Interview with a Straight Crossdresser # 2 ~Gia

I recently reached out to everyone who 'like' the Straight Crossdressers & Friends Facebook page to see if anyone there was willing to be interviewed for the blog. A few people volunteered to. This is the first of the finished interviews. 

This interview is with Gia, a beautiful 32 year old crossdresser from NY.

*PP: I'm glad you agreed to be interviewed for my blog, its been awhile since I've done one. I wanna try to make it a regular feature.
(*PP= Pirate Pebbs aka yours truly)

Gia: aww, you're welcome. I'm glad there are blogs like this and appreciate you doing this.

PP: Thank you!

PP: Do you find it odd that a Genetic girl, like myself, is so passionate about wanting to straighten people out?

Gia: Interesting word selection. "straighten"

PP: lol, I'm punny sometimes.

Gia: I don't think it's odd, but I do think it is rare.  It is difficult enough finding genetic women who are attracted to people like myself who perhaps are more "open" about expressing their feminine side.  To find someone who outwardly supports it to the point of building your own blog and reader base is something else altogether. So rare indeed.

PP: I never really thought of it that way...

I see myself as more of a person who doesn't like to see people put down for how they feel

I want people to be Happy and if people have to hide part of themselves because others will think they are odd or something so they keep everything pent up inside...they'll never really be happy.* (*This doesn't apply to people who become happy by abusing others or indulging in highly illegal activities People who have abusive impulses should seek help by a trained professional to help them overcome their abusive thoughts & impulses.)

Gia: Hehe. That's a good philosophy. All I can say is keep it up and perhaps you might encourage others with similar ideals.

PP: I'll do my best.

Gia: I've made sacrifices for being able to express who I am. Some are fairly significant. I think Dan Savage said something along the lines of, "the most powerful thing anyone within the LGBTQ community can do for change is to come out."

PP: Indeed! Now I'll [finally] get on to the questions. 

First, What name shall I call you? Gia or is there more to the name that you'd like noted?

Gia: It's just Gia. The name is somewhat influenced by the movie and the model. And there is a closeness to my actual name, which I'll leave to everyone's imagination.

PP: Ah, I know of that Gia, cool!

About when did you become interested in or start crossdressing?

Gia: When I was just a little cross dresser. I used to sneak into my sister's closet when no one was home and play dress up in front of the mirror. Course I was a bit limited at that point, but the fascination grew.

PP: Is she older than you?

Gia: Yes, she's older. Which was good news for me since the clothes was a better fit. I wonder if I would have tried on her clothes if she was a little sister. That feels different for some reason.

PP: Have you ever been 'caught' [as a kid]? If so, by who?

Gia: Haha. Once, I think I unconsciously sabotaged myself. 

I was getting more daring and I was again rummaging through my sister's closet. This time it was in our weekend home, and there was this flowery dress that I used to love to wear. Well, it turned out that they were getting rid of it. I snuck the dress into my own closet and left it there.

Of course my mom found it, and gave me this completely embarrassing guilt trip about how boys shouldn't be wearing dresses.

That was the first and last time I was ever caught by my family. To this day, they don't have a clue.

PP: That was my next question, if your family knows you did, but I know that answer now.

Gia: Well, there was a minor incident when I still had a trace of eyeliner and my sister saw it, but I made up some story about being dragged out to a goth night by some girl friends. [so to answer the question] No, and I think I'm going to leave it that way. I'm sure my dad wouldn't really care. Well not really. But my mom, lovely woman, is a bit more old fashioned and would never get it.

PP: Have you /do you ever gone out crossdressed in public?

Gia: Yes, all of the time!

PP: When did you start going out [cross] dressed?

Gia: It took some getting used to. But I started to get dressed up on my own and going out after I finished college and moved out to my own apartment.

PP: Do you get someone to do your makeup? Did anyone teach you how to apply makeup?   Did you learn trial & error style?

Gia: Of course back [then], I relied on more help to get ready and didn't really know how to work it without looking like a cheap hooker with bad make-up. But I eventually developed my own style and with some coaching from my lovely make-up artist friends, I developed the basics for painting. I've had a long list of teachers.  Thank god for Craigslist and Myspace.

PP: Are you 'Passing' /is it your goal to be passing?

Gia: It's important to me that... I don't look like a guy in a bad wig.

Yes, passing is my goal, but I'm realistic. I'm a tall guy. Big shoulders, and there is only so much you can do. So, I do what I can to get as close as I can. But I have no expectation that people aren't going to know I'm a boy in a dress. At least after a 2nd or 3rd look.

PP: From the photos I've seen you look great! Passing or not!

Gia: Aww, why thank you.

I'm a cross dresser, but I like to refer to myself sometimes as a female illusionist. It's about creating a perception / image of being a woman. But I don't necessarily feel like a woman, or want to be one. It's also a bit like creating an alter ego where I can act a certain way that I wouldn't otherwise.

