Hung Up On Hangers

I have bought a lot of clothes online from Spiegel and Newport News in the past, but now I can’t recall the last time I made a purchase from either outfit.

In the past, Spiegel and Newport News offered different lines of clothing; the Spiegel line was more expensive and usually of better quality than the Newport News line.

“Since 2004, Spiegel and the women's fashion catalog Newport News have operated under the name Spiegel Brands, Inc.” (source: Wikipedia)

During the past few years, the lines have been merging. I first noticed the merger in their footwear offerings; shoes Spiegel sold were also available from Newport News and vice versa. Now it seems their clothing lines are merging, too. As a result, Newport News' offerings are as expensive as Spiegel's offerings.

That doesn't bother me and is not the reason I stopped buying from Spiegel and Newport News.

Besides buying more in person in brick and mortar stores, the other reason I have not been buying from Spiegel or Newport News is because I do not like the way they display their clothing.

In the past, they showed models wearing the clothing they sold. Today, they show most of their offerings without models; their clothing looks as if it is on invisible hangers.

I don't know about you, but I prefer to see the clothing modeled by models, not wire hangers because I get a much better idea of how the clothes look on a real person when they are worn by a real person.

Buying from a catalog that does not use models is like buying clothing off the rack without trying the clothing on before purchasing.

Sure I know that the body of a model in the Victoria's Secret catalog in no way represents my body, but at least I can see how the clothing is supposed to look on a real person and gauge how it might look on me. Whereas clothing displayed on a hanger in a catalog tells me nothing except how it will look hanging in my closet!

Fashionista Trivia

How many fashionistas remember when Newport News was known as Avon Fashions?

The Importance of Femulating in Earnest

Regular Femulate contributor, Aunty Marlena e-mailed me about a femulation in a 2011 New York City production of The Importance of Being Earnest. In it actor Brian Bedford played the Lady Augusta Bracknell.

The Importance of Being Earnest with a crossdressed cast, Washington, D.C. 2010

I thought that was cool and I searched online for an image of Mr. Bedford in the Lady Bracknell role to use in The Femulated sidebar of this blog.

I was surprised to discover that over the years, males have often played Lady Bracknell. Online, I found 18 other productions of the play in which a male actor played Lady Bracknell. And I even found a 2010 Washington, D.C. production in which all the roles were played by the opposite sex (see photos)!

As a result, I will feature the better Lady Bracknell femulations in The Femulated slot all this week.

Stana’s Fashion Trands: Fringed Boots

I love these new fringed boots from ShoeDazzle!

Named "Callia" and available up to size 11 in red or black, this fringed faux-suede ankle boot has a 1.25" platform, 4" heel, and side-zipper.

And there is “Maki,” a faux-suede peep-toe ankle bootie with tassel accents and back zipper. It has a 0.5” platform and 3” heel and is available up to size 11 in black, brown, and purple (I love the purple).

I can’t decide which to buy --- Callia or Maki!

I'll Be Brief

My foundation wear these days consists of a Bali cami torset top, which is a cami with the front cut out to allow me to wear whatever bra I wish (usually something from Victoria's Secret). Below I wear a Bali high-waisted brief.

I have been very satisfied customer of these Bali Spanx clones, however, something new (to me) has appeared on the shapewear horizon. Bali has combined their cami torset top and high-waisted brief into one single piece of shapewear: the Bali Powershape Torset Body Briefer (see photo).

Avon has begun selling this new product and I ordered a sample. I will let you know how it works out as soon as I can.

 

Prehistoric Femulate

Out of the blue, I received an e-mail asking that I moderate a comment for a short-lived blog that I started almost two years before I started Femulate.

I was very surprised that that blog was still on the Internet, which makes me wonder what else is still on the Internet that I have forgotten about. (Archive.org’s Wayback Machine might have some other forgotten gems.)

If you are interested in viewing my prehistoric blog, here is the link: http://staci-staci.livejournal.com/

Chickenman

He's everywhere! He's everywhere!

This is my story about X, the fast food chain that sells chicken and whose owner has come out against same sex marriage.

