Shopping Spree

Tuesday morning, the weather forecast looked foreboding especially for someone who hates to drive in the snow. I figured my all-wheel-drive Subaru would get me through any white stuff that tried to ruin my day, so I went forward with my plans.

The temperature was supposed to be in the 30s all day long, so I dressed appropriately. I wore a blue Victoria's Secret sweater dress that I bought years ago on clearance, but had never wore because I was not sure it looked good on me.

I don't know why I thought that because when I put it on Tuesday morning, I thought it looked fine. Maybe losing weight since I bought that dress made a difference. Along with the dress, I wore my unmentionables, nude hosiery, black booties, silver jewelry, black bag, fake lynx fur coat and the short auburn wig I wore last time out.

I was out the door at 9:45 AM; it was snowing lightly with no accumulation on the ground. I drove to Tonkin's Wigs in Waterbury and arrived just before owner Kathy Tonkin opened the shop.

Kathy has always done me right and I trust her to find the perfect wig for me. She asked if I had anything in mind.

I replied that I liked the auburn wig I was wearing, but wanted something longer.

The first wig Kathy found for me was in the ballpark, but not a home run. The second wig was a grand slam. It is a "Kiera" from Tony of Beverly in the color "wineberry" also known as “chestnut red.” The wig is a little bit retro and a little bit mod.

"Kiera is a fashion forward mid-length. The Hollywood wave. A modern interpretation of lush layered curls. The angled bangs are styled smooth for a cool contrast."

I loved it and did not need to try on another wig. Kathy styled it, I paid for it and wore it out the door.

Next stop was Goddess Plus Size Consignment. I had been in the shop twice in boy mode with my wife when she was looking for a new bag. Now I was solo, en femme, also looking for a new bag, but not just any bag --- I wanted a designer bag.

I perused the display case containing the designer bags that the store had for sale. A black bag caught my eye and I asked the saleswoman to take it out of the case so I could examine it.

It was a B. Makowsky satchel for $80 (it cost $250 new). I examined the bag closely and it was brand new. It still had a B. Makowsky advertising booklet inside, as well as a cloth bag to protect it during storage. I decided to buy it.

Then, I perused the clothing racks and found two dresses that I liked. I took them to a dressing room to try them on.

The first dress I tried on was a New York & Company sleeveless zebra print with ruched sides along the skirt and ties to tighten or loosen the ruched sides, which in effect, shortens or lengthens the hem. It fit perfectly and looked ok in the dressing room mirror, but I wanted to look at the dress in the semi-circle of mirrors that the store had outside the dressing stalls.

I stepped out of the stall, walked to the semi-circled and twirled slowly to see the dress at all angles. The saleswoman thought it looked great on me and I agreed. And it only cost $6!

The second dress was a Dress Barn black sequins sleeveless cocktail dress with a $39 price tag. It also fit well and looked good in the dressing room mirror, but I wanted to see it in the semi-circle of mirrors, too.

As I twirled slowly in the semi-circle, the store owner said my arms looked perfect in the dress. No one had ever praised my arms before! Then she added that my legs were perfect, too.

I bought both dresses and the bag and was very pleased with my shopping experience.

I have no idea if the folks at Goddess knew I was trans, but the store has a reputation of being supportive of the trans community and the staff treated me like a lady. The store has a wide range of clothing in plus sizes, as well as shoes, bags, jewelry and other accessories.

I highly recommend visiting Goddess if you are in the Waterbury area. And while you are in the Waterbury area, I also highly recommend Tonkin's Wigs --- Kathy Tonkin has a great eye for knowing which wigs and colors look best on you and like I said earlier, she has never done me wrong.

The snow was now falling more heavily and accumulating on the ground, but not the road, so I continued on to Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven to do outreach. About half way to New Haven, the snow transitioned to rain and all was right with the world as far as I was concerned.

THE FEMULATED:

Comedians Tim Conway and Flip Wilson femulating on television’s
The Flip Wilson Show, 1972.

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Smythe (jacket) and Madewell (dress).

The Return of the Elusive Leopard

This girl needs a nice pair of beige pumps. So I visited Nine West to see what they had for sale in beige in my size.

I liked their “Flute” (above left), which is a “peep toe pump with all leather upper. 4 1/2" heel and 3/4" platform.” They had it in my size (12) and I ordered a pair.

While I was on the website, just for the heck of it, I checked out their “Fortonight” (above right), which the last few hundred times I checked, was sold out in my size.

They must have restocked because the “round toe pump with 4 1/2" heel and 1" platform” was now available in my size!!! I could not order a pair fast enough.

Both pairs were on sale, too.

I hope they fit. Nine West size 12s always have fit me in the past, so there is an excellent chance these will too.

UPDATE: They arrived today and are a perfect fit!

THE FEMULATED:

Two women circa 1910, one a female (left) and one a male (right).

 

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Diane von Furstenberg.

Out Tuesday

I will spend Tuesday en femme.

