Just Average

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

All-Woman

I have lived in the same area of Connecticut all my life and I have never seen a month of winter weather like the past 31 days! In that time, we had seven snowstorms resulting in a snowfall total of over 5 feet!

The weather has played havoc on my plans to go out. Yesterday, I mentioned cancelling my day trip to First Event because of the weather. Other plans have met similar fates.

It snowed again (10 inches) early yesterday morning, so I worked from home rather than commute to the office.

While clearing the snow from my driveway at noontime, I decided I had had enough; I made up my mind to go out en femme in the evening.

Late in the afternoon, I shaved, showered, did my makeup, and dressed to go out. I wore my Victoria's Secret green sweater dress, brown tights, open-toed snakeskin high heel pumps, and matching snakeskin patterned scarf. I also wore my white fake fur jacket and brown designer knock-off bag.

If you think wearing high heels is an adventure, try it when there is snow, slush, and ice in your path. But I toughed it out for the sake of fashion!

I drove to a very nice Chinese restaurant in the next town. It was about one-quarter full of customers. No one paid me any mind (that I noticed).

My waiter was very polite and called me "Miss." I had a very pleasant dinner and at the end, the waiter presented me with a free dessert: a ball of coconut ice cream.

After dinner, I touched up my lipstick and drove to a nearby Fashion Bug. It was very quiet in the “Bug” --- only one other customer.

The sales staff was very attentive. One saleswoman tried to convince me to be measured and fitted for a pair of a figure-hugging jeans.

I was interested, but I was not sure how I could try on jeans when I was wearing a dress. I had no spare top, so I figured that I would have to strip down to my bra and body shaper. Normally, that would not bother me, but I had not removed enough body hair to strip down to that degree, so I politely turned her down.

I spent about a half hour browsing through the store. I really wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I did find some clip-on earrings that I liked and purchased.

At check-out, I used my Fashion Bug credit card. The cashier, who was the same person who tried to fit me for jeans, asked for additional identification.

I assumed the she was aware I was a male en femme, so I thought nothing about handing her my driver's license.

She looked at it and asked, "Is this your husband?"

"Uh oh," I thought to myself.

"No, that's me," I replied.

She finally realized reality and burst out, "Oh my, God, you look fantastic!"

"Thank-you," I said.

As she was checking me out, she added, "You know, we have other male customers, who dress as women, and I spot them right away, but I never would have guessed you were a guy! You not only look like a woman --- you move like a woman, you talk like a woman, you act like a woman --- you’re all-woman!”

With that, my high heels never touched the slush as I walked on air out of the store and drove home.

New Do

I planned to spend the day at First Event last Friday, but I canceled my plans because the weather forecast did not look promising.

When it snows, I avoid driving especially over long distances. (First Event is about 130 miles away, which is a very long distance in a snowstorm.)

As it turned out, it did snow early Friday morning, so I did not cancel my plans for nothing.

I figured that one day at First Event would have cost me about $75 (including meals and a tank of gas to get there and back).

With 75 unspent dollars burning a hole in my knock-off designer bag, I decided to invest the money in a new hairdo.

Here Comes the Male Bride

This femulation is so amazing that words escape me, so I will let Pedestrian TV do the talking, "The expeditious career trajectory of Australian man-model Andrej Pejic has reached rock star status in the fashion industry after he closed Jean Paul Gaultier's show - in a tulle-ensconced bridal gown no less! - at Paris Couture Fashion Week yesterday."

Now For Something Slighly Different

Meg of Call Me Meg fame sent me this link to a beauty pageant that included women competing as men, as well as the usual men competing as women.

The "girls" shaved their legs, painted their nails, and wore their highest heels for the January 20 event, which was a fundraiser for the Medical College of Georgia Children's Hospital.

Beyond His Portfolio

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Gender Ambiguity in Advertising

"See those two hot blonds in Jean Paul Gaultier's new ad? Surprise! It's not two ladies."

Read and see more on The Huffington Post.

Feminization of Male Fashions

Last week, androgynous fashion model Andrej Pejic walked the runway in a men's fashion show wearing an outfit that included a belted fur dress, high heel pumps, stockings, jewelry, makeup, and a Veronica Lake peek-a-boo hairdo.

In case you missed it, I'll repeat it: he was modeling this decidedly "feminine" outfit in a MEN'S fashion show!

What's going on here?

Does this mean we will soon find dresses and high heel pumps on sale at our favorite men's boutique?

Or is this just another anomaly in the fashion world, which is chock full of anomalies?

During the past few years, fashion designers have been pushing the envelope in the men's fashion arena by showing skirts and dresses for males.

In the more distant past (the last half of the 20th Century), showing masculine skirts and dresses grabbed headlines, but few customers.

Things have changed and males are buying and wearing skirts and dresses today. Not a lot, but a few. You likely will not see a guy in a skirt on the streets of Podunk, but visit some place more cosmopolitan like New York City and you will occasionally see a male wearing a masculine skirted garment.

Masculine skirts and dresses are one thing, but the outfit that Andrej Pejic modeled last week was a horse of a different gender; the only thing masculine about it was the fact that a male was modeling it.

Does this very "feminine" male outfit mean that designers have pushed the envelope so hard that has broken wide open?

It depends.

The designer breaking the envelope is Jean Paul Gaultier, and he has been playing with traditional gender roles in his shows like forever. So it is no surprise that Gaultier would show the "feminine" outfit that Andrej Pejic modeled.

