1600 Quarters

The above photo depicts a rare sight – a slot machine paying a jackpot!

I went to the casino yesterday to play slots and during the first two hours, I was not doing well --- not losing a lot, but definitely winning less than I was losing.

I was ready to pack it in, but decided to try my luck at the older casino at the other end of the shopping mall that connects the old and new casinos at Mohegan Sun.

Right off the bat, I started doing well at this two quarter machine and then it happened --- the three double diamond ovals rolled into place and I hit the jackpot, which is the top prize that the slot machine offers. My two quarter bet returned 1600 quarters!

I have been playing slots for years and usually do well, but I have never hit a jackpot until yesterday!

And so it goes.

 

 

 

Actor Neil Patrick Harris femulating on the Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Itch Inch, 2014.

 

 

 

Wearing Marc by Marc Jacobs.

Survey

Victor Zhu, MSIII, is working with the Yale University Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and, in collaboration with the Yale University transgender community, they have designed a research survey to better understand and meet the needs of the transgender community.  

If you would please complete the survey found at this link,  it would greatly facilitate their research. The responses they receive will go a long way in providing better quality of healthcare for transgender patients.  

Feel free to contact Victor Zhu with any questions.

 

 

 

Professional femulator Lee Shaw, circa 1960.

 

 

 

Wearing Le Redoute.

Go West

One month from today, I will hit the road and head west to Dayton, Ohio, to attend Hamvention, the biggest ham radio show this side of the Arctic Circle.

I attend most years and this year will be no exception. And like most years, I will be staffing the TAPR suite of booths (numbers 451 through 454) Friday and Saturday.

If you are going to the convention, stop by and say “Hello!”

By the way, I will travel to/from Dayton and attend the convention en femme.

 

 

 

Actor Alex Newell (center) femulating on television’s Glee, 2012.

 

 

 

Wearing Daily Look.

Before and After

The staff at Girls “R” Us is thrilled with the results of their latest transformation!

 

 

 

Femulating in the 1920s.

 

 

 

Wearing Fashion to Figure.

My Kind of Birthday Party

“Private Birthday Party is a private collection of found photographic slides that depict Kansas City’s early drag ball culture throughout the 1950s and 1960s. With over 200 images, this collection is a rare, important look into the rich history of mid-century drag ball culture in middle America.”

You can view a sample of the collection here and read a Cut article and interview about the collection here. Thank you Aunty Marlena for the links!

The photo above is very telling. Which femulator passes best? The three girls in glamorous attire or the girl in street clothes?

 

 

 

A Kansas City femulator and her friend in 1964 (from the Private Birthday Party collection).

 

 

 

Wearing Spense.

UConn’t Sleep

I am a UConn graduate, Class of ‘73, and the past few days have been very exciting. It's not often that a school wins NCAA championships two days in a row! Go Huskies!

But there is a dark side; I am sleep-deprived.

The late games kept me up past my normal bed time. And there is no catching up because I still have to get up at 5:30 AM to feed the cats and get ready for work. I have been very tired the last few days and I look like something the cat dragged in due to the loss of beauty sleep.

I am in awe of people who can party all night, get little or no sleep and still look great in the morning. I see that phenomena occur whenever I attend conventions or Fantasia Fair. Most people are like me --- we suffer when we don't get enough sleep, but there are a few people who can get away with it.

Maybe it is similar to how some people can eat and drink everything in sight and not gain a pound, whereas I have to be very careful about my diet in order to maintain my girlish figure.

Go figure.

They say, "You can never catch up on lost sleep." But I'd like to try.

 

 

 

A proud mother and her trophy-winning femulating son at a vogue ball, circa 1985.

 

 

 

Wearing Hayden.

My Sin

How often have you heard older transwomen say that they wished they were growing up today? I have said it many times myself.

Actually, I enjoyed growing up when I did. The only reason for wishing I grew up today is that there is a huge body of accessible knowledge about transgender folks that did not exist when I was young. Back then, all I had to go by was one sentence in our family's encyclopedia that mentioned transvestism.

I had no idea why I crossdressed. All I knew was that I liked it, but was ashamed of it and told no one about it. My shame and guilt convinced me that what I was doing was very wrong and that I would go straight to Hell (do not pass go) when I died. So I made up my mind to confess my big "sin" the next time I went to confession.

