The caption of today's The Femulated: image reads "Dwayne Hoover, circa 1973." It should read "Harry LeSabre, circa 1973."
(At this time, I can publish this post, but I cannot access the caption editing function, otherwise, I would have fixed the caption without publishing this post.)
And so it goes.
Just for fun, I decided to compare what I wore to the Connecticut Outreach Society banquet in the past. I was surprised to learn that I have attended 12 banquets and to see how many different looks I managed to pull off!
I hope you will enjoy the banquet photo collage I put together. It represents the following years:
• Top Row:1997, 1999, 2001, 2002
• Middle Row: 2003, 2004, 2005,2006
• Bottom Row: 2007, 2008,2009,2010
(Click on the photo to enlarge the image.)
This young man seems so happy wearing high heels even on a rainy, windswept day that I had to share his joy with you. His photos appear on the High Heels For Men blog, one blog that I visit every day.
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| After my makeover before last year's banquet. |
Connecticut Outreach Society's annual banquet is Saturday evening. It is the biggest trans social event of the year in these parts and draws 50 to 75 trans people, their supporters, partners, admirers, etc. every year. A good time is had by all.
This year's after-dinner speaker is Ethan St. Pierre. I have not seen or heard from Ethan since Fantasia Fair, so I am looking forward to seeing him on Saturday.
I also look forward to seeing my favorite fashion consultant, Patty, before the banquet. She lives near the hotel and if our schedules are in sync, I usually stop by before the event to show off the results of her advice.
When I was less outgoing a few years ago, the banquet was a very big event for me. It was a rare opportunity to get dressed to the nines and socialize with my "girlfriends," who were similarly attired.
I was so closeted back then that I rented a room at the hotel, arrived in boy mode, and changed into girl mode in my room. When I was ready to make my way down to the banquet hall, I would look through the peep hole of my hotel room door to make sure no one was around. Then I would open the door slightly to see beyond what I could not see through the peep hole.
If all was clear, I would walk down the hall and hope that I would not encounter any civilians in the hallway or worse, in the elevator.
In the lobby, I would scurry as fast as my 4-inch heels would permit me to the banquet hall, check-in, and stay within the hall's confines until the event ended. If, heaven forbid, Mother Nature called, I would slink to the bathroom that the hotel designated for our kind of "girls."
Those days are long gone.
Now I dress at home, drive a half-hour to the hotel, walk the walk through the parking lot and lobby proudly strutting my stuff with no thought about avoiding civilians, male or female. During the banquet, I will repair to the lobby if the music is too loud to gossip with the girls and if Mother Nature calls, I use the most convenient ladies' room, not necessarily the one designated for our kind.
And the banquet is no longer the end-all and be-all event of the year for me. I am no longer stuck attending trans-only events; I relish all opportunities to really be myself out in the real world. But I still forward to the banquet to visit with friends, old and new.
I added this postcard to my female impersonator ephemera collection.
The postcard depicts the performers at New York City's 82 Club (also known as "Club 82") circa 1960. The nightclub was in the East Village at 82 East 4th St. It had a 20 year run and closed its doors for good in 1978.
"I Want To Be More Than Just A Man Or A Woman" appeared on Salon yesterday. It is a very interesting read, as are the comments that follow.
I am not sure what was the original intention of this early 20th Century postcard.
It follows the theme of the anti-suffrage propaganda, that is, if women got the right to vote, it would lead to a gender role reversal.
But the postcard makes no reference to the suffrage movement. So is it anti-marriage propaganda or simply a joke about the state of harried married males?
In any case, the male’s femulation is disappointing.
P.S. The woman in the before and after scenarios looks like the same woman, but the male looks different. In addition to wearing a dress, he looks shorter and has a mustache in the "after" scene.
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!
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!
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