Up front, you should know that I will not be boycotting X since it is highly unlikely I would ever patronize X because...

1) The closest X is over 70 miles away in New Jersey.

2) I seldom eat fast food. I think the last time I indulged was on my Dayton roadtrip in May.

If you have been reading this blog long enough, you will recall that three summers ago, I attended a four-day weekend creativity workshop in Manhattan. I spent over four days 24/7 en femme in The City and it was an epiphany for me. You can read about it here.

There were about 20 people attending the workshop. Most of the attendees were from the teaching, writing, and art fields, however, there were three guys who were ducks out of water: they were managers from the Atlanta home office of X.

Back then, I had never heard of X and I knew nothing of its owner's regard for the LGBT community. These three guys made it clear that they did not want to have anything to do with me. Whereas, the other attendees interacted with me throughout the workshop, these guys avoided me.

The only time any of the three interacted with me was when I was paired up with one of them during a workshop exercise. That one was polite, but all business. After the exercise, he would at least say “Hello,” but his two companions continued to avoid me.

That was my only contact with X, but it left an impression on me and the current brouhaha does not surprise me.

Lana, Gore and Stana

Yesterday, I referenced a report on The Huffington Post about the transition of film director Lana Wachowski (photo right).

Today, I refer you to a commentary about Lana’s transition written by Andrew O’Hehir on Salon.

Titled “Lana Wachowski’s quiet coming-out party,” it is well worth reading.

***

In other trans-related news, Gore Vidal, the author of Myra Breckinridge, died yesterday at the age of 98 86.

Oh, how well I remember reading Myra back in 1968 when I was a young budding femulator. The book was an eye opener and funny, too.

“The Matrix” Director Transitions

According to a report by Cavan Sieczkowsk in The Huffington Post today, “the director of The Matrix and the highly-anticipated film Cloud Atlas has become the first major Hollywood director to publicly come out as transgender. Lana Wachowski revealed she has transitioned while promoting her new film.”

Read the whole story here.

Waistline Deducting

My waistline is not apparent in boy mode. My bust, waist, and hip measurements are nearly equal.

Shapewear is my friend in girl mode. With shapewear, my bust and hip measurements increase a little and my waistline shrinks a little.

In yesterday's post about fall fashions, I mentioned that "under the cover of fallwear, women like us can use all sorts of shapewear and tape (surgical and duct) to mold our bodies into more feminine figures."

If I wear something low-cut and want to show cleavage, I use surgical tape to bring my girls closer together. It is very effective as can be seen here, and is painless until I remove the tape (OUCH!)

For a smaller waist, I depend on shapewear. Some shapewear is more effective than other shapewear in this department, but in all my years of femulating, nothing beats duct tape for reducing the waistline and flattening the stomach.

I used duct tape for waistline and stomach reduction about 15 years ago. Back then, I wore a longline bra and high-waist girdle and wrapped the duct tape over the girdle and bra for an amazingly small (for me) waistline.

Since the tape never touched my skin, it came off painlessly at the end of my femulation. The only problem was that the tape left a sticky residue on the girdle and bra that was impossible to remove completely. This necessitated ducting each time I femulated, otherwise the tape residue would stick to the clothes I was wearing. Since I did not want to duct my gut every time I femulated, I abandoned the trick and resigned myself to a thicker waistline.

Until now.

Online, I found a solution to the problem. Before applying duct tape, apply a layer of plastic wrap, then apply the duct tape over the plastic wrap. Using this method avoids the sticky residue; it also allows you to apply the plastic wrap-duct tape combo directly to your skin if you want to go without shapewear altogether or if you want to wear the shapewear over the duct tape to fine tune your figure.

By the way, it is best to use one continuous strip of duct tape for each go around your waist. Place the first strip of duct tape at the narrowest part of your waistline and apply the subsequent strips above and below the first strip.

I have used as few as three and as many as five strips of duct tape around my waist. Your mileage may vary to achieve a gorgeous hour-glass figure.

Avoiding Fall Fashion Failures

Fall fashions are my favorite.

