Psychedelic 60's Dance Party - the party!

I'm picking this up from the end of the last post... we wrapped up getting ready, with Miss doing my nails with white tips which is a look that I really love!

She dressed in a new pair of ripped jeans and a 60's flower child style top. She looked great!

Off we go!
Walking out of the house and walking to the car I always worry my neighbors will be out, and this time more so, given that I was in a flashy GoGo girl outfit with pink fishnet thigh-high stockings and boots. But that was not a problem, and getting into the car without showing off too much was fun in that little dress ;-) As we drove I was wondering what type of view people in SUVs and other taller vehicles might have had if they happened to look down at me while driving :-)

Park and walk
This time we parked in the parking structure behind the club. Plenty of parking with nice, safe, bright lighting. This area of town has many retail establishments, shopping and dining, so there were other people coming and going at this time of night that were not going to the club (it was about 8:30 pm and a Saturday night).

I was in a very short dress, and this was my first public debut in such a short dress, so I was really worried about putting on a "free show" in front of the random people we were passing by. Right as we left the car I pulled down on the hem of my dress as much as it would go before we started our slow walk through that very well lit garage. I tried not to act or walk in a way that would show my nervousness, but I was very anxious about attracting attention. I think Miss really 'enjoyed' me being dressed like this in public.

Into the club
We get in line to enter the club and get our IDs checked. I was a little more chatty with the girl checking IDs, and I asked her how she can tell if it's a match for a trans person. She said she just tries to match the eyes on the photo to the person.

We were seated a little farther back from the edge of the stage and dance floor then in prior visits. Let me say that on this evening I was a lot more attentive to managing my dress (as I sat up and down), and keeping my knees together! I was not too keen on crossing my legs either, that would have been a lot of thigh on display. Of course all of my modesty concerns were ridiculously overblown given how scantily dressed some of the other ladies were, I fit in just fine ;-)

A first for me!
I think this is a first, but Miss said she was a little jealous thinking about what attention I might get - bless her! I was so very flattered. But I also felt a little bad & embarrassed that I was the cause of her feeling a not-fun-at-all emotion, and of course she has absolutely nothing to worry about in that department. But it was an interesting reversal of what's been "normal" for me. I don't think I've every been aware of anyone being jealous of me, and for sure never due to how I looked!

Party (and picture) time!
The club had been decorated a bit, with a Beatles Yellow Submarine complete with cartoon versions of the Fab Four. The host and promoter of this event (Jamie Jameson) was in a similar outfit as mine, with white GoGo boots, so I felt a lot better about my outfit fitting the theme!

We ate dinner as we usually do, along with some Margaritas :-) These Saturday night parties also have photographers. One of them sets up all night with a "Red Carpet" type theme. The 'regulars' get pictures taken every month, but Miss and I had not done it yet. I think mainly because I have been worried about being seen by anyone in my work life that might recognize me. But I'm getting a little less worried about that. I know I want to come out full time, and my employer would not have a problem with that as they are fully supportive of LGBT people and issues (but I don't know about my direct bosses), with some of our very top leadership falling into at least the L and G buckets. We have all the letters represented openly across the rest of the staff. I even wanted to attend an after-work meetup of our company sponsored LGBT group just announced a couple of months ago. I would have done so as my male in-the-closet persona. But my schedule did not permit that. Maybe next time.

Well, I scoped out the Red Carpet area and there really wasn't much of a crowd yet, so I asked Miss if she wanted to go up and get our pictures taken. She said yes, so we put napkins over our drinks to keep our seats, and headed up the stairs. The photographer is really great and has supported this event for years - TeddyBoy French.

I'm on the Red Carpet!

After the pictures we walked back to our seats, and the DJ started to spin, playing a fair amount of 60's music and occasionally modern day dance club music. We didn't end up dancing to any of the 60's tunes before the night progressed and all the music turned to current day selections.

When we did make it out to the dance floor, it was more packed then any time before! As usual the diversity of people and age ranges was awesome - this is not just a 20 something community. I think this ended up being the most attended Saturday dance party yet, I heard there were about 500 people there!

And I did get a compliment or two on my outfit from 'regulars' - YAY!

Another first for me - OMG!!!
So this part is a little blurry to me as far as exact details. - after a few Margaritas I was probably feeling a little too good :-) Somehow I ended up being a finalist in the 60's outfit contest (I think 4 of us)! They called me down and I just couldn't believe it! The photographers were taking pictures and probably video, as were people with their cell phones. It was loud, the lights were turned up bright, people were saying stand here, face here, walk there, etc. and I was just not catching it all. So the pictures I was able to find with me in them are not too well staged, often probably my own fault.

But all I can say is OMG! Amazing! I never ever thought I'd be in any type of contest as a woman, let alone a finalist in one! It felt so good. I was on cloud nine!

It was a great time!

Psychedelic 60's Dance Party - What to wear?

A few weeks ago Miss and I had our (now regular) monthly night out at TGirl Night's Saturday Dance Party. This is held at Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach (California), on the 1st Saturday of the month.

The Venue
Hamburger Mary's started in San Francisco in 1972, and is now run as a franchise with 12 locations in the US (but no longer in San Francisco, what gives? - LOL!), and one in Berlin! A new one is opening this summer, about 30 or so miles from my house. The Long Beach location that we go to is about as far away. We will definitely have to check it out when it opens. The Mary's franchises are great supporters of the LGBT community.

The Theme (or What to wear?)
This month's party had a Psychedelic 60's theme. Miss and I had an idea for the type of outfit I wanted to wear, which we were both pretty much on the same page about. We were on the hunt for a GoGo dancer outfit.

