Monday, January 6, 2014

Losing Leg Hair

My skirt's not too short – my legs are too long!

Paula's post on shaving her legs moved me to write about shaving my legs.

I avoid shaving my legs with a razor blade and shaving cream or gel because it is too time-consuming. My legs are too long... 36 inches each to be exact and it takes forever.

Early on, I discovered the wonderful world of chemicals. Nair and Veet were my hair removing chemicals of choice. They did the job quickly and thoroughly. And after using them for over four decades, they permanently removed a lot of my leg hair. As a result, using chemicals now is overkill. 

So every morning, I attack the leg hairs that toughed it out. After I shave my face and neck with a top-of-the-line Norelco rotary head electric razor, I do a portion of my legs. One day, I will shave my knees, the next day, my calves, the next day, my thighs, the next day... well, you get the idea. As a result, when I get all dolled up to go out en femme, a quick touch-up with my Norelco is all I need to be femininely smooth.

By the way, I use the same routine to keep my arms, shoulders and breasts hair-free.




Transgender actor Atif Siddiq femulating in the 2012 Canadian film House for Sale.



 Wearing I don't recall.






Friday, January 3, 2014

Nothing Beats a Great Pair of Legs

By Paula Gaikowski

You might remember that phrase from an old commercial, but it seems pantyhose commercials have gone the way of the 8-track tape. Growing up transgender, I would watch them all with envy, “Gentlemen Prefer Hanes,” “Our Leggs fit your legs,” “Sheer Energy,” “No Nonsense”. Someday I wanted smooth sexy legs like that

Shaving my legs was a milestone and rite of passage on my transgender journey. There has been nothing more liberating and cathartic than looking down and seeing a pair of woman’s legs surface after shaving for the first time.

I had always hoped that someday I would free my legs from their matted jungle of maleness. Finally one winter, using the transparent excuse of dry skin, I persuaded my wife to give into a winter shaving so I could moisturize my legs without globing a mess of lotion over all that hair. Actually, this truly is a benefit of having smooth legs. Before I started shaving my legs during the winter, whenever I put on moisturizing lotion, the lotion would mat up in all the hair — yuck!

Finally the day came. I had dropped my wife off at the airport and I had an empty house where I could experiment with my new Venus razor. I envisioned a scene from the Venus commercial where Jennifer Lopez glides a razor over her already gorgeous smooth hairless legs and they reappear even more stunning.

I set to work bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation ready to “reveal the goddess in me.” I started by lathering up my legs and then slowly pulling the razor over them, but as I did the razor became clogged with hair. I constantly had to stop and clear the razor.

“Hmm I didn’t notice Jennifer Lopez doing this?”

After that, I needed to go over each spot several times. Next the shaving cream started to dry, then I cut myself. Next the razor got dull and it had to be replaced, then I cut myself again! Finally there I was hobbling down the hallway to get another razor while bleeding with shaving cream dripping all over.

In conclusion, after over 90 minutes, three razors, cold and bleeding legs, an aching back, a messy bathroom, my legs looked more like Mario Lopez than Jennifer Lopez!

It was not the glorious feminine initiation ceremony I had imagined. Still covered with patches of hair and nubs my legs did look a lot better and I was, of course, delighted at my initial results.

Practice makes perfect, and after five years of shaving my legs, I’ve learn a few things that I would like to share. We all want that feminine shaving scene we see in the commercials and I’ll get you there girls, but the first time is a bit challenging.

To do it right I am going to strongly suggest that you buy yourself a set of electric clippers. For under $20 at CVS or Wal-Mart you will find more than one type available. I bought a model with a length attachment and use it to trim my arm hair down to ¼ inch. As a transgender woman, these clippers can and do have many uses.

Next, before we do any actual shaving, find a spot where you can start shearing off a lifetime of leg hair growth. I suggest a spot where clean-up is easy and there is a lot of light. There is going to be hair everywhere. I shave my legs for the first time every year come October. I pick a sunny warm day and go out onto the back deck. Here I can see all the little hairs in the sunlight and clean-up is simple with a broom. Slowly but surely, work your way up from the ankles, carefully around the knees and gently behind the knees and thighs. When you’re done you might want to find a mirror and check for spots you missed. At this point, your legs will be bristly, but they will look amazingly different.

