Welcome

The first time I attended a support group meeting, I knew no one. The person running the group emailed me where the group’s meeting hall was located, but she was not in attendance, so I did not even have one person to lean on at the meeting.

To make matters worse, instead of welcoming a newcomer and trying to make me feel comfortable, I got the cold shoulder. After less than a half-hour, I got out of Dodge, drove home and swore that was my first and last support group meeting.

But I had to get out of the house en femme and even though the support group meeting hall was just another closet, it was a step out of the home closet, so I went back. And the second time, a couple of people talked with me and I started feeling more welcomed. 

It is likely that when a newcomer shows up at a support group meeting, it is her first time out of the home closet. She is probably very stressed out and needs all the help she can get. 

I never forgot that first meeting and I promised myself that whenever a newcomer showed up, I would go out of my way to welcome her and chat with her if she was so predisposed.

I made some long-time friends that way.

Wearing Boston Proper

Piotr Gawron-Jedlikowski femulating Magdalena Narozna on Polish television’s Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (Your Face Sounds Familiar)

You can view the femulation on YouTube. 

Someday Funnies: And are those my high heels?

Wearing Elisabetta Franchi

Dustin Hoffman femulating in the classic femulating film Tootsie.

Saturday Shorts

Peter Scolari, who played Hildegarde on the crossdressing television series Bosom Buddies, died yesterday from cancer. He was only 66 years old!

👠 👠 👠

In her Friday post, Rhonda (of Rhonda's Escape fame) cited an article that explains how the Femulation Nation’s national anthem, Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” was inspired by crossdressers.

👠 👠 👠

See the “60 Best Halloween Costumes for 2021” at BestProducts dot com including a few that you can put together from items already in your and your loved one’s closets. 

Wearing Isabel Marant

Tom Hanks and the late Peter Scolari femulating in the television comedy Bosom Buddies.

My Traditional Halloween

In honor of our favorite holiday on October 31, I am reposting past Halloween posts on Fridays. The following repost is from October 2009.

My Halloween “costumes” in 1983 and 2017

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, when there was a Halloween costume contest at work, I dressed in like an office girl trying 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 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.

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 anyway, but 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!

Piotr Gawron-Jedlikowski femulating C.C. Catch on Polish television’s Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (Your Face Sounds Familiar). You can view this femulation on YouTube.

Someday Funnies: Nobody’s Perfect

Wearing Venus

Sexo Frágil (Fragile Sex) is a television comedy from Brazil. I happened upon an episode on YouTube and I was fascinated with what I saw. All the roles, both male and female, are played by males. Their presentation as females is very good except that most of the girls speak in their boy voice. The four main characters (above) play both male and female roles. The other female roles are played by male actors who do not have a male counterpart like the four above. The program is in Portuguese, which I don’t comprehend, so I missed most of the humor. Despite the language barrier, I enjoyed all the excellent femulations.

High School was a Drag

I went to a Catholic high school in the late 1960s. It was as bad as you can imagine, but there were a few trans moments. 

When teen boys began wearing earrings, our principal, Father B, announced that if any male student showed up wearing an earring, he would insist that that student begin attending school wearing a dress.

During our annual “Irish Minstrel,” the basketball team performed a tune on stage while dressed in Roaring Twenties drag. (They were all civilians in my opinion.) However, a couple of guys performed a tune while dressed as a bride and groom. The bride’s “my girdle is killing me” line did not dissuade me that the bride was one of us.

Fast forward 50 years and a high school in Burlington, Vermont, put on a drag show during its homecoming halftime show. Both students and faculty femulated and the ladies were very presentable. (See for yourself on YouTube.)

I could see Father B letting us do that at old Sacred Heart... NOT!

Wearing Delfi Collective Brooklyn

Martin del Rosario, Paolo Ballesteros and Christian Bables femulating at the premiere of the 2019 Filipino film The Panti Sisters.

You can view the film’s trailer on YouTube.