In the morning, I plan to go shopping. First, I have an appointment at my favorite wig store to get a new do. Afterwords, I plan to visit a local consignment shop that specializes in clothing for voluptuous girls.

In the afternoon, I will attend two Human Sexuality classes at Southern Connecticut State University to do outreach.

After outreach, I may get a bite to eat if the weather is cooperative. (Snow and rain showers are in the forecast for Tuesday.)

THE FEMULATED:

Male femulates at a lavender graduation.

FEMULATE HER:Wearing Victoria’s Secret.

One Big Event One More Time

I asked MaryEllen Fillo at the Hartford Courant if she would send me the original electronic version of my photo that appeared in the print edition of the newspaper on Tuesday. She graciously e-mailed me the photo and here it is.

MaryEllen was the photographer of the photo and here you can read the online version of her article that the photo accompanied.

Have You Girls Done This Before?

Starla has been hard at work digging through online high school yearbooks. She has uncovered 65 additional images documenting boys being girls and I uploaded the images to flickr to view.*

This set has some interesting things going for it.

The Beaumont (TX) High School femulation dates back to 1938!

There are some excellent femulations in addition to the sample images above. Check out the girls of Lackawanna, Lake Mary and Lakeside High Schools, who had their natural hair done in female styles. Also, note Stagg High School's Steve Wilson and her all-out effort (check out her nails) for Halloween and not some womanless event.    

Which begs the question, "Have you girls done this before?"

And the next question, "Will you do it again?"

* 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.

THE FEMULATED:

Ken Carson prepares to femulate.

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Ramy Brook.

Stana in the News

Out of the blue yesterday, I received an e-mail from Femulate reader Victoria asking if I had seen my photo from One Big Event in the print edition of the Hartford Courant.

I don't subscribe to the Courant, so I missed.

Victoria and my friend Robin kindly scanned the pertinent page of the newspaper (page D6 of the November 20 edition) and e-mailed their scans to me (see above).

Wow! I guess this is a milestone of some sort. And it is definitely so cool to have my en femme photo published in the oldest continuously-published newspaper in the USA!

By the way, the Courant published other photos of the event online.

THE FEMULATED:

 

Dagwood Bumstead, reluctant femulator, 1943 

FEMULATE HER:

 

Wearing Macy’s

Models Crossing the Gender Divide

You already know about Andrej Pejić and Stav Strashko, the pretty male models who model womenswear.

Well, I just learned about a female model, Casey Legler (above left), who models menswear.

And a 72-year-old Chinese grandfather, Liu Xianping (above right), who models womenswear for his granddaughter's boutique.

Yes, Ray Davies was correct: boys will be girls and girls will be boys.

THE FEMULATED:

 Womanless Beauty Pageant participant “Anita Mann”

 

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Free People

THE FEMULATED:

Actor  née singer Jared Leto femulating
in the film The Dallas Buyers Club, 2013.

 

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Victoria’s Secret

Giving Thanks

At One Big Event Saturday night, I chatted with a friend who I had not seen in a long time. I brought her up to date about what I have been doing the past few years. In conclusion, I said, "I find my life very interesting."

She agreed wholeheartedly.

If you have been following along in my blog, I think you will agree with my conclusion, too.

My life is certainly not boring. I admit that those days when I have to be a boy are not as interesting as those days when I am a girl.

But even when I appear in boy mode, my heart and soul are in girl mode as I think about my latest adventures en femme or plot my next adventure en femme.

Would I wish things were different?

I tell everyone who asks that I would live as a girl 24/7 if I had not made commitments that prevent me from doing so. But I wonder if I did live as a girl 24/7, would my life be as interesting as it is now.

Who knows?

Maybe I will find out someday, maybe not, but in either case, thank God, I'm a transwoman!

THE FEMULATED:

Femulate Reader Patricia Sanches Monroe

FEMULATE HER: 

Wearing ShoeDazzle

Runner-Up

This was my second choice for a hairdo Saturday night.

Top Ten TS Asian Entertainers

China.org.cn presented their picks for the top 10 transsexual entertainers in Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand). Their number one pick, pictured above, was Regine Wu, a 50-year-old (!) television personality from China.

For what it's worth, the short biographies of nine of the top ten mention that the transwoman being described has undergone sex reassignment surgery.

The bio of Kayo Satoh is the only one that does not mention surgery. "According to Satoh, she began injecting herself with hormones from 15 years-old, something she continues, and besides her injections, she hasn't undergone any surgery." (source Kotaku.com)

THE FEMULATED:

Femulator George Fels, Jr., 1907

 

FEMULATE HER:

Wearing Helmut

You Look Amazing

I look forward to One Big Event. It is always a fab affair. Everyone dresses to impress with guys in tuxedoes and gals in cocktail dresses and evening gowns. And this year, the event moved to a new venue, the beautiful and relatively new Connecticut Convention Center.

I started getting ready at 2:30 PM on Saturday in order to show up at the event when it opened at 6 PM.