Was Gaultier seriously proffering total feminization for males or was he playing gender games again using a very pretty androgynous model?

Maybe a little bit of both.

Anyway, I promise to keep doing my part.

More or Less Womanly

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Becoming Is In the Eye Of the Beholder

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Andrej Pejic Femulates in Men's Fashion Show

Paris — Androgynous fashion model Andrej Pejic walked the runway yesterday in Jean Paul Gaultier's men's fashion show wearing a dress, heels, and other accoutrements usually associated with females.

Amazing! Isn't this a great time to be a femulator!

German Tootsie

Hansi e-mailed me that a German version of the film Tootsie is in the works. The name of the film is Rubbeldiekatz and stars Matthias Schweighöfers in the role made famous by Dustin Hoffman in 1982.

Hansi wrote that some weeks ago, she read in the news that Schweighöfers started training to walk in heels and during the 'Fashion Week AW 2011/12' in Berlin, he showed up femulated to film some scenes during that event.

The accompanying photo is the actor as he appeared at Fashion Week. You can find more photos here.

In my humble opinion, I much prefer Schweighöfers' femulation to Dustin Hoffman's.

To Do: One Down, Ten To Go

I have already accomplished one of the eleven items on my January 1st To Do List: get rid of my back fat

I learned how at Fantasia Fair back in October when I attended the "Essence of Style: Image Consulting" workshop run by Hera Navassardian. During the workshop Q&A, I asked how to get rid of back fat.

One of Hera's assistants, who also femulates on occasion, explained how she does it: she hides it using shapewear.

I made a mental note.

I recalled the mental note when I tried on the Victoria's Secret sweater dress I bought myself for Christmas. It fit like a glove and revealed my back fat.

Coincidentally, the new Avon catalog was selling a Bali shapewear camisole that let you wear your own bra, while claiming that it "Flattens tummy, smoothes back… solves dilemmas."

I ordered an XL in black.

When it arrived, I thought I was going to need a bigger cami, but it stretched to fit and worked as advertised: my back fat was gone!

I am going to order a second one in beige.

Does that make me ‘Charlotte Sr.’?

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Facebook Now Sharing Your Address and Phone Number

Updated Below

I just deleted my Facebook account after reading this article on Salon, which revealed that Facebook is now sharing my home address and telephone number with third party developers.

"In a platform upgrade on Friday, Facebook announced that these 'new user object fields' were free game for anyone and even gave detailed instructions on how to access users' addresses and phone numbers."

That was the last straw.

Although I had over a thousand Facebook "friends," I rarely used the service, so deleting my account was not a big sacrifice.

By the way, Facebook makes it easy to deactivate your account, which will temporarily hide your information until you reactivate it, but they make it more difficult to permanently delete your account.

So, here is a short-cut for permanently deleting your account: log in to your Facebook account, paste the following URL into your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account

and follow the subsequent directions.

UPDATE: After reading some of your comments, I reconsidered. Luckily, my account deletion did not take affect yet (it can take up to 14 days), so I reactivated my account and made my personal information as impersonal as possible.

Laddies First

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

Top Chinese Femulators

You must check out Helen Boyd's blog today for the top ten femulators in China.

All I can say is, "Wow!"

"She" Should Know

(A New Yorker cartoon parody.)

A Red Letter Sweater Day

Last night, the temperature was down to 11°F in my neighborhood and down to 5°F where I work. The forecast was that the temperature would rise to about 20°F today, so I decided to wear my warmest sweater to work.

A red ribbed turtleneck is the warmest sweater I own. I bought on clearance in the women's department at the Gap.

I am unsure whether the sweater looks that feminine. It is like the one in the photo to the right except that my sweater is a brighter shade of red.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I received a compliment ("Nice sweater") at work this morning... from a guy!

Dear Stana: What About Long Nails in Boy Mode?

Dear Stana,

I absolutely love your blog and visit it several times a week. I really appreciate the time you put into making your page worth a look and keeping it updated. Those comics are hysterical!

Now I must ask, as much as you are out and about and somewhat "open" at work, would you share your opinion on guys with long nails?

I do wear my nails long, and they have been getting longer as I've been getting braver. Today, in a meeting with two females, the more masculine one called me on it. She said "you need to clip your nails, why are they so long?"

I told her they were to claw her eyes out. The other girl remarked she must really know me well to make that kind of comment.

My employer prides itself on embracing diversity and I have little care for what "the company" would say, but it's individuals like this that make me stop and think about what I am doing. I feel sure more people have noticed, but have respectfully withheld comment.

I do love having long nails to polish on the weekend when I have more time to femulate. Do you have any thoughts?

Keep up the great work!

Robyn

Hi Robyn,

Thank you for the kind words!

I wear false pre-glued stick-on nails (Kiss brand) mainly because I never got the hang of polishing my own nails under the gun. However, for six or eight months a few years ago, I did grow my own nails out to a feminine length.

I never worried about what my co-workers thought about my nails. If one asked about my nails, I would point-blankly respond that my nails are long because I dress as a woman on weekends.

Either they thought I was joking and laughed at my response or they didn't know what to think. In either case, I never was asked twice by the same person.

As long as you keep your nails neat and clean, no one should have any complaints about them. I am a little surprised that your co-worker said that about your nails. She had a lot of nerve!

I say, you go, girl and wear your long nails and the public be darned!

Best Wishes,

Stana

Need advice concerning femulation or other crossdressing-related matters, then e-mail me and I will happily give you my opinion on the matter. My e-mail address is stana-stana at sbcglobal.net.