Still Shocking after All These Years?

Starla still makes new womanless findings in those old high school yearbooks and when she does, she sends them to me to pass on to you. Her latest finding from the 1998 Naperville (Illinois) Central High School yearbook has a story to accompany the photograph.

The photo does not reveal any "exaggeration of the female anatomy," so it seems like the school principal might have thrown the exaggeration statement in just to cover his transphobia. And I wonder if what was inappropriate in 1998 is still inappropriate in 2016? I imagine your mileage may vary.

Wearing Venus.

Alexander Vlahos (center) femulates in French television's Versailles.

CoverGirl's Cover Boy

CoverGirl spokesperson James Charles

Just last Wednesday, I wondered if we are a tipping point regarding the integration of womenswear into menswear.

I asked, "Will men in skirts and dresses become common and accepted in our society real soon now?"

I answered, "I dunno, but anything can happen."

Well, anything happened on Tuesday when CoverGirl cosmetics announced their first male spokesperson, James Charles.

TeenVogue summed it up perfectly, "In the past year or so, we’ve seen a substantial shift in how our society approaches gender and the confining stereotypes that generally go hand-in-hand. For instance, long gone are the days of it being 'unacceptable' for boys to rock bold lipstick, a poppin’ highlight, or whatever makeup they fancy. Countless males have taken to YouTube and other social platforms like Instagram to show off their beauty skills — which are exceptionally legit — and we couldn’t be happier about this change in stride. And now it seems we’re breaking down barriers even further, and the proof is in Covergirl’s newest spokesperson: James Charles."

So young men are now using cosmetics just like young women did back in the day. But what about older men? When will they start making up their pretty faces?

"Never happen," you say.

Well, on last night's episode of ABC television's Modern Family, the Phil Dunphy character (played by 49-year-old Ty Burrell) raised some eyebrows by wearing lipstick and eye makeup in boy mode.

And so it goes.

Veit Alex, male womenswear model

A femulator having her face made up.

Beyond Katy Keene

When I was a youngster, one of my first favorite comic book characters was Katy Keene, the long-legged fashion queen with jet black hair. I was fascinated by her glamorous image and I loved cutting out the Katy Keene paper dolls and outfits that appeared in the pages of her comic books.

No one ever discouraged Little Stana's interest in Katy Keene. In fact, Mom abetted it by helping me cut out the more difficult outfits. (Sometimes I think Mom wanted me to be a girl. She always encouraged me in all of my interests including those on the feminine side of the street.)

I don't recall any crossdressing in the pages of Katy Keene, but I did wish I could wear some of the outfits that Katy wore.

As I grew older, I started to worry about my image, so I stopped reading Katy Keene to avoid being branded a "sissy." Superman, Batman, Dick Tracy, and Mad magazine replaced Katy and soon I encountered crossdressing in their four-colored pages.

I remember a female impersonating gangster appearing in a Batman story. I also recall stories in which Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen, went undercover en femme. Dick Tracy had so many encounters with gangsters in drag that I still wonder about the Chester Gould's feminine side. Over the years, Mad had numerous encounters with crossdressing.

Meanwhile, Japanese comic books (manga) and cartoons (anime) have lots of crossdressing. Over 10 years ago, Jana built a web site dedicated to trans content in Japanese comic books and cartoons. But one thing led to another and Jana expanded the web site to include television, films, literature and history, as well as Japanese comic books and cartoons.

Jana's TG Lists, subtitled "transgender in media," which is accessible here, is an amazing collection of trans-media. I highly recommend it!

Wearing Bebe.

Long-time Femulate reader Sheila attending the Southern Comfort Conference.

Lady Di

Saturday, as I headed out to buy groceries, I hit the button preset for WLNG on 92.1 MHz on the AM-FM radio and drove down the north side of my 1,000-foot mountain, which is not favorable to WLNG, 50 miles to my south-southeast. Yet, WLNG hung in there as I descended the mountain and continued my drive through the relatively flat river valley below.

I was paying more attention to the traffic than the radio, but sitting at a red traffic light about 2 minutes after my descent, it occurred to me that the female announcer now on the radio was not a voice I had ever heard on WLNG. In passing, the announcer mentioned the station's call sign: WOMR, which is on the tip of Cape Cod, about 145 miles to my east-northeast.

After the light turned green and I continued on my journey, WOMR hung in there for about a half mile, then gave up the frequency to WLNG.

As a radio ham, something like this gets my attention because it indicates unusual radio conditions and affords me the opportunity to hear other stations that I would not usually hear under normal radio conditions.

