Keep on Figurin'

Recently, I received compliments about my girlish figure and questions about how I achieve it. 

My natural body shape and your natural body shape are probably different, so what works for me may not work exactly the same for you. My natural body features B cup-sized breasts (44B in the bra department) and womanly hips (when I reduce my waist size). My natural body lacks a shapely derriere – it is as flat as a pancake. I am 6 feet 2 inches tall and weigh 190 pounds. With all that to work with, here is how I work with it.

About a year ago, I wrote about how I achieved my figure. Since then, being quarantined gave me a lot of time to experiment with new things, so almost all the shapewear I used a year ago has changed.

From top to bottom, I wear a bra, corset and padded panty and over it all that, I wear Spanx. These are the exact items I wear with links to my favorite lingerie store, Amazon:

👗 Playtex Love My Curves Feel Gorgeous underwire full coverage bra 

👗 frawirshau satin lace-up boned underbust corset

👗 Rago Style 915 high waist padded panty with soft control

👗 SPANX Oncore open-bust panty bodysuit

Getting dressed, I put the corset on first. It reduces my waistline by a few inches and reveals my womanly hips that were hidden by male disguise. 

Next, I put on the padded panty. Its “soft control” flattens my belly and its rear padding adds shape to the flatlands of my butt. It also provides coverage for the corset’s hardware. 

I tuck my boy parts as I slip on the padded panty. Sometimes, the padded panty keeps the boys at bay, but sometimes it doesn’t, so I usually wear an undersized pair of high waist panties for added security.  

Previously, I wore a longline bra to help flatten my midsection, but that is overkill while wearing a corset. So now I wear pretty bras like the Playtex Love My Curves or Victoria’s Secret Bombshells that I currently own. 

Over everything, I wear the SPANX. It has a front cut out to expose whatever bra I am wearing. Meanwhile, it smooths out any uneveness that may occur between the bra, corset and padded panty. And like the padded panty, it helps to hide the corset’s hardware.

Voila! That is how I achieve my girlish 44-36-44 figure.

With that achievement under my belt, I often wear tight, body-con dresses (“if you got it, flaunt it”) and I never worry about my shapewear giving away my secrets to success because it is invisible.  

Wearing Bebe

Tallulah Bankhead with three chorus “girls” in the play The Garden of Eden, circa 1927
(Thank-you, Mikki)

Blood on Your Hands

“Over 400 bills have been introduced in state legislatures to marginalize us, to demonize us, to destroy us.

“Make no mistake, the Republican party is doing this to appease the evangelical christian base that wants to eradicating us.

“If you vote Republican you are contributing to the eradication of us, you are complicit in our destruction. You can say that you vote for Republicans for smaller government lower taxes but you are also voting for all their other policies including their attacks on us.

“You cannot separate the killing of trans youth from your vote. If you vote Republican you have blood on your hands.”

From Diana's Little Corner in the Nutmeg State, my thoughts exactly. Please read all of today's post on Diana's blog.

Thrown for a Loop

Back in May, I purchased a corset online for $12.99. At that price, I did not know what to expect, but I was so happy with my purchase that I bought a second one in a different color.

I am not a corset expert, so I have a question that I hope that you corset experts can answer. Along the top hem of the corset, about 8 inches on either side of the vertical row of metal closures (the busk) are two loops. What is the purpose of the two loops? 

If I was wearing the corset upside down, I might think that the loops were intended for the attachment of garters. If that was their purpose, there should be matching loops on the back of the corset, too, but there are none.

I thought that they might have something to do with a bra, but I can’t fathom what that something might be.

I'm stumped. If you know the answer, please unstump me.

UPDATE: The consensus is that the loops are intended for attachment to a clothes hanger.

Wearing Guilty of Glam

U.S. servicemen femulating in a German prisoner-of-war camp, circa 1943.

Click here to visit Stanley's Avon Store.

Someday Funnies

Wearing Cynthia Rowley

Femulating as Stage Door Canteen hostesses in the 1943 film This is the Army.

 Click here to visit Stanley's Avon Store

I want to be feminine the way boys are

I discovered femboys on TikToc. Actually, I discovered YouTube video compilations of femboys on TikTok. 

A femboy is a biological male, typically under the age of 30, who presents himself in a feminine manner, full-time or more typically, part-time. 

Femboys typically dress in very feminine outfits – clothing that most females would normally shun, for example, French maid and Lolita outfits. On the other hand, some femboys dress in outfits that young women might wear on the street, but the majority seem to favor the more flamboyant girly outfits.

Some femboys wear makeup and some wear wigs, but the fact that one is a femboy says nothing about one’s sexuality or gender. Femboys may be straight, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc. and may identify as male or female.

I was surprised about how open the femboys are about being femboys. 

Go to YouTube, search on “femboy” and be amazed!

