Shopping at Fantasia Fair

I just received an email from a reader who plans to attend Fantasia Fair for the first time. She is excited about being able to shop for clothing while en femme in Provincetown.

Well, I hate to rain on her parade, but clothes shopping in Provincetown during Fantasia Fair is usually disappointing.

Since it is "off-season" or the "end-of-the-season," depending on whom you ask, some of the stores are closed for the year, while the stores that are still open are open on a limited schedule (reduced hours and/or reduced days like Thursday through Sunday or less).

While there may be end-of-the-season sales at the stores that are still open, it is so end-of-the-season that everything is picked over. All that is left is stuff that nobody else wants and not necessarily in sizes for girls like us.

So be forewarned.

Wearing Kendra Scott earrings (Source: WhoWhatWear)

A 1965 womanless wedding in the UK.

Got Balance?

According to a story in the Daily Mail, "When it comes to high heels, surprisingly, experts believe that wearing them into our 70s may actually help protect us from falls, by maintaining our sense of balance.

"'Most high heels have a very small surface area to walk on, so you need a good sense of balance and proprioception [a sense of how various parts of the body move relative to each other] to be able to walk in them,' explains Christopher Walker, a consultant in trauma and orthopaedic surgery at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

"'This means that because of wearing high heels, women have a very good sense of balance.'

"Balance involves the brain processing vast amounts of information from different areas, including the eyes, muscles and balance mechanisms in the ear.

"Heels challenge your sense of balance which, over years, hones these mechanisms.

"If women stop wearing heels, their sense of balance can actually deteriorate, adds Mr Walker, who also works at the Bone and Joint Centre, Spire Liverpool Hospital."

Read the rest the Daily Mail story here.

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

Manly females admiring femulating male.

My Fashion Sense

I have fashion sense.

I can put outfits together and accessorize them. I can also do my makeup and style my hair (wigs). I'm no expert, but I think that for a natural born guy, I do well doing those girly things.

I read and practice a lot to improve my girly skills, but I think there is more to it than that. I think that I took after my Mom.

Mom was a fashion plate. We were not rich by any means; we were lower middle class at best, but Mom always dressed very nicely wearing outfits she sewed herself.

Mom was also beautiful and did not have to wear a lot of makeup. Lipstick, powder, and rouge were the only ingredients in her makeup bag. She also had great legs!

Overall, Mom's look was very classy.

I inherited my fashion sense from Mom. Over the years, I honed my girly skills, but to start, my basic girly skills came from Mom. When I was a little girly boy, I was fascinated watching her do her hair and makeup and sew pretty clothes to wear with beautiful hats and always, with high heels.

I am a high heel maven just like my Mom. In fact, a lot of girls my age have an affinity for high heels because our mothers came from a generation in which high heels were the standard footwear for going out. Similarly, girls my age favor dresses because that is what our mothers wore most of the time.

It is not only me; many of us get our fashion sense from our Moms. Luckily, my Mom had a great fashion sense and a little of that rubbed off on me.

Wearing Tibi (Source: Tibi)

Femulator in the 1969 Japanese film Funeral Parade of Roses.

If you can’t stand the heat, then put on a sundress!

It has been hot and humid in Downtown Femulation City lately. High temperatures and worse, high humidity makes life in a wig uncomfortable!

Thank Goddess for air conditioning!

It was so hot one day that the missus suggested that I put on a sundress. She must have been joking because she knows darn well that I do not own a sundress.

On the other hand, with the air-conditioner cranking away at full blast, I could have dressed to the nines and lounged around the house the rest of the day.

Maybe next time.

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

Kuba Molęda femulating on the Polish version of television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.

All in the Family

Wearing Carla Ruiz (Source: Carla Ruiz)

Alexander Khanin, male womenswear model

Women's Dresses

Some of you girls sent me this eBay link where a photo of Chris Lemmon is available for sale.

The actor (Jack Lemmon's son) is dressed as a Vegas showgirl for two episodes of a 1989 television comedy Open House. I had been looking for a photo of this femulation for years and I thank you readers who sent me the link.

The photo does not do Lemmon's femulation justice – he looks like a man in showgirl drag.

I saw those episodes when they were originally televised and in my opinion, he looked a lot better than the photo's depiction. In fact, he looked so hot that his TV wife got very excited about his appearance, started making out with him/her and suggested that he dress as a woman more often!

👠👠👠

I dunno about you, but whenever I see an ad like the one Macy's emailed me today that reads "Women's Dresses," I always wonder why are they being so specific? Do they also sell men's dresses?

Wearing Ann Taylor (Source: Ann Taylor)

André Claude, professional femulator, circa 1960

Hot As Sun

In honor of the hottest day of the year in Downtown Femulation City, I am passing along some movie trivia from IMDB and elsewhere about the hottest femulation film of its time, Some Like It Hot.

Tony Curtis's voice as Josephine was dubbed by Paul Frees (according to co-writer I.A.L. Diamond). Curtis confirmed it by stating the voice you hear as Josephine is a combination of his voice and Frees'. Curtis says he had trouble maintaining a high-pitched voice for an entire take.

Supposedly when Orry-Kelly was measuring all three stars for dresses, he half-jokingly told Marilyn Monroe, "Tony Curtis has a nicer butt than you," at which point Monroe pulled open her blouse and said, "Yeah, but he doesn't have t*ts like these!"

Upon its original release, Kansas banned the film from being shown in the state, explaining that crossdressing was "too disturbing for Kansans."

A cabaret dancer (a man who played women on stage) tried to teach Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon to walk in heels. After about a week, Lemmon declined his help, saying he didn't want to walk like a woman, but a man trying to walk like a woman.