As a trans woman, I mention this because WOMR is a beacon whenever I drive to Fantasia Fair in Provincetown. When I get east of Providence and approach Cape Cod, I tune the radio to 92.1 and wait for WOMR to get louder and stronger as I get closer to Provincetown. 

WOMR is a very eclectic radio station like many other public broadcasting community radio stations. And while I am in and around town, I listen to WOMR whenever I listen to the radio.

Googling WOMR, I discovered another interesting aspect of the radio station: WOMR’s radio personality named Lady Di, who by day is the town's board of selectmen secretary, Vernon Porter! 

You can read all about Lady Di here and here and you can listen to her radio shows "Leggs Up and Dancing with Lady Di" on Fridays from 5-7 PM and "Chattin Up with Lady Di" on every other Thursday 8 PM. If you are out of the radio range of WOMR (like most of us), you can listen to her shows via the Internet at womr.org.

Wearing Venus.

Tim Jo on the 2012 Halloween episode of television's The Neighbors.

Hillary for Halloween

Everyday, I receive e-mails urging me to contribute financially to some cause. Lately, many of those e-mails have been in the political realm.

A few days ago, I received an e-mail from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) addressed to my male e-mail address with the subject being "Break out your best pantsuit, Stan."

My first thought was "How did they know that Stan owned a pantsuit?"

The e-mail came from Lindsey Reynolds, the Chief Operating Officer of the DNC urging me to contribute to Hillary Clinton's campaign. In the e-mail, Ms. Reynolds wrote, "We're also getting closer to my favorite October holiday: Halloween. I can't wait to see little girls all over the country in their best pantsuit dressed up as their hero, and our next president. (And not just the girls! My son, Mason, has even asked if he can be Hillary for Halloween -- so I may have him try out the college Hillary look out because she was just too cool.)"

Wow! You go, Mason!

Anyway, in 2008, I thought about femulating Sarah Palin for Halloween, but I did not think I could pull it off, so I didn't try. But I might be able to pull off a Hillary femulation.

Wearing Madeleine.

Mart Müürisepp femulates Nancy Sinatra and These Boots Are Made For Walking 
on Estonian television's Your Face Sound Familiar.

My Traditional Halloween

When I attend a civilian Halloween event, I dress like a woman on the street (and I don't mean a street-walker). For example, my Halloween costume for work is "office girl drag," that is, I try to emulate how women typically dress for the office.

On the other hand, when I attend a trans Halloween event (like a support group Halloween party), I dress in a costume that a woman might wear on Halloween. For example, for my support group's past Halloween parties, I dressed as a school girl, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy, French maid, bat girl (photo above), and Playboy bunny, among other things.

Why?

For trans Halloween events, the answer is easy.

I dress in a costume a woman might wear because in the trans world, I normally dress as a woman. As a result, a "woman on the street" costume would not be a costume (unless I dressed like a street-walker).

For civilian Halloween events, the answer is more complicated.

I could dress in a costume a woman might wear for civilian Halloween events, but I never have.

Like many of us, my first forays in public en femme were on Halloween. Just dressing as a woman among civilians was a major accomplishment and the thrill of a lifetime of anticipation.

In theory, dressing like a woman on the street rather than say a Playboy bunny, I might get fewer of those knowing looks that imply that I crossdress more often than just October 31. But I always femulate too well, not like the average guy in drag on Halloween, so I get lots of those knowing looks.

I'm not sensitive about it. If someone confronts me, I come right back with "Normally, I only crossdress on weekends" and they don't know what to say.

So, dressing like a woman on the street for civilian Halloween events does not buy me much with regard to fooling anyone about my proclivity to crossdress. However, the comment, "who is the woman (referring to me) not wearing a costume" never gets old.

I guess that dressing like a woman on the street for civilian events has become my personal Halloween tradition. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(Caveat Emptor: This is a repurposed post from the past.)

Wearing Intermix.

Asifa Lahore, Muslim professional femulator

Got Coats?

Femulate Contributing Editor Susan King of Transitioning into Tomorrow fame joins us again with her collection of coats.

Fall is here. It's time to pull out the fall and winter clothing. I love this time of year because the clothes cover up more of my male attributes and creates a slimmer silhouette.

A must for this time of years is a set of coats. In 2014/2015, I bought three nice coats and I cannot wait to wear them again.

I am going to look for one or two new coats this season.

Below is an infographic about woman coats and which coat type to wear with your outfit.

Here are my three current coats.

I bought this brown coat with the fur collar while in New Jersey. I forgot to pack one and forget how cold it was in Jersey versus Atlanta. I found this coat at the local goodwill store.

This is my pea coat. I love this coat. It's so cute and works with my leggings. I bought it at Burlington Coat Factory.