Phase two can wait until the next day or if you have time, jump right into the shower. I find the key to getting your legs pretty girl smooth is taking it slow. I take three or four days to finish the whole process of transforming my legs from boy to girl. When I first started shaving, I used shaving cream; it smells pretty and makes you feel feminine. However, in the shower it’s near impossible to keep water away from your legs and the shaving cream starts breaking down. Shaving cream washes away as soon as a few drops of water hit it.

Instead, I use a moisturizing soap. I prefer Dove because I like their :”Real Beauty” campaign. Soap lather lasts longer than shaving cream and doesn’t wash away as quickly.

The first day, I shave from the ankles to about halfway up to the knee. I take my time and get all those hairs in the back and front. The next day, I start at the ankles again and move upward to the knees. The point not to miss here is that I am going over the same area as the day before. This gets any spots that I missed. The third day, I start at the ankles again and go up to mid-thigh. To finish on the last day, I start at the ankles and go all the way up my legs. By now, you have gone over each area several times and have now transformed your legs into smooth and feminine accessories.

The average women shaves her legs about once a week, sometimes more in the summer, sometimes less in the winter. If you’re not on HRT, then it probably should be every day. Your mileage might vary, but here’s what I do.

Believe it or not shaving will become a chore after awhile. So the easier you make it, the more you will do it to keep up that gorgeous look. I shave from the ankles up to the knees one day and then the next day, from the knees up to the top. By doing only half the leg, I’m done in five minutes. This makes it easy enough so that I don’t skip a day and keep up the maintenance. After a few weeks, they become use to the razor and are really smooth when moisturized afterward.

Wearing a dress and hose for the first time after shaving is a defining moment in a girl’s life. Nonetheless, being able to look down at my legs and see what appears to be feminine female legs, has a healing and curative effort. Those periods of acute gender dysphoria come less often and are less severe when I shave my legs.

Now go ahead. Reveal the goddess in you!




Femulating model Eric Voullosky.



Wearing Madeleine.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Out with the Old

If you are not en femme 24/7 like me, you do not use cosmetics on a daily basis. As a result, you probably do not use up the cosmetics before they should be trashed.

Some makeup should be thrown away sooner than other makeup, for example, mascara and liquid eye liner should be trashed after three months. On the other hand, you can keep some makeup for years.

Recently, Daily Makeover described what to keep and what to toss. 

Since I am an Avon rep, I am always trying out new products that they offer; some are keepers, some are not. Either way, the stuff fills the huge tackle box (photo right) that serves as my makeup box.

I usually go through my makeup every six months or so discarding stuff that is old or stuff that I tried once and did not like. (And still my makeup box is overflowing!)

I’m gonna need a bigger box!




German professional femulator Hansi Sturm, 1930.



Source: ideeli

Wearing BCBGMAXAZRIA.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Boys Just Want To Be Girly

Last week, an article titled "11 'Girly' Things Men Wish They Could Do Without Judgment" appeared on The Huffington Post.

The author of the article, Alanna Vagianos wrote, "A Dec. 17th thread asked the men of Reddit, 'What girly thing do you really want to do or try but it is socially unacceptable?' Responses ranged from cuddling etiquette ('Being the little spoon') to fashion woes ('Toe socks') and showing emotion ('Crying in public without getting judged')"

Ms. Vagianos goes on to describe her 11 favorite answers, which included having more stylish clothing options, carrying a purse, and wearing makeup.

Intrigued, I decided to go to the source and read what other girly things guys wished they could do. 

I was amazed by how many guys want to do girly things and to what extent some guys want to get girly. A few guys admitted that they wanted to dress completely like a woman and a few even admitted to wanting to take on the submissive role and have sex like a woman.

My favorite comment was, "This thread reminds me how lucky I am to be transgender."

***

My sister baked a boatload of cookies for Christmas. When she was listing the kinds of cookies she baked, I recalled one of the cookies that my mother used to bake and asked her if she had my mother's recipe. 

She said she did have the recipe, but that she was done baking cookies and had moved on to gift wrapping mode. I asked her to email the recipe to me, so she did so assuming that my wife or daughter would bake the cookies.

Recovering from surgery, my wife was in no condition to stand over a hot stove and my daughter was  busy at work, so I decided to bake the cookies myself.

Note well that I have never baked anything from a recipe in my life, but this cookie recipe seemed simple enough for a novice like me.