When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon first put on the female makeup and costumes, they walked around the Goldwyn Studios lot to see if they could "pass" as women. Then they tried using mirrors in public ladies' rooms to fix their makeup, and when none of the women using it complained, they knew they could be convincing as women. There is a scene on the train recreating this moment.

In 2008, a Californian man who found a little black dress in his closet was stunned when appraisers for U.S. TV series Antiques Roadshow determined it once belonged to Marilyn Monroe. The frock - which Monroe was sewn into for Some Like It Hot, was estimated to be worth $250,000.

One of the few American movies ever given a "Condemned" rating by the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency.

I remember the first time the film appeared on television in the early 1960s. As a budding young femulator, my eyes were glued to the television set while simultaneously trying to feign disinterest so that no one would suspect my affinity for feminine finery.

Jack Lemmon’s son Chris Lemmon appeared in Vegas showgirl drag in an episode of a 1989-1990 television series titled Open House. His femulation was very good, but I have never been able to track down a photo of that femulation.

Be cool, Honey Bunnies!

Wearing Net-A-Porter (Source: The Zoe Report)

Gender swap on Croatian television's Hrvatski's Top Model.

The Girls of Autumn

The "boys of summer" become the "girls of autumn" when they return to school and volunteer to don dresses and high heels for their high school's next womanless event. Whether it be Gender Bender Day, a womanless beauty pageant, Opposite Day, a womanless fashion show, a Cinderfella pageant or even Halloween, there are gurls in civilian clothing willing to put on their frillies for whatever cause comes along, just as Mark Ruth (above) did for the "Miss America" pageant conducted at Wynnewood (Oklahoma) High School in 1974.

Miss Ruth's photo is one of 160 new photos of the girls of autumn uncovered by Starla from online high school yearbooks. I uploaded Starl's new images to flickr where 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 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.

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.

I hope you enjoy the view. Meanwhile, I am going to slip into a bikini and work on my tan.

Wearing Boston Proper (Source: Boston Proper)

Sylvester portrays a female impersonator in the 1979 film The Rose.

Got Mod?

Being a retro kind of girl, I like the styles ModCloth sells. Yet, I have only purchased one item from them mainly due to size issues (some of the items I liked were not available in my size).

As luck would have it, the ModCloth dress I did buy was a little too big, but not so big that I had to return it. I have not worn it since I lost weight, so it is probably way too big now, but I liked it a lot and may have it taken in once I reach my goal weight.

It seems that I am not the only gurly girl who likes ModCloth as evidenced by this image I found on the Internet recently!

Wearing ModCloth (Source: ModCloth)

Luz Violeta, professional femulator

Fear of Flying

Thank you for the advice and encouragement you readers provided regarding my plans to fly rather than drive to St. Louis in September.

To tell you the truth, I don't need much encouragement to fly as a woman. It is on my bucket list and is something I wanted to do for a long time.

I have no fear of flying, however, I do have a fear of packing for flying.

I am familiar with Big Brother's rules about how to pack, so that is not an issue. The problem is how to pack economically as a woman.

When I go to Hamvention, which is five days en femme, my Subaru is full of luggage... typically, a large suitcase, small suitcase, garment bag, cosmetics toolbox and computer bag. Taking all that on a flight would just about double the cost of my ticket with most carriers.

I could eliminate the cosmetics toolbox by just taking what I really need and I could eliminate the computer bag by carrying my laptop, iPhone and accessories in my big handbag. But how do I compact a large suitcase, small suitcase and garment bag into one piece of luggage weighing less than 50 pounds?

There's the rub.

Wearing Diane von Furstenberg (Source: Diane von Furstenberg)

The boys of Marshall High School in Marshall, Arkansas, 1986 (Source: Starla)

Christian Sharia: GOP House Bans Sleeveless Women

Christian Sharia: Modesty police in the the Republican controlled House of Representatives are enforcing a new dress code for women.

The Christian puritans are at the helm, and the bare arms of women must not be seen in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to a report filed by CBS, sleeveless dresses and blouses worn by women are no longer acceptable attire in the House chamber and the Speaker’s lobby, a location where reporters often wait for lawmakers in order to conduct brief interviews.

A senior GOP source told CBS News that House chamber security and the House Sergeant at Arms are enforcing new rules regarding proper attire for women entering the House chamber and the Speaker’s lobby, effectively becoming modesty police for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Under the direction of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the Republican controlled House of Representatives is enforcing a new dress code for women. No doubt the Taliban would approve.

(Source: www.patheos.com)

Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)

Source: "Piranha Club" formerly known as "Ernie" (Courtesy of Meg)

My Store is Closing!

In March, I opened Stana’s Femulate Boutique, an Amazon aStore, where you could purchase items on Amazon that I use and recommend. This was in response to readers who asked how they could support the blog monetarily.

Amazon recently announced that they will be phasing out the Amazon aStores and by the end of October, all the aStores will be gone including mine.

To tell you the truth, business at my aStore was slow and after initially investing a lot of time and effort into the business, I was so disappointed in the results that I stopped wasting my time with it.

Although my aStore is closing, my blog posts will continue to have links to Amazon. If you click on one of those links that takes you to Amazon and you make a purchase, the blog receives a percentage of your payment.

Anyway I want to thank the few who did support my aStore and thus, my blog. But it was hardly enough to give me the incentive to continue much longer.

And so it goes.  

Wearing Iro jacket, ALC top and shorts, Jimmy Choo sandals and Carrera sunglasses (Source: Intermix)

Throwback Thursday – Eve and Marie – When a "Flight Attendant" was a "Stewardess"