Wearing Venus

Jai Rodriguez

Click here to visit Stanley's Avon Store

Avon Calling

I am an Avon Lady or more politically correct, an Avon Representative. I have been selling Avon products for over 25 years. 

You probably noticed the banner ads for my online Avon Store that I have been posting here for the past few days. I decided to open the store to help Femulate readers obtain what they need online, have it shipped directly to their home and avoid dealing with civilian merchants, who may or may not be sympathetic. Shopping in my store, you have a trans-sister as a merchant, who will answer all your questions with a sympathetic and knowledgeable ear.

If you are not familiar with Avon products, we sell everything that a lady needs including cosmetics, nail polish, fragrances, skin and hair care products, jewelry, clothing, footwear, shapewear and more.

In addition to being an Avon Lady, I am an Avon customer and have been using Avon products for over 30 years. My makeup regimen is almost exclusively composed of Avon products, as are all the skin care products I use. As they say, the “proof is in the pudding” and after using Avon products for over half my adult life, I think I look presentable for a 70-year-old femulator. 

So, here is the link to my Avon Store. I hope you will visit, look around and maybe find something you can use. 

Wearing New York & Company

Harland Williams (right) femulating in “Mr. Headmistress,” a 1998 episode of television’s The Wonderful World of Disney.

Click here to visit Stanley's Avon store.

My Magic Moment

My Magic Moment occurs after I dress up, slip on my high heels, take my handbag, walk out the door and hear the click of my heels on pavement. That moment never fails to thrill me because at that moment, I know I am a woman.

I cannot recall ever getting a similar thrill when disguised as a male. As a man in name only (MINO), my clothing and appearance are purely utilitarian. I am not a slob; I dress neatly. But what I wear is not important; I dress just so I can pass as a guy when need be.

On the other hand, when I dress as a woman, I look in the mirror, see a woman and want everyone to see that woman, too. 

What is your Magic Moment?

Wearing Sale to Sable

Reinhard Mahalie and Rumano Fabrishh

Click here to visit Stanley's Avon store.

Coming Soon: The Candy Store

Aunty Marlena sent me an email containing a link to a YouTube video titled CANDY STORE SIZZLE. So I watched it and it seemed to be a trailer for a new television show about a couple inheriting a brick and mortar store. The trailer was a tease and did not specify what kind of store. Since Aunty sent me the video, I assumed it was trans-related and I guessed that the store might be a crossdressing emporium. If that was the case, I was excited that this might be just the television show I was asking for – not another program about drag queens, but a program about crossdressers and femulators like you and me.

I quickly checked out The Candy Store website and Facebook page and discovered that I had guessed correctly.  

The Candy Store is an “original dramatic TV series (currently in development) about the complex lives of crossdressers and the struggles that crossdressing brings to families and communities.”

“The purpose of The Candy Store is to help the world better understand and accept the motives behind crossdressing and the different ways it affects individuals, families and communities.”

This is very much a work in progress and nothing may come of it, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Wearing ShopBop

Paolo Pazzaglia and Franco Caracciolo femulating in Dove vai se il vizietto non ce l'hai? (Where Can You Go Without the Little Vice?). This 1979 Italian comedy has a lot of crossdressing and you can view it on YouTube.

 Click here to visit Stanley's Avon store.

Someday Funnies

License to Femulate

By Paula Gaikowski

Still exiled to the front desk at Femulate headquarters, I have a lot of time on my hands when I'm not doing my nails, online shopping or taking two-hour lunches. I’ve recently began toying with the idea of a vanity plate for my car. So, I went to the Maine DMV website to see what was available. Now, I just must make a decision!

Wearing Boston Proper

Nándor Bihary femulating in the 1943 Hungarian film Csalódás.
You can view the film on YouTube.

Click here to visit Stanley's Avon store.

Why Would Anyone Want To Be A Woman?

When I came out to my ham radio friends and acquaintances, almost everyone was supportive. 

One friend, who I had known for over 35 years was pleased to see me once he recognized me en femme.

He listened attentively to my story. Then he asked some questions, which I answered.

Finally he said to me, “Why would anyone want to be a woman?”

My jaw dropped. I felt like everything I had said to him had gone in one ear and out the other.

It was not a choice. I didn’t decide one day that I needed a change of pace and would become a woman. I didn’t decide to become a woman to spice up my life.

Life would be so much easier if I was not a woman who found herself in a male body.

Like author Joy Ladin wrote, “There’s nothing so bad about being a man... as long as you’re a man.”

I'm certainly not a man. Never was. That explains why I feel uncomfortable when en homme, but at ease when en femme. 

Anyway, I did not unfriend my old friend for asking that question. I look forward to seeing him and we still interact with each other the same way we did before my coming out.  

And so it goes.

Wearing Guilty of Glam

Christian De Sica femulating in the 2018 Italian film Amici Come Prima (Friends Like Before). If you search YouTube for Amici Come Prima, you will find a number of film clips from the movie.

 Click here to visit Stanley's Avon store.