Ups and Downs

I had a TurboTax weekend and managed to almost finished my taxes with the government owing me money. Yay!

There was just one loose end: a tax-related document from my employer that I did not understand and could result in me getting back less money from the government or actually owing money. I didn't lose any sleep over it, but I did lose sleep because my body clock was still confused by the switch to Daylight Saving Time. Boo!

I resolved the issue first thing this morning at work; it turned out that the document had no effect on my taxes. Yay!

Then I met with my boss for my annual review. This was my first review from this boss, who replaced my old boss last December. My review was a stinker. It was the worst review I've received since I began working for this company 13 years ago. Boo!

My previous 12 reviews were all excellent reviews, so did my work suddenly turn into garbage during the past year?

Go figure!

The Women, More or Less

Aunty Marlena kindly sent me this link to an online back issue of Life magazine dated December 21, 1942. In a nutshell, it's an article about an all-male cast of soldiers en femme performing Clare Boothe Luce's  all-female satire The Women.

Enjoy!

Stuck in an Online Fashion Rut?

Ginger Burr is an image consultant who presented at a Connecticut Outreach Society meeting in October. She was very good, so I subscribed to her e-mail list, where she offers advice to improve your female visage.

Since so many of us girls depend on online resources to shop for our feminine wardrobes, I thought Ginger's advice today was particularly relevant: Are You Stuck in an Online Fashion Rut?

I hope you find her advice useful (I did).

He’s a perfect size 12

50 Best Blogs For Gender Studies Majors

I just received an e-mail informing me that Online Colleges & Universities has included Femulate in its list of "50 Best Blogs For Gender Studies Majors." Femulate was number 6 in the "Transvestism, Crossdressing and Drag" category and is described thusly, "Cross-dressers new and experienced alike looking for fashion and makeup tips would do well to check out Femulate's awesome content."

For what it’s worth, two years ago, Bachelors Degree Online included Femulate in its list of the "Top 100 Gender Studies Blogs." Femulate was number 11 in the "Gender Identity and Sexuality" category.

And so it goes.

I'm Back

I have returned from my two-day birthday hiatus.

Yesterday, my family took me to the casino (in boy mode) to celebrate my birthday. I had a great day and it made it less painful turning another decade on the oldometer.

One of my trans friends works at the casino (in boy mode), but I have never run into her there... until yesterday.

As soon as we arrived at the casino, I recognized her in boy mode and greeted her. She greeted me back, but I could sense that she had no clue as to who I was; it took her a few seconds before she recognized me in boy mode, then we acted like the old friends we are.

It was one of those moments that are reserved for girls like us.

How Compatible!!!

A New Yorker cartoon parody.

Coming Up

Updated Saturday Morning

You have asked me to list upcoming transgender conventions.

So I compiled a list of the stateside conferences and conventions I am aware of that will occur during the next 12 months. If I missed anything, let me know.

By the way, by "conventions" I am referring to multi-day events that include a mix of educational and social events as opposed to one or two-day "conferences" that are more or less strictly educational.

• March 9-13, 2011 - Harrisburg, PA - The Keystone Conference
• April 15-17, 2011 - Warner Springs, CA - Circles
• April 30, 2011 - Farmington, CT - Transgender Lives: The Intersection of Health and Law Conference
• May 4-7, 2011 - Albany, NY - The Empire Conference
• May 15-20, 2011 - Port Angeles, WA - Espirit 2011
• May 31 - June 5, 2011 - Chicago, IL - Be-All
• June 2-4, 2011 - Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference
• Aug. 5-7, 2011 - Seattle, WA - Gender Odyssey
• Sept. 20-25, 2011 - Atlanta, GA - Southern Comfort Conference
• Oct. 16-23, 2011 - Provincetown, MA - Fantasia Fair
• Nov. 11-13, 2011 - Springfield, MA - Transcending Boundaries
• Jan. 2012 - Boston, MA - First Event
• Feb. 2012 - Denver, CO - Colorado Gold Rush

More March En Femme

Yesterday, I wrote about my plans to dress to the nines for the Connecticut Outreach Society banquet on March 26.

I also have plans to dress en femme even sooner, but my plans are a little indefinite.

On Tuesday, I become 60-something (rather than 50-something). So I am taking a few days off from work to celebrate the milestone (or is it "millstone"). And I plan to go to the Mohegan Sun casino en femme one evening during the extended weekend to celebrate, but I am not sure which evening.

I know what I am going to wear --- my new sweater dress from Vicky's (see photo), but I don't know when just yet because the weather forecast is not cooperating.

So I may have to postpone my night out until the weather is more cooperative.

March En Femme

The worst of winter is over. Spring is less than three weeks away. And this young (at heart) girl's thoughts are all about getting out more en femme now that the weather is compatible. (I don't know about you, but I find it daunting to drive a car with a manual transmission on icy roads while wearing 5-inch stilettos.)

March is very promising.

The local support group, Connecticut Outreach Society, hosts the transgender social event of the year in this area: their annual banquet on the 26th in Meriden. A cocktail hour, dinner, after-dinner speaker Ethan St. Pierre, awards presentations, live entertainment, and dance music provided by a DJ is an excuse for this girl to don her prettiest dress and join the fun.

I had two cocktail dresses in mind to wear to the banquet, so last night, I tried them on to decide which to wear and how to accessorize. They both looked nice, but one was not dressy enough for the "transgender social event of the year." The other was dressy enough, but I had worn it to two dressy events I attended in the fall and I did not want to be seen wearing it again so soon after those events.

