My Ticket

After attending the StampShow, I drove to the Pond House Cafe, a restaurant in the middle of Hartford’s Elizabeth Park to dine with my friend Diana. Diana arrived at 5 PM sharp and we dined outdoors on the restaurant’s patio.

There is not a lot to say about dinner. The meal and the dinner conversation were great, the restaurant staff used the proper pronouns, called us “ladies” and seemed genuinely glad to have us as customers.

There were only a few other diners and they did not seem to notice us, except for one. Midway through our meal, a couple, probably in their late 60s, were seated opposite us; the woman had her back to me, but her dinner partner (I assumed it was her husband) was facing me and almost every time I looked his way, he was looking at me. His facial expression showed neither approval or disapproval, but he was studying me intently; so much so that I thought about going over to him and asking him if we knew each other. I was certain that I did not know him, but maybe he knew me or thought he did or something else was going on. (I think something else was going on, but I don't know what.)

After dinner, I drove across town to Real Art Ways for their monthly Creative Cocktail Hour. “Real Art Ways is one of the United States' leading innovative contemporary arts organizations, with programs in Visual Arts (commissioned public projects, curated exhibitions, education), Live Arts (innovative music of all kinds, performance, spoken word) and Film and Video (feature films and artists' videos)”

Real Art Ways is a very cool venue and has openly welcomed transgender folks for over a decade. Over the years I have attended about 20 of their Creative Cocktail Hours. It attracts a very eclectic crowd and is always an interesting evening.

Thursday’s installment was like old home week. In addition to Diana, three other girls from my old support group showed up and we had a good time talking about the old times as well as the new times.

We were ensconced strategically on the deck outdoors, which is the gateway between the indoor and outdoor activities. As a result, I saw everybody as they passed to and fro and they had an opportunity to see me. And I could not help noticing the guys, especially the middle-aged and beyond checking me out.

It was all so affirming, but a little disconcerting to receive so much attention and nothing more. None of the admirers made an attempt to approach me or my friends nor strike up a conversation. It was great conversing with my old friends, but it would have been interesting/different to interact with an admirer, too.

On the other hand, maybe they were not admirers. Maybe they were just amused by the appearance an obvious femulator.

On the other hand (that's three hands now), maybe they were just intimidated by an attractive woman and afraid to do anything but gawk.

Yeah --- that's the ticket!

Anyway, I called it quits early --- at about 8:30 PM. It was a long day and a woman's got to know her limitations, so I said my goodbyes and rode away into the sunset.

 

 

 

Wearing SVEE.

 

 

 

Contestant in the 2012 Mz. Relay for Life womanless beauty pageant in Cape Coral, Florida.

My StampShow Story

I spent Thursday living as a woman.

Up and at ‘em… shaved all over, showered, fed the dog and cats, cleaned the litter boxes, took a coffee break, did my makeup, took another coffee break, dressed, brushed my teeth, and then I tried to decide what to do about my hair. 

I narrowed my choices down to three hairdos: long, short and mid-length. To help me decide, I took selfies of each wig in place on me and picked the selfie that looked best.

Ryan from Noriko won out. It is platinum blond with dark roots and it is the most authentic looking wig I own. In fact, it looks so good that in the past, some people thought it was my real hair.

Checking myself out in the mirror, I thought that overall I looked authentic, too. I certainly felt authentic and was ready to face the world as a woman.

First stop was the American Philatelic Society StampShow at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. I have been to the Convention Center a half-dozen times, so I knew the layout of that venue, but I have never been to the StampShow, so I did not know what to expect civilian-wise.

The half-hour ride to Hartford was uneventful, but the Convention Center parking garage was very full. I only found an empty spot at the extreme end of the fifth level. By “extreme end,” I mean it was as far away from the elevator as possible. 

Big decision time: do I take my flats or try to get through the show in my heels. I decided to be a big girl and tough it out. Amazingly, I was able to wear my heels (Karmen from Payless) all day long, that is, over 12 hours!

I hiked to the elevator and was joined by a 30-something woman who quizzed me about the StampShow. She wondered if dealers would be buying stamps as well as selling stamps because she had brought some very “rare” items to sell.

I told her that I assumed the dealers would be interested in buying if she had something rare. And I asked her what she had.

She said she had mint 22-cent USA commemorative stamps from the 1980s!

I did not want to burst her bubble, so I just said, “Good luck!”

