Dress to Shop

I’ll admit it: I overdress when I go out en femme and am a prime candidate for OA (Overdressers Anonymous). But I have a perfect excuse for dressing up when I go shopping: better service.

Think Julia Roberts shopping on Rodeo Drive in Pretty Woman or Dwight Schrute shopping at the Steamtown Mall in The Office. In both cases, their appearance determined whether they received better service or no service.

Similarly, a “man in a dress” is likely to get poorer service than a man who appears to be a lady. (A “man in a dress” is a femulator who does not put much thought and effort into his femulation. His wig looks too wig-like because it is cheap or has not been styled since it exited its shipping box. His makeup is Bozo-like rather than Bazaar-like. Unsightly hair is visible where it should not be visible. His clothes are wrinkled and unkempt. Etcetera.)

A lady, on the other hand, is likely to have attentive sales people at her beck and call, assigning a personal dressing room for madam and fetching clothing off the racks when the sizes madam selected are not quite right. I’ve experienced this treatment many times and it sure affirms my feelings of being a lady. 

When I go shopping, my goal is to femulate a professional woman dressed for work, who may have slipped out during lunch to pick up a few things or is on her way home after a long day at the office. Think dress and heels, modest jewelry and makeup and nicely styled hair. 

That’s me whenever I go out and since I am dressed to shop – guess what – I shop!

Wearing Boston Proper

Nicole, Jamie and Kim out and about at a Denver restaurant celebrating Nicole’s birthday

Someday Funnies

Jim out and about in a restaurant for lunch

(The Worst From) Someday Funnies

Wearing Alexia Admor

Out and about, girls just want to shop!

Out & About at the Dais

Over the years, I have made a lot of presentations at ham radio conferences presenting as a male. Also, I have made a lot of presentations at GLBT conferences presenting as a female. 

In both cases, I am always a little nervous beforehand. But once I stand up behind the dais and start talking, my nervousness dissipates and you can’t shut me up. So when I start getting nervous before a presentation, I know that from past experiences that I have nothing to fear, that everything will be fine and knowing that helps to take the edge off my nervousness.

However, when I made a presentation at a ham radio conference presenting as a female for the first time, all bets were off. It was something I had never done before and I did not know how my audience (a lot of conservative older white guys) would react. 

Needless to say, I was scared to death. The one saving grace was that my presentation was short (less than five minutes long), so I could get out of Dodge quickly if things got out of hand.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the dais. I completely embraced the fact that I was a feminine being and that whether the audience accepted me or not was their problem, not mine. As a result, my presentation went smoothly and no one seemed to mind my female appearance. (You can view my presentation on YouTube starting at the 6:39 mark.)

In fact, after my talk, a fellow, who I have encountered as a male at almost every ham radio conference I have attended during the past 10 to 15 years, came over to me and asked, “How are you related to <insert my male name>?”

I guess I had nothing to worry about!

Still Out and About Dept.

Encouraging you to femulate out and about among civilians is what this blog is all about. With that in mind, I started the Femulating Out and About slot below, which features photos of girls like us out in public.

If you have a photo of you out and about en femme in public, I would be happy to feature it in the Femulating Out and About slot. 

By the way, “out and about” does not mean femulating in your home, your back yard or in a hotel room. Rather, I am looking for photos of girls shopping, dining, partying, sightseeing, etc. – doing things that women do out among the civilian population. 

Hopefully, your out and about photos will encourage other girl to go out and about, too.  

Wearing Zuhair Murad

Nora Simone out and about encounters an admirer

(The Worst From) Someday Funnies

Wearing Chanel

Caty Ryan out and about at the Melbourne Westfield mall.

Out and About in National Parks

Dear Stana and all the readers of Femulate,

I just wanted to say Thank You for your wonderful and supportive blog. Without this support and femulation assistance, I would never have ventured out of my closet.

Over the course of the pandemic, I did sneak away and visit the national parks in the Southwest. While photography was my main reason to travel, Michelle tagged along.

So, here are some pictures of myself at the Grand Canyon last August and Canyonlands National Park last April. Mother nature did extend her fickle hand and teach me a lesson about a woman’s hair style and the destructive nature of wind!

Of note to any photo enthusiast, The image of the Milky Way was taken facing the North and South Windows at Arches National Park. My equipment was a Canon 1DS Mark II, 24mm Tilt-Shift, F stop 2.8, ISO 25600, Swiss Arca Ball Head on Gitzo carbon tripod. I divided this image in 10 overlapping exposures and used 6 of these in the final panoramic image. Photoshop CS6 has all the necessary processing ability and works just fine.

I do recommend all image processing be completed only while femulating and all photoshoots be completed while in boy mode or at least in flats!

Love to all in PRIDE week!

Michelle Rose

Wearing New York & Company

Young femulators using public transportation while out and about.

Someday Funnies

Marie Anne Greene out for a Sunday brunch at a local plantation 

My Dream Theme

Last night, I dreamed that actress Kate Beckinsale uploaded a video to YouTube. The purpose of her video was to invite me to be her date attending the premiere of her new film.

Before I could respond to her invitation, I woke up.

***

I have not talked about my dreams in awhile. If you recall, I seldom remembered my dreams, but the ones I did remember were always trans-related.

That has changed.

I read how-to articles about improving one’s ability to remember dreams. As a result, most mornings I now know what I dreamed about the night before.

What is interesting is that I no longer have dreams in which I crossdress, rather my dream themes are random everyday occurrences that anyone may encounter. The only difference is that I am now a woman full-time in my dreams experiencing those random everyday occurrences.

How I became a woman is never given a thought; I am fully accepted as a woman in my dream world.

Sigh.

Caveat Emptor: This post is a re-post of a post from the past.

Wearing Likely Carolyn

Paula Gaikowski waiting for the train to London

(The Worst From) Someday Funnies

Bras and Balloons

His, Hers & Ours Dept.

I mentioned Monday how I was fooled by an email advertisement for His & Her bras. Mikki sent me an antidote for my foolishness: a company that specializes in bras for women with small breasts that is reaching out to the trans community. Click here to read all about it. 

Not To Do List Dept.

I am a womanless beauty pageant snob. Here is a list of things that cause me to discount a contestant in a womanless beauty pageant.

👠 Facial hair

👠 Leg hair

👠 Arm hair especially underarm hair (yuck!)

👠 Male haircut (rather than wearing a wig or styling male hair in a feminine manner)

👠 Cheap Halloween wig

👠 Male footwear

👠 Bare feet

👠 Flip-flops

👠 Fondling his fake breasts or worse, fondling another contestant’s fake breasts

👠 Balloons as fake breasts that are clearly visible as balloons

👠 Acting like a buffoon

Wearing Boston Proper

Rachel out and about ordering a drink