I was imagining what the style might look like in my mind based on images from television and magazines that I still can remember from back in my childhood (there were a lot of sexy outfits in sci-fi television). The above picture is a great representation of what I was envisioning with the style of dress...and yes...the boots!!!! I was hoping to find that dress style with a geometrical type pattern, more like this:

GoGo Boots
I was so hoping to pull off the '60's Mod look, and the boots were a big part of it. So off I went online to look for GoGo boots. Miss and I were adamant that they needed to be pink! And they were so crucial to the look I wanted - if I couldn't find boots I was going to have to scrap this idea and go with plan B (paisley/denim flower-child style). Did I mention that I already had pink thigh-high fishnet stockings to go with them? I soooo sooo badly needed the pink boots to work out for them :-)

But I was agonizing because I was worried about finding a large enough size. Everything I was reading and finding related to any colors other than white or black indicated that the calf size ran very small, and I do get a fair amount of leg exercise (larger calves) and I was worried there was no way they would fit. I procrastinated on my decision but ended up ordering a pair from Amazon.

For privacy concerns I had them shipped to Miss's address. When they arrived I asked her to try them on and she said they were tight on her calves. I was emotionally deflated. I asked her to bring them with her anyway, just in case... Miss was over the day before the party, I tried the boots on, and YAY - they fit!!! It was tough getting them on, but I was ecstatic when I did! And I have to add, Miss was VERY pleased with the look. I will be wearing them for her enjoyment again and again :-D

The Dress

Well, that was a lot said about boots. As far as the rest of the outfit, I spent the 3 or 4 weeks prior to the party looking for an outfit that might work at various clothing stores and online. I already had a white, black, and pink striped skirt that would have worked in my Mod style, but I never found a good top. Luckily Miss did some searching online and found a great dress which we ordered. Same as with the boots, I had it shipped to her place. And just as with the boots, I asked her to try it on. And just as with the boots - it seemed too small!!! I was doubly emotionally deflated :-( But, also as with the boots...... I tried it on when she arrived the day before the party, and as I was putting it on, yes it felt very snug...too snug, and it was REALLY short (at least to me!) But as Miss looked me over (with a very slow and devouring head-to-toe pan), with one of her sexiest smiles progressively & un-hurriedly growing even more sexy as she ever so slowly took in my look..... she gave me a resounding approval that this outfit was exactly perfect for this party!

Here is the finished product (sorry no makeup!)

Who needs modesty anyway, it's free love baby! 

So yes, short-short-SHORT dress, right? Miss made the comment that I'd be like "one of those girls" that has to constantly be pulling at the hem of her dress to keep her "modesty" - LOL! Well, that is exactly what I had to do all night, and I think Miss really got off on that! And of course there were plenty of other ladies at the party in more revealing outfits than I.

Stay tuned, there will be a part 2 to this post coming soon, about the actual party.

Take care everyone!

New foundation from Sephora

So far I have only used basic, inexpensive makeup for the most part. I've not tried any of the pricier options that I've read about that are supposed to give us trans ladies a better looking face.

I think the only transgender makeup technique I've tried so far is using red lipstick around my beard area (under my foundation) to provide a neutralizing(?) contrast to the darkness of my stubble. That technique does seem to help quite a bit, especially in photographs which tend to enhance the visibility of that horrible shadow. I've been very happy with it!

But now that I've got more experience putting on makeup, I thought it was time to try a foundation that I had read about in a recommendation somewhere online (I wish I remembered where so I could credit that person!)

So Miss and I headed out to Sephora in our local mall to pick up some CoverFX Total Cover Cream foundation. I was expecting that I would have to ask for help in figuring out the right color for my skin tone, but Miss jumped right in and started testing some on the back of her hand. 

We spent quite a few minutes trying to figure it out. Store employees came by a few times to ask if we needed help and we declined. The best candidates Miss tried on my cheek. We finally found what we thought was the best color match and I got in line with it while she went off to look for eye shadow for her. The experience was fun and uncomfortable at the same time with me wondering what people might have been thinking :-)

This isn't a great picture, the lighting isn't very good, but I think we did ok! And the topper is that I did this without a fresh shave, and without using the red lipstick technique I mentioned above. I think it did just great concealing the dreaded 5 o'clock shadow!!!

Becoming Us Premiere Preview | Premiere Monday, June 8 at 9pm|8c on ABC ...

I love the awareness and "humanization" that I see happening in the media for trans issues.

Showing real people and real families with transgender people will help to make us more familiar to others.

Familiarity over time does lead to acceptance and broader societal integration... eventually. Think of all the many "minorities" and how they have progressed to better acceptance. I know, still a long way to go but at least this train is in motion!

Thank you Mandy!

I have to thank Mandy @ "From Me" to "Mandy" for the wonderful comments and suggestions about my look when I'm all dressed up :-)

She sets a great example, that I certainly look up to, about not worrying about people noticing what I'm wearing.

You'll want to eventually get to the point where you don't really care if people notice what you're wearing. Dress nicely, even in semi-girl mode (and you do.) Then, just go about your business. What does it matter if people can tell you are wearing girly clothes? Leave 'em guessing. It's fun...

That's pretty much my theory, and the way I deal with my androgyny.

I am trying to push myself out there more and more to get my confidence up. That is really what the challenge is for me.

Miss and I are managing to make it out (with me en-femme) about once a month now.

In normal day-to-day personal life I'm pushing the gender-bending angle more and more. For me this is going out in male-mode (meaning no makeup except very light pink lipstick) and wearing girl clothes that are somewhat androgynous. I wear skinny jeans (and other ladies' jeans and shorts) with little concern. I also have some ladies' black low-heeled flats that I wear, and usually a bra under my top. That is my next area to push on more. I don't often wear ladies' tops on the weekend when we run our errands (I need to step up that game some more), but I have worn ladies tops to a few concerts we have gone to.