Christmas Eve morning, I gave it a go and successfully baked a batch.

The cookies contained black pepper and my wife and daughter did not like them, but my sister said they tasted exactly like my mother's cookies. She added that she was very proud of me for doing it.

Note that this is the same sister that is in denial that her brother is a woman, but is "proud" when her brother does girly things.

***

Stana's Honey Pepper Cookies

Ingredients:

1 lb. - rye flour
1 cup - honey
1 cup - sugar
2 teaspoons - black pepper

Combine all the ingredients to the consistency of raw pie crust, then roll the dough out like a rope about the width of a finger. Cut the rope into one-inch pieces and place them on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.



The femulating ballerinas of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.





Source: ShopBop

Wearing Alice + Olivia.

Happy New Year!

May you achieve femulation perfection in 2014!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Back to School and Back to Skirts



The holidays are ending and the kids will be going back to school. That means young men will be donning dresses to participate in school-sponsored activities in which boys emulate girls. Our friend Starla gifted us with 100 images from past crossdressing school activities that she culled from online school yearbooks. One hundred new images are now in the Yearbooks collection on flickr and you may view them in two ways:

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 this 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 Sacred Heart High School would be in the Yearbooks S set.



Coach Ed femulates again at El Reno (Oklahoma) High School, 2003.


Source: ideeli

Wearing Jill Jill Stuart.

Monday, December 30, 2013

What Are You Wearing New Year's Eve?

Source: Playboy, December 1969; thanks to JJ.



Actor Julian Eltinge femulating in the 1918 film Over the Rhine.


Source: Vogue
Wearing Dior.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Look Ma, No Bra

Source: Playboy, January 1971; thanks to JJ
When this cartoon appeared in Playboy, women were shedding their mother's foundation garments with great abandon and there was some truth in the concern expressed by the cartoon transgirl.

Fast-forward 40 years and we find that bras made a big comeback and are available in more styles and colors than ever before. On the other hand, girdles did not follow suit and are only available in a limited number of styles and colors to the chagrin of many transgirls of a certain age.



Andrej Pejic, fashion model, in Paris, 2012.



Wearing Daily Look.


Friday, December 27, 2013

Newly Equipped and Otherwise Occupied


The photo shows me on Halloween morning in the lobby at my workplace, one of the many places where I femulated during 2013. It is also one of the places I am not at this week because I am on vacation until next year.

On vacation, I should be publishing a fresh blog post every day and twice on Tuesdays, but I gifted myself with a new computer and I am occupied transferring apps and files from the old to the new. As soon as I get the new computer up and running properly, I will return to my daily blog schedule. In the meantime, keep your panties on (or not) and I will catch you on the flip side.


Source: Atlanta Cotillion

2009 debutantes femulating at the Atlanta Cotillion.


Source: ShopBop

Wearing 10 Crosby Derek Lam.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Today is Monday

Over the weekend, I finished Christmas shopping. I created, printed, addressed, postaged and mailed the Christmas cards. I wrapped all the Christmas gifts. I put up the Christmas decorations. I am late accomplishing these tasks because nursing my wife back to health ate into the time to get those things done. In fact, I was considering not doing the cards and not putting up the decorations, but my wife is much better this week and did not require as much attention, so it freed up time to do it all.

Helen’s Interview

I want to draw your attention to an excellent interview of Helen Boyd, my friend and author of My Husband Betty and She’s Not the Man I Married. The interview appears in Bluestocking Blue, a blog I was not aware of until Helen mentioned the interview in her own blog, En | Gender.

Vivienne’s Bluestocking Blue

Bluestocking Blue is written by Vivienne, a New Zealand girl, who bills herself as “a forty-something a married heterosexual male crossdresser.” The blog is well-written and very interesting; I recommend taking a look at it.

Monika’s Back

Back in August, I mentioned Monika Kowalska’s blog My Transgender Heroines, in which Monika interviewed well-known and lesser-known transgender women and girls from around the world.

Shortly after I wrote about Monika’s blog, it disappeared from the face of the Internet. Well, the good news is that Monika’s blog is back with a new name (The Heroines of My Life) and new URL.





Source: Celebuzz!

The 2013 Christmas card of Howard Stern (left) and his wife, Beth Otrosky (right).  



Wearing French Connection.