I am not a summer person. I don't like the heat, hate humidity more, and dread summerwear because the clothes of summer are too revealing.

It is not that I mind showing a little skin, but it requires a lot of hair removal. For example, when I wear a skimpy bikini to the beach, it requires hours of depilation.

I prefer autumn. The clothes are less revealing and require less prep in the hair removal department. Also, under the cover of fallwear, women like us can use all sorts of shapewear and tape (surgical and duct) to mold our bodies into more feminine figures.

Although I prefer fall fashions, that does not prevent me from having fall fashion failures.

Don't you hate it when you see a dress on the rack that you like, try it on in the dressing room, conclude that it looks fab on you in the mirror image, pay for it, take it home, wear it out and then see photos of yourself wearing your fab find and discover from the photos that the dress looks awful on you?

Luckily, I found an article on Stylist that may prevent fashion faux pas this fall. In Fall Dressing for Your Body Type, Karen Klopp writes that the key to fashion success is "to embrace your body type and pick clothing that will flatter it, not fight it!" And her article tells you how to do it.

My body is apple shaped, that is, "fuller on top and in the midsection and slimmer on the bottom." The photos accompanying this post are what Ms. Klopp recommended for the apple-shaped.

I particularly like the DVF dress dress on the right, but with a $398 price tag at Nordstrom, I will shop for something similar.

Kate, Spence and Stana

My wife was watching a Katherine Hepburn film yesterday and she wondered if Kate had any kids.

I said I didn't know, but I mentioned that she was gay.

My wife retorted, "What about her affair with Spencer Tracy?"

I said Tracy was gay, too. The "affair" was something cooked up to cover up their real sexuality.*

Then we discussed how it is different today and how people are coming out all the time these days.

Wife said, "Not everybody. Would you go to work dressed as a woman?"

I replied, "Sure I would."

She had nothing more to say.

* Source: Bowers, Scotty (2012). Full service: my adventures in Hollywood and the secret sex lives of the stars. New York: Grove Press.

Lucky Guy

How Do You Shave?

I am always looking for better ways to get things done.

Face shaving can be a deal maker or breaker for a successful femulation. You could be dressed to the nines with a perfectly coiffed do and expertly applied makeup, but if your beard is visible. it ruins the femulation.

Currently, I use a Gillette Fusion manual razor with Edge shave gel to start the day. A new or nearly new blade in the razor gets me a very smooth shave that I have been unable to better using other products.

On those days when I am en femme 24/7, I touch up in the late afternoon or early evening with a Norelco rotary head electric razor. I use it without removing any makeup, then I touch up the makeup, which is a lot faster than removing my makeup, shaving, and then reapplying my makeup.

Assuming you are not one of those lucky girls who had electrolysis, how do you shave when you get ready to go out en femme? What products do you use? Do you use any tricks to to achieve absolute gorgeousness?

Please share your shaving modus operandi in the Comments section below.

Womanless Pick of the Week

Yeah. I know. You all are asking, "Where's last week's pick?"

Or, for that matter, the week before that?

Sorry.

Some weeks, the pickings are so slim that I can't pick.

And some weeks, I forget!

In either case, you can receive a full refund at the box office.

So, without further ado, this week's womanless pick of the week comes courtesy of Aunty Marlena, i.e., the 2011 edition of the People Unlimited Charities' Womanless Beauty Pageant.

By the way, People Unlimited will hold the 2012 edition of their womanless beauty pageant on Saturday, September 22 in Scottsdale, AZ.

Another by the way, in their ads for the events, People Unlimited call it a “womenless” beauty pageant, but everywhere else, they refer to it as “womanless.” Go figure!

The Other Side of My Closet

Janie's blog post today inspired me to write the following.

One side of my closet is fresh and vibrant, the other side, not so much.

On one side of my closet, new items appear regularly and old worn-out items are replaced.

On the other side of my closet, there is dust on some items; old worn-out items are not thrown out unless absolutely necessary and are seldom replaced.

Guess which side of the closet is which?

