that toned-down dressing was Boring (with a capital B).

Blending in with all the other babes at Home Depot was just not my thing. I wanted to be outstanding in my field in heels, not flats.

So, I began overdressing again and I have never looked back because in the words of blogger Kate Fridkis, "Being overdressed is fun. You have to pull it off with confidence. You have to walk with your shoulders back, like you planned it. Like you're dressed up because you live a dramatic, impressive life. I mean, why not? Maybe you do."

Ms. Fridkis' "The Art of Overdressing" on The Huffington Post inspired this posting and I urge you to go read it yourself; maybe it will inspire you to buy a bright red dress to wear to the grocery store.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt wants to be a boy!

Did you hear the news that the 4-year-old daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt wants to be a boy?

Whether you did or not, I direct you to Mary Elizabeth William’s excellent commentary on the matter that appears in today’s Salon.

the joy of modeling

Many fashion models strut down the runway with expressions of "I wish I was anywhere but here" pasted on their faces.

Why not a smile or other indication that the model finds some enjoyment from wearing the clothing she is modeling?

Do the fashion models hate their jobs? Are they underpaid? Is modeling an onerous occupation?

I don't get it.

Personally, I find that the zombie-look that many models brandish detracts from the clothing they are modeling. A smile would do wonders to improve the overall presentation, don't you think?

Twice I was a fashion model and although I was nervous, I had a smile on my face because I enjoyed what I was doing and wanted to impart my joy to the audience. Most of my fellow trans-models did the same.

Maybe it is time to fire all the zombies (above left) and replace them with T-girls (above right) who love dressing like women!

next time outfit

I plan to go out en femme and this is the outfit I plan to wear.

I have a black and white bag that will go nicely with this outfit. And instead of the black tights and pumps, I might wear suntan pantyhose and black and white strappy sandals.

putting on weight

Back on June 11, I mentioned here that I was going to try to add some heft to my skinny eyelashes and that I purchased an eyelash growth stimulator from Avon to do the job.

For over two weeks, I have been religious about applying the serum each morning and evening. It was difficult to detect any difference because my eyelashes are blond, so yesterday, I took a black mascara to my lashes to see if the serum was doing any good.

It looks like there is some improvement, but it is not overwhelming.

I will continue applying the serum twice a day until it runs out and keep you all updated on my lash progress.

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.