So I rummaged through my wardrobe to find something else to wear. I found a dress that I bought at Dress Barn back in December 2008 that I never wore out in public because I thought it looked better on the rack than on me. But, what the hay, I tried it on.

The dress has a ribbon belt and whenever I tried it on in the past, I wore the belt. Last night I forgot about the belt and the dress looked completely different. In fact, it looked beautiful and it is the dress I will wear to the banquet.

Like I said, the banquet is the trans social event of the year in Connecticut. If you are in the area and interested in spending an evening socializing with some of the classiest ladies in the Tri-State area, consider attending the banquet. (Here is the banquet registration form.)

I hope to see you there!

Putting On The Dog

A New Yorker cartoon parody.

Sizing Me Up

Sheila from Tampa left the following comment to my Foundations of Femulation post:

Question: When you order slimming foundation garments and check the sizing charts, do you order the size indicated by your current dimensions, or do you order one size smaller (since you are hoping to have the garment give you temporary new smaller dimensions)? I will appreciate your sage advice.

My reply was that "it's complicated" and would require a whole blog post to answer her question. This post is it.

Caveat emptor: This is what works for ME; your mileage may vary.

For girdles, waist cinches, and lower torso shapewear, I get a size that is about 6 to 8 inches smaller than my natural waist measurement. On my body, the result is about half-way in between, that is, a garment that is 6 to 8 inches smaller than my waist measurement reduces my waistline by 3 to 4 inches.

It took me a long time to find the right size bra. I finally sought out expert advice.

Two separate bra fittings by professionals indicated that I should wear a bra that is about 4 inches smaller than my natural breast measurement with either a B or C cup (depending on the bra style).

Again, what works for me, may not work for you.

Modeling Lessons

Photos are a "girl's" best friend.

Like many of you, I shoot photos of my femulations and have been doing so ever since I was a teen-aged "girl."

Perfectionist that I am, I use the photos to see how I can make improvements in my presentation.

Narcissist that I am, I use the photos to see how feminine I look.

Whatever the reason, I feel that there is always room for improvement in my photo modeling skills. My "good" photos often seem to be the result of pure luck.

It's true that digital camera "film" is cheap, but it would be nice to get two or three keepers out of every ten photos I shoot instead of just one. After all, I am absolutely gorgeous (LOL), so I must be doing something wrong!

I subscribe to Daily Makeover and yesterday they offered a slide show of tips of "How To Tale A Red Carpet Worthy Photo."

I thought that the tips were very useful and I am anxious to try them out during my next photo shoot. Hopefully, they will result in more consistency in the quality of my photos.

Blame It On Chemtrails

A New Yorker cartoon parody.

Shopping For "Her"

A New Yorker cartoon parody.

The Latest Way Of Demeaning Real Women Is A Male Model Dressed As A Girl

Fashion's ultimate insult to women. Read all about it here.

Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned

Jones sent me this cartoon from the September 1974 issue of Playboy. It made me laugh out loud; I hope you will have a good laugh, too.

Happiness Is A Warm Falsie

Foundations of Femulation

I have always been voluptuous, buxom, full-figured, whatever; I have never been fashion model thin or even close to it.

So foundation garments are my friends. They shape and mold my flesh into a womanly figure to help sell my femulation.

I have been femulating for about five decades and during that time, I have tried a variety of foundation garments.

Early on, when I was borrowing lingerie from my mother, bras and girdles were my mainstays. Mom owned a variety of girdles, but stuck with one style of bra, i.e., the traditional white, shoulder-strapped, rear-fastening style.

I tried them all and had my favorites. When I began shopping for my own foundation garments, I stuck to bras and girdles like Mom owned ("like Mother, like Son").

That is until I visited a lingerie shop in Kingston, NY. The little lady who ran the shop probably had seen it all, so when I mentioned I needed some foundation garments for my Halloween costume, I don't think she believed me. However, she was very helpful and after measuring me up, she suggested a heavy-duty all-in-one and handed me two models to try on.

The first all-in-one did nothing for me, but the second one did wonders. The proprietor insisted on examining me wearing the all-in-one and after giving me the once-over, she gushed about my great girlish figure. I enjoyed the compliment, but I was a little embarrassed and could not pay and get out of the shop fast enough.

I was sold on all-in-ones and wore them until they more or less stopped selling the heavy duty models. The lighter duty models were still available, but just did not have the same molding and shaping power of the heavy duty models, so I had to find something else.

I experimented with different things and finally found a combination that approximated an all-in-one: a longline bra, a high-waisted brief girdle, and a corset-style waist cincher. That was a heavy duty combination that, at times, was uncomfortable, but it worked and I stuck with that combo for a dozen years.

Spanx came along and I was intrigued, but I did not indulge in that modern line of shapewear until Avon started selling Bali's Spanx clone. With my Avon rep discount, I decided to try a high-waisted brief.

Wow!

Shapewear had come a long way; the Bali brief did a better job than the trio of foundation garments I had been wearing. Initially, I wore longline bras with the high-waisted brief, but after getting fitted for a "Bombshell" bra at Victoria's Secret, I dumped the longline bras and began adding Bombshells to my wardrobe.

Recently, I added Bali's cami torset top to the mix. It is a cami with the front cut out to allow you to wear whatever bra you wish. Meanwhile, it smooths out your back and eliminates the back fat that has long been an issue that I thought I would never conquer.

It took a half century, but I am finally all set! I now have a very womanly figure sans hormones or surgery.

Dr. Phil Is A Pill

Read why here.