The girl side of my closet is growing, while the boy side remains the same. It has gotten so crowded on the girl side that I moved all my special occasion dresses to an unused corner of my wife's closet.

My collection of shoes and bags is getting out of hand, too, and I am storing some of those items in my wife's closet.

I have not bought anything new from the men's aisles since late last winter and that was on the occasion of my regular undies purge in which I throw out all of my boy panties and camies and replace them with a fresh set.

Although the boy side of my closet is old and neglected, I buy new items for the girl side all the time.

It's like I'm getting ready to live as a woman full-time.

Search Me

Reva suggested I add a search function to the blog.

Good idea!

Blogger has a gadget for that and I added it to the blog last night (at the top of the right sidebar).

Still More High School Yearbook Femulations

Starla passed along 76 new images for the Yearbook Femulations collection, which I uploaded to flickr today.

The following Yearbook sets have new images: Yearbook A (9 new), Yearbook C (3), Yearbook D (7), Yearbook E (6), Yearbook F (2), Yearbook G (1), Yearbook H (3), Yearbook I (1), Yearbook J (4), Yearbook K (1), Yearbook L (8), Yearbook M (4), Yearbook N (1), Yearbook O (5), Yearbook P (4), Yearbook R (3), Yearbook  S (6), Yearbook T (4), Yearbook U (1), Yearbook V (1), Yearbook W (2).

There are two ways to view the newest additions:

Method 1: Open one of the Yearbooks sets (A through Z) and you will find the newest uploads at the end/bottom of the set. (The oldest uploads appear at the beginning/top of the set.)

Method 2: Open my photostream and you will find the newest uploads at the top of page 1. The uploads get older as the page numbers get higher with the oldest uploads on the last page.

By the way, the contents of the Yearbook A through Z sets are organized according to school name, for example, the photos from Hard Knox High School would be in the Yearbooks H set.

Enjoy!

Fun at the Sun

Friday, I went to the Mohegan Sun casino to play slots and have fun.

It was a miserable drive from my home to the casino with heavy rain falling the entire trip. The bad weather and slowed traffic added almost 30 minutes to the normal 75-minute trip.

I arrived at the casino at 11 AM and found it busier for midday weekday than it has been in awhile. Either the economy is better or a lot of vacationers abandoned the nearby beaches of Long Island Sound for some dry indoor activities.

I played quarter slots for the first 90 minutes and was down about $10. After lunch, I switched to two-cents and one-cent slots and my luck improved. By the time I quit and headed for home, I had $248 more in my purse than when I arrived!

People-wise, I had one very interesting encounter. When I ate lunch --- a glass of seltzer and a salad topped with grilled chicken --- I sat at the bar rather than at a table in Big Bubba's BBQ because I wanted to check out all the breweriana on display behind the bar.

Half way through eating my salad, I had a new real life experience! A middle-aged guy sat next to me, ordered a beer, and began chatting with me.

I cleared my throat, spoke softly and held up my half of the conversation.

After about 10 minutes, I emptied my glass of seltzer and the guy asked me if he could buy me a drink.

"Where was this going?" I wondered. I did not want to find out, so I played the spoken-for card.

"No thank-you," I said, "I'm happily married."

"Is your husband here?" he asked.

"What difference does that make?" I asked.

"Well, he is a very lucky guy."

"Thank-you," I said.

"It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, too," I returned.

With that, he paid his bill and left the restaurant.

Wow!

There is nothing else unusual to report except that I noticed a few guys checking me out throughout the day. I interacted with other people, both male and female, customers and casino staff alike, and everyone treated me like a lady.   

The only negative thing about the day is that I forgot my camera. The accompanying photo is from my trip to Dayton in May. I basically wore the same outfit to the casino as in the photo. The only difference is that I wore a different pair of leggings; same color, but with lace-trimmed cuffs instead of zippered cuffs.

It was another wonderful day!

Up $248

I went to Mohegan Sun casino yesterday.

Played quarter, penny and two-penny slots.

Went home $248 ahead!

I will write more about my day later.

Casino Bound

I am going to the casino today. Wish me luck!