Since I went to a Catholic high school, that opportunity presented itself quite regularly. So the next time our class marched to church for confession, I will never forget how nervous I was. But I had made up my mind and when I entered the confessional I was read to spill the beans to be absolved and never crossdress again.

I quickly confessed my venial sins, but I just could not confess my big one. After I hemmed and hawed for awhile, the priest figured out that something was up. He said that if I had a sin that I was too embarrassed to confess that all I had to do was admit to that fact and he would absolve me.

What a deal!  He was offering me a free pass! But I was so embarrassed that I did not take him up on his offer and I left the confessional with my big sin still weighing me down.

 

 

 

Actors Richard Deacon and Adam West femulating
in the 1980 film The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood.

 

 

 

Wearing Basix.

Starla's School Stars

I had not heard from Starla since last year and I figured that the well had run dry — that there were no more student femulations to be dredged up from the online high school yearbooks. So it was a surprise to receive an e-mail from Starla over the weekend with 106 new photos attached.

Hands down, Miss Todd Matlock (pictured right) wins the Most Likely to Still Be Femulating Today Award from this latest batch of photos, which are now posted on flickr.

You may view the new photos 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.

Two femulators out and about in 1978.

Wearing Madeleine.

Pejic Speaks

Transcendent fashion model Andrej Pejic sat down for an interview with Isabel Wilkinson for New York Magazine's The Cut.

Four years ago, when model Andrej Pejic walked in the John Paul Gaultier show, people weren’t sure what to make of him: Here was the prettiest woman they’d ever seen — with long blonde hair and high cheekbones — who just happened to be a 19-year-old boy from Serbia. 

Over these last few years, Pejic — who now identifies with female-specific pronouns — has landed major jobs in the fashion world: walking in men’s and women’s shows, and modeling in countless editorials. And around her there have gradually been more images of gender diversity in the fashion world, with models like Casey Legler and Lea T rising to fame, as well as Barney’s much-lauded transgender campaign.

Now Pejic is branching out — and, as many models do, building her brand. Last night at the Gilded Lily, she launched a line of minimal 3-D-printed jewelry in a collaboration with the brand Sam H Snyder. Next, she is shopping an almost-finished autobiography around to literary agents, filming a documentary about her life, and plotting a move into modeling cosmetics. She spoke to the Cut about building Andrej Pejic Inc., how the industry has become more open to gender diversity — and the work that’s still left to be done.

Read the entire interview here.

Circa 1920, a West Point cadet femulates in a stage production at the academy.

Wearing Robert Rodriguez.

Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb

Attend any transgender event and this scene is not out of the realm of possibilities.

Personally, when I am en femme at a transgender, LGBT or civilian event, I refuse to use the men’s restroom or even the family restroom. Instead, I always sashay my derrière to the ladies’ restroom when nature calls or for those Max Factor moments.

I will never forget attending an LGBT fundraiser a few years ago where they designated one bathroom for transgenders. I was insulted as were many of my trans-sisters and when we had to go, guess which bathroom we did not go to? The folks running the event got the message and never pulled that stunt again.

 

 

 

Boy George femulating as the cover girl for the December 1984 UK edition of Cosmopolitan.

 

 

 

I love this dress and the whole outfit. The image appeared in an e-mail from MyHabit on Thursday, but the dress was not available on the MyHabit website. It looks similar to some of Sue Wong’s designs, but I could not find an exact match. If they had it in my size and the price was right, I would have bought it.

A casa by any other name is still Casa Susanna

Casa Susanna was a guest house in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York where crossdressers dressed en femme during their visits in the 1960s.

Although not mentioned by name, My Year Among the Girls by Darrel G. Raynor published in 1968 documented one crossdresser's experience at Casa Susanna.

Casa Susanna by Michel Hurst and Robert Swope published in 2005 was a collection of snapshots found at a New York City flea market that depicted various crossdressers during their stay at the guest house.

I have mentioned both of these books here in the past. My Year Among the Girls was an eye-opener for me; reading that book when I was 17, I discovered that I was not alone.

Later this month, Casa Valentina opens on Broadway. It is a play written by Harvey Fierstein and is loosely based on the activities that occurred at Casa Susanna 50 years ago.

I hope I have an opportunity to see the play, preferably en femme.

 

 

 

Harvey Fierstein, circa 1970.

 

 

 

Wearing Madeleine.