Someday Funnies: Waiter Spills the Beans

German femulators celebrating Geschlechtertausch.

Where I'm Not

Fantasia Fair, October 2008

I began crossdressing in my teens in the 1960s. Home alone, I dressed, but I was strictly closeted and even missed an opportunity to Halloween crossdress when I refused my best friend’s invitation to be girls for the night.

I continued crossdressing as a 20-something throughout the 1970s. I was still closeted, but got up the nerve to Halloween crossdress on three occasions (and had the time of my life doing so).

Along came the November 1980 issue of Playboy containing an article about Fantasia Fair. The article was intended to be a humorous piece, often at the expense of the folks attending the Fair. Put that aside, I had never heard of Fantasia Fair and the article provided a trans public service by revealing the Fair to me (and to probably hundreds of other girls like me across the USA).

What a dream! And the Fair was on Cape Cod – an easy four-hour drive, so maybe I could attend and live as a woman for a week. But...

👩 It was expensive and I was only making $10,000 per year. 

👩 I was still mostly dressing out of my mother’s closet, so I didn’t have anything close to having a wardrobe for a week (and Mom was not likely to let me borrow hers).

👩 I was scared. Except for a handful of Halloween crossdressings, I had never been out among the civilians and I was ill-prepared to spend a week en femme among the population of Provincetown.

So I did not go. 

Attending Fantasia Fair remained a dream for over a quarter of a century until I finally attended in 2008 (and again in 2010, 2012 and 2014). During the ensuing 25 years, I joined a support group, attended long weekend trans conventions and went out solo en femme among the civilians, so the population of Cape Cod was no longer something to fear. 

I had a fabulous time each time I attended Fantasia Fair. Living 24/7 as a woman was initially thrilling and then became routine, but in a good way. I attended informative workshops, dined on fabulous food, enjoyed beautiful Provincetown and made a lot of friends.

The Fair is this week and I will not be attending, but I have my memories and they are all good.

Wearing Madeleine

Bryce Anderson, model

Someday Funnies: All in the Family

Wearing Elisabetta Franchi

Mickey Rooney femulating in the 1933 film Mickey's Tent Show.

My Flapper Costume

In honor of our favorite holiday later this month, I will repost past Halloween posts on Fridays. The following repost is from October 2009.

I attended a Halloween party last night hosted by Sue Nagle at her Joy of Nails Salon & Spa in Waterbury, Connecticut. There were about 25 trans girls and some of their spouses in attendance. About a third came in costume, as did I. The rest wore little black dresses (costumes, LBDs or little orange dresses were required attire for admittance). There was a ton of food and we had a ton of fun.

Beforehand, I stopped at a local grocery store to buy a dessert for the party. The store was busy with after-work shoppers. One female customer checked me out closely (I figure she was trying to figure out my birth gender), another female customers said “hello” (I figure she thought I was a genetic female), and the high school-aged cashiers seemed bemused and/or amused (they knew).

The costume came together nicely and I received a lot of compliments. The gold sequins tunic was an Avon clearance item that I purchased last year for $20, the fishnets were from Hue*, and the shoes came from eBay. The accessories (beads, headpiece, boa and garter) were from one of those Halloween stores that open up in abandoned storefronts in the strip malls every year.

The shoes were a pair I obtained for a Marilyn Monroe Halloween costume I put together back in 2001. Despite their 3-inch heels and pointy toes, they were very comfortable and I could have worn them forever.

Just a word about the Hue fishnets. I am a big fan of Hue tights, so I decided to try their fishnets. They get my seal of approval because they are the first pair of fishnets that I ever wore that did not tear during their first wearing. It is not that I was more careful than usual; no, I was just as clumsy as usual, but the fishnets held up very nicely.

Anyway Happy Halloween to all of you out there in the blogosphere. And don't eat too much candy!

* An Amazon Associate link

Wearing Venus

Harry S. Franklyn, 1920’s professional femulator