I bought this coat while trying to find a pea coat. I liked the style and it's hooded. The light color allows me to wear this coat with different color leggings that I cannot wear with my brown and white/black pea coat.

This season, I am looking for a full-length coat.

Street style, Paris, September 2016

Erik Handoko, womenswear model

DIY Trans Conference

By Eve Taylor

My Southern Comfort Conference (SCC) experience last week wasn’t so comfortable. Maybe it's my age and experience (married and 60+), but I think I’ve outgrown the transgender conferences and meetings.

I have enjoyed the First Event in Boston the last few years; they’re well organized and attended. This year I thought it would be nice to be warm and tropical (Florida). That it was, but the hotel was just dismal and shoddy and in need of a refurb. I know it is the attendees that make the conference, but cigarette burns and mildew in the rooms… echh! The SCC people should re-think that venue location.

What was great was that that my wife and I skipped out of there ASAP, shot up to Vero Beach and had a fantastic time in the sun and surf on our own. Dressing for the beach, pool, dinner, breakfast, shopping!!! We made our own conference.

I, no, we, discovered how liberating it is to be on your own and out and about. Just a couple of gals out having fun. Everyone we met was so nice and friendly. We found out what many married CD’s have discovered… that two ladies out and about attract little attention other than the best wishes from all.

Next time you’re on vacation, pack femme, be free (and respectful of other people’s “sensitivities”) and enjoy yourself!!!

Wearing Ann Taylor.

Uku Suviste ready to femulate Beyonce on
Estonian television's Your Face Sound Familiar.

Tipping Point

I frequently check the latest menswear trends at Juan's New Male Fashion blog and I have noticed that the slow diversification of men's clothing has accelerated during the past year.

In the past, there were only a handful of fashion designers who showed men's clothing that had a "feminine" influence, that is, "feminine" in a traditional and now outdated sense.

Lately, that handful has become a bandwagon full of designers who are showing menswear that not only has a feminine touch, but are designs that could have come right out of a woman's closet. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that the increased visibility of transwomen in society influenced the designers to show more gender diversity in their styles.

That being said, it is one thing to show something unusual on the catwalk and it is another thing to see something unusual on the sidewalk. Admittedly, the feminized menswear I have seen on the catwalk in the past seldom appeared on the sidewalks in my neck of the woods.

That is changing, too. More and more, guys of all ages are wearing more gender diverse clothing on the streets where you live, as documented by Juan's regular street style posts. I see such fashion diversity in Connecticut art museums, shopping malls and even in Connecticut grocery stores.

When I see a thirty-something guy wearing a long skirt, flouncy top and designer bag buying groceries at the local Stop & Shop, I wonder if we are at a tipping point. Will men in skirts and dresses become common and accepted in our society real soon now?

I dunno, but anything can happen. Half a century ago, who would have thought that males would wear makeup, jewelry, cologne, pantyhose,shapewear, leggings, purses, etc., and remove all their body hair. Perhaps, the election of a female President will move things along even faster.  

As Juan once wrote, "Gentlemen, put on your skirts and high heels, fetch your purses, and head to the future."

Wearing Jones New York.

Phillipe Blond

My First Emulation-Worthy Femulator

As a young femulator back in the 1960s, I did not have any femulators to emulate.

On the big screen, there were Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot, but they dressed in 1920s flapper styles ― an attractive style, but difficult for this young girl to emulate during the Jackie era.

On the small screen, Milton Berle made an occasional appearance en femme, but his femulations were strictly for laughs; they were clownish and often ugly ― nothing this girl wanted to copy.

The New York newspapers occasionally had ads displaying professional femulators at Club 82 and I so wanted to dress in showgirl drag like the girls at 82, but let's be practical.

There were no femulators that dressed like women dressed in the mid-1960s... no one I could look up to for inspiration.

Finally, one evening watching television in 1964, I saw a great femulation of a mid-1960s woman on a new episode of The Munsters of all places! In that episode, character actor Cliff Norton played a cop who disguised himself as a woman (see photo) in order to trap a guy who was accosting women in the park at night.

Norton's femulation left an impression on me for a very long time. He was not a beautiful woman, but he passed and more importantly, he was dressed like a mid-1960s woman in the styles I knew and loved and wanted to wear.

(The title of The Munsters episode is "A Walk on the Mild Side" and you can view it online in a number of locations; just search on "'The Munsters' 'A Walk on the Mild Side'" and you will find it. The femulation occurs about 19 minutes into the episode in case you want to fast-forward to it.)

(Caveat Emptor: This is a repurposed post from the past.)

Wearing Intermix.

Alex Wetter, male womenswear model