I entered the Convention Center and took the escalator up to the exhibit area. Checking out the crowd, I felt I was dressed appropriately. Outfits ranged from business formal to business casual to casual casual, but not slob casual, which I often encounter at the ham radio conventions. My attire did not seem to attract undo attention, although I did catch a few people checking me out.

The woman staffing the pre-registration booth Ma’am’d me when she fetched my pre-registration package, which was under my boy name, so that was an auspicious start!

I am just getting back into the hobby, so I planned to just get my feet wet at the show and not make any big purchases. Over four hours, I viewed about one-third of the exhibits and attended two First Day of Issue ceremonies (one for new USA commemorative stamps and one for new United Nations commemorative stamps). I scored free First Day Covers at both ceremonies! I did not expect anything to be free besides admission, so that was a nice surprise.

I did have one complaint. For a relatively new building (less than 10 years old), the air conditioning in the Convention Center was inconsistent. The main exhibit area was comfortable, but the meeting rooms for the First Day ceremonies were stifling… so much so that I left both ceremonies early because I was so uncomfortable.

Femulation-wise, the StampShow was without incident. I enjoyed attending as a woman and seemed to blend into the crowd without a problem. No one stopped dead in their tracks to gawk or guffaw. The handful of people I encountered on a one-to-one basis treated me as a woman politely referring to me as “Ma’am.” And some attendees (male and female), who I happened to pass by in the Convention Center smiled and said or mouthed “Hello.”

It was a very good day out for this girl! 

Dinner and a cocktail party awaited me!

Wearing Kate Spade.

A femulator, circa 1930.

Six Five in Heels

 

 

 

Wearing BCBGMAXAZRIA.

 

 

 

A happy Russian couple, husband, Dmitry Kozhukhov, also known as Alisa Alina
Davis (left) (right) and his/her wife, Alison Brooks (right) (left) on their recent wedding day,

Yesterday and Night

That’s me in the photo, ready to begin my day and night out en femme yesterday. It was a typical day out for me --- very interesting with a lot of tales to tell, which I promise to do as soon as I have the time to put all my thoughts down on virtual paper.

 

 

 

Wearing Eva Franco.

 

 

 

Actor Freddie Fox femulating in Worried About the Boy for British television (2010).

See you at StampShow!

 

Wearing LM Collection.

 

 

 

Actor Chris Williams femulating in the 2005 New Zealand film The World’s Fastest Indian.

the Shortsuit

I am liking the shortsuit for a number of reasons.

• It is a great outfit for warm weather.
• It looks professional yet shows off a little/lot of leg.
• It is different; it is not an outfit you encounter often, especially around here.
• Since it has a bifurcated bottom, boys can wear short suits too without consternation.

Of course, if a boy wears high heels, pantyhose and a bag with his short suit, then he will be pushing the envelope… not quite en femme, but at least, semi-en femme.

And I am liking the shortsuit so much that I plan to wear one tomorrow when I attend the StampShow in Hartford.

 

 

 

Wearing Forever21.

 

 

 

Three fellows femulating in red circa 1988.

Fantasia Fair On My Mind

The Fantasia Fair Facebook page has been more active lately as the count down to Fantasia Fair progresses (62 days to go). As a result, I have Fan Fair on my mind.

Miqqi Alicia Gilbert, the Executive Director of Fantasia Fair, has written about her experiences at the event and you can read them here. And you can read my daily diary of my first Fantasia Fair here.

At the end of that diary, I ask, "Will I attend future Fantasia Fairs?" and my conclusion was that I don't need to attend Fantasia Fair, but "I am sure I will attend the event again in the near future."

Those conclusions from 2008 are still valid. "If you are a closeted femulator and want to get out of the closet in a safe way, I highly recommend Fantasia Fair to you, but I don't need that." I go out en femme a lot and the places I go are not dangerous, but they do not provide the safety net of Fantasia fair and Provincetown. Rather, I go out in the real world to experience it as a woman. On the other hand, I have returned to Fantasia Fair twice since my first trip and will return again this year.

Why?

I met a lot of cool people at Fantasia Fair, wonderful friends and acquaintances, who I want to see again.

Provincetown is a beautiful place to spend a week vacationing (or a life living).

Fantasia Fair food is not the rubber chicken your encounter at a typical convention. At Fan Fair, you dine at honest-to-goodness restaurants. During my three trips to Fan Fair, I only recall having one meal that was just so-so; all the others were at least above average and many were outstanding. And I even learned to like sushi at Fan Fair!

Fantasia Fair has a great program that is entertaining and informative. And if you are a diva or a fashionista, you have an opportunity to perform on stage in the Fan Fair Follies or strut down the runway in the Fan Fair Fashion Show.