I wore false eyelashes. I rarely do and as a result, I am not adept at putting them on. The self-adhesive strips of the Revlon eyelashes I used were not adequate and I had to use eyelash glue to batten down my lashes. As a result, it took longer to do my makeup (about an hour compared to the usual 30 to 45 minutes).

I also wore stick-on toe nails (Kiss brand) for the first time. Turns out that they are just as easy to put on as the Kiss stick-on finger nails. It just took a little time to match the various sizes of fake nails to my real nails.

I dressed: undies, nude thigh highs, purple ruffle dress, silver jewelry, and silver strappy sandals.

My hair was up in the air. I grabbed a half dozen wigs from my wig drawer and tried them on individually to see which one looked best with my makeup and outfit. After messing around for about 15 minutes, I decided to go with my short dark auburn wig, which I have owned for about two years, but have only wore out once.

I examined myself in the mirror and thought I looked very nice!

Last step was to put on my stick-on finger nails. As I did, I noticed that the nail on my left thumb did not seem right, but I did not give it a second thought. I put on my fake lynx fur coat and began the 35-minute drive at about 5:15 PM.

Fifteen minutes into the drive, I glanced at my left hand and "Oh No!," the fake nail on my left thumb was missing! I rummaged around the car to find the errant nail, but it was a no-show.

I've lost nails before and survived, but I wanted to look perfect Saturday night, so I considered my options. If I took a 10-minute detour, I could get another set of nails at CVS or Walgreen, so that is what I did.

I was way overdressed for CVS, so when I walked into the store, I received a lot of attention from the other customers. But I did not pay much attention to their attention: I was a woman on a mission and I headed straight for the cosmetics aisle.

I found the nails and discovered that CVS was having a buy-one-and-buy-the-second-at-half-price sale, so I bought two sets of nails for $10 and change. (Every cloud has a silver lining.)

Back in my car, I slowly opened the box of nails because quickly opening the box usually results in nails flying all over the place. I applied a new nail to my left thumb, drove to the nearest entrance ramp to I-84 and headed northeast to Hartford. Despite the detour, I arrived at the Convention Center at 5:55.

I parked my car in the parking ramparage and walked to the entrance of the Convention Center. Inside, a woman was directing folks up the escalator. As I walked by, she asked how my feet were holding up in my “fabulous sandals.”

"So far, so good," I said and I was telling the truth.

Three escalators later, I was on the top level of the Convention Center where the event was happening. About a hundred people were already milling about drinking, schmoozing and looking at the items that were up for auction.

It was CVS all over again. I received a lot of attention, but now I was appropriately attired.

I checked in at the registration table to get a program and find out where I was sitting (lucky table #38). Then I bought a glass of wine and began milling about.

I quickly found some of my friends and schmoozed, took some photos, schmoozed some more, posed for photos (including one for the Hartford newspaper), looked at all the auction items, and looked at the all the beautiful dressed-to-kill women.

On my way up the escalators, a woman on the way down said she loved my fake fur coat. I ran into her again while I was milling about and turns out that she was a singer in the band. We chatted briefly and as we went our separate ways, she said, "See you on the dance floor, beautiful."

After an hour or so, my feet needed a rest, so when they opened the doors to the dining room, I headed to table #38 and sat down.

There were ten people at my table: seven transwomen (most I have known for years), the spouse of one transwoman, and a gay couple who were co-workers of another transwoman.

There were a few other transpeople in the room, but the majority were seated at my table. In all, there were about 500 people in attendance including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra.

Dinner was excellent and a far cry from the rubber chicken they often serve at such massive events.

The only disappointment was the sound. The acoustics of the room and/or the sound system were poor. Everything sounded muddled. It was a strain trying to understand what each speaker was saying and it negatively affected the music, too.

As a result, the music sounded far away and did not move me to dance. I did dance to a couple of tunes, but I spent the majority of the time chatting with my friends and people watching.

My feet held up amazingly well as long as I did not stand for long periods of time as I did when I first arrived. Sitting for a spell revived my feet each time and I was able to walk around and dance. And even though I had a pair of flats in my car, I drove home wearing my heels.

One Big Event is a fund-raiser for the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, so I found it odd that they had a sign in the hall indicating where the "Transgender Bathrooms" were located and where the non-transgender "Bathrooms" were located. I don't think any of the transwomen at my table used the "Transgender Bathroom." I know I did not; I made a point of using the "Women's" bathroom when needed.  

During the evening, I caught a couple of women checking me out. In each case, when our eyes met, I smiled and they returned the smile. I also caught a few guys checking me out. Go figure!

As I exited the Convention Center, I passed a group of young women, who admired my fake fur coat. One of the women asked if she could feel the "fur" and I said, "Go ahead."

After she felt the fur, she said, "If I owned that coat, I would wear it every f***ing day."

I took that as a compliment and said, "Thank-you."

Then she added, "You look amazing!"