Fantasia Fair is a lot of fun and who doesn't need fun?

By the way, to read about my 2010 and 2012 Fan Fair trips, browse my daily posts in the blog archives for October 2010 and October 2012.

Also, by the way, the photo above is me at Fantasia Fair in 2012 with Jamie Dailey, a sister from Connecticut, who I have known like forever!

 

 

 

Wearing MyHabit.

 

 

 

Professional femulator Max Jens, circa 1900

Mondays

The past two weekends have been jam-packed and as a result, I wrote this and last week's Monday installments of the blog on Monday morning while the first cup of coffee sinks in.

I saw Chicago and REO Speedwagon in concert Friday night. I am a big fan of the former, but never saw them in person until now and they were great. REO was very good, too. The two groups jammed as one for six songs during the encore.

Forty-five years ago Saturday, I saw Canned Heat, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Country Joe and the Fish, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, John Sebastian, Mountain, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, and The Who at Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, NY.

45 years!  I have been letting that number sink in all weekend! Yikes!

I was with family Friday night, so I attended the Chicago concert in boy mode. But I will be on my own on Thursday and will attend the stamp show en femme. I am looking forward to that.

 

 

 

Wearing Leota.

 

 

 

Actors Ram Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Riteish Deshmukh
femulating in Humshakals, a 2014 film from India.

Fantasia Fair Femulate Blog Party

In a mere two months, I will be packing for Fantasia Fair, which runs from Sunday, October 19 to Sunday, October 26.

In conjunction with Fantasia Fair, there will be a Femulate Blog Party on Tuesday afternoon, October 21. The "party" will provide an opportunity to meet and greet other femulators who read this blog (or not) and make it to Provincetown. It will also be an opportunity to meet yours truly (what a thrill!)

The Femulate Blog Party is part of the Fantasia Fair program and as such, is only open to folks who are paid and registered attendees of Fantasia Fair. It is not open to the general public, so you can feel safe and secure; there will be no transgender chasers or transgender haters in attendance.

During my three previous Fantasia Fairs, I seldom encountered a hater. The only haters I ran into were the proprietors/employees of a pharmacy in the heart of Provincetown. Maybe "haters" is too strong a term. But I found that they were very cold whenever I did business in their establishment. And other girls indicated to me that they got the cold shoulder there, too. Otherwise, I found all the other civilians in town to be friendly and accommodating.

On the other hand, I encountered a lot more transgender chasers than haters during my three visits to Fantasia Fair. The chasers show up by the busload during Fantasia Fair because they know we are in town en masse and present an easy target... not that we are "easy."

Actually, I found it flattering to be chased. Thank-you, but no thank-you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old and new womanless pageant beauty queens.

Crossplay = Cosplay + Crossdress

Tuesday's Femulator photo depicted a male-to-female crossplayer. I received a few responses to that photo which indicated that some readers of Femulate are not familiar with crossplay.

Simply stated, crossplay is crossdressed cosplay.

It seems that there is more female-to-male crossplaying than male-to-female crossplaying, however, a lot of the guys who crossplay are top-notch femulators! (I should look so good!)

To see what I mean, visit Men of Crossplay and be amazed!

 

 

 

Wearing Bebe.

 

 

 

Male crossplayer femulating Kiryuin Satsuki (Kill la Kill).

About Mascara

Of all the cosmetics I use, I find that mascara is the most problematic. Not so much applying it; most of the time, I get it on without a problem. Rather, I have issues with the product itself.

Mascara is very inconsistent from brand to brand. Some mascaras are too thick, some are too clumpy, and some are just right. And the few that are just right have shelf-life issues, that is, they dry up or go bad (get clumpy) too quickly.

I was glad to see Daily Makeover's recent post "10 Mascaras That Will Not Clump (No Matter What)." Nice thing about the list is that some of the 10 recommendations are not expensive ($10 or less), so a purchase won't put a big dent in your purse.

By the way, I have been an Avon lady for 18 years and have seen a lot of Avon mascara products come and go. I have tried most of them over that time.

Early on in my Avon career, I did not find any Avon mascaras I liked --- I would try them once and swear them off after that initial use.

Things changed for the better and over the last half dozen years or so, I have been very satisfied with Avon mascaras and they are what I use almost all of the time.

But your mileage may vary.

 

 

 

Wearing JustFab.

 

 

 

Rocker Jai Brooks femulates for the Real Girls Eat Cake music video (2014).