PP: Indeed!

Do you Tuck &[/or] Shave when you crossdress?

Gia: Tucking is a general term. I wear briefs and 2 pairs of tights, and usually that's enough. I don't usually pick out outfits where it would be too tight in the wrong spots.

As for shaving, I do to varying degrees. Of course I shave my face. I usually shave my chest too, but the legs I usually hold off on unless there is a really good reason.

And I leave my arms and hands alone. Those are just too tough to explain. It's all about the long gloves. 

PP: I hear ya!

What makes you want to crossdress? How does it make you feel?

Gia: Haha. Good question. I think it's changed/evolved over the years.

I didn't know what to make of it at first. Yes, like a lot of cross dressers, it's a bit of a turn on, and I think that's primarily how it started. It was exciting to see how sexy I can get. I'd look at myself in the mirror and get turned on by what I saw, and I wanted to do more. It was the primary driver to buying new clothes and shoes and make up.

PP: Does [being] Gia make you feel more empowered? Less shy? Anything like that?

Gia: Well, yes. And that goes to the other reasons for my dressing. 

It evolved to the point where it wasn't about turning myself on. I've reached the point where I realized that it was more of a release. A chance to escape from the same old and be someone else for awhile. While at the same point be able to more freely express my inner feminine side - which is much easier to get to when you're in a dress.

Needless to say, there were some ups and downs along the way.

PP: [Unfortunately], life is full of those.

Gia: I've heard other stories about people essentially taking these deep introspective looks at themselves and basically trying to numb the need or desire to cross dress.

Twice in my evolution, I've tossed out full wardrobes in street corner trash cans, far away from my apartment. Out of disgust.

"This is not who I am. I'm a boy, I like girls, I'm confused, stop doing this to yourself."

But it always comes back. And it's really about accepting it to whatever level that you're comfortable. Whether that's wearing the occasional panty in bed, or in my case, full ensemble head-to-toe going out to bars and dancing. Or the occasional photo shoot.

PP: Ideally what percentage of your time would you prefer to be 'dressed'? like half the time, every once in awhile, every weekend etc?

Gia: It depends. Usually I'd go out 3-4 times per month in drag. It depends if there is a reason, and I don't typically dress up to just hang out in my apartment alone. That's boring. If I'm going to spend 2 - 2 1/2 hours getting ready - I want to be seen darn it!

PP: I hear ya!

Have you ever been caught by a girlfriend? If not, have you admitted to crossdressing to a girlfriend? What was the result?

Gia: No, never caught. And with my last significant relationship I was pretty upfront about it right away. It wasn't easy. But important. And we got through it, at least at the beginning.

I wish I could say that it was a positive in our relationship, but it wasn't. And although I don't think it was the only reason for why we eventually broke up, it was a big factor.

PP: I still think being honest up front is the best way to start a relationship

thats what I generally tell to all my CD friends & on my blog.

Gia: Exactly. So now, I've been very focused on trying to date girls who know about Gia right up front so there are no surprises down the line. Gia even has her own [dating website] profile.

PP: Is there an inspiration for your look?

Gia: I can't point to anything specific. But I like to be edgy. Bit more rock and roll versus country. Nothing against country. But my roots are in punk and maybe a little glam. It's funny to put names to it, but it's like a weird combo of David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and Sid Vicious.

PP: Cool!

Do you have a story or idea to share that you haven't previously shared here?

Gia: I want to express that if it wasn't for Gia, I would not have met some of the most interesting and special people in my life. She's opened up new experiences that I would never have had before, and frankly, makes life more interesting to live.

It's not easy being a straight cross dresser. But usually it's worth it.

PP: I feel like i've met a lot of cool interesting people through my blogging etc as well. I'm glad I was encouraged to start it.

Thank you for letting me interview you for my blog today. Would you like for me to put a link to your online profile or email, in case some lovely ladies are interested in getting to get to know you better? 

Gia: Yep, anyone should feel free to reach me at callmegia@mail.com. But I can't guarantee I'll be able to reply to everyone.

That was  Interview with a Straight Crossdresser #2. If you have any questions or comments feel free to comment below or you could email me or Gia. You can reach me at StraightCrossdressers@gmail.com , PiratePebbs@gmail.com or at the Facebook page Facebook.com/straightcrossdressers. I hope you all enjoyed learning a bit more about some of the wonderful people who inhabit our world who I happen to hold dear.

Raven 14

This time I was able to bring one of my GG friends along for Saturday. Its nice to have more genetic girls in attendance who support t-girls. But Raven weekend starts on Fridays. On Friday Paula & I drove up to the hotel that the meet & greet was at. After changing rooms once we got Paula's makeup on & got her all dolled up. This time i got the make-up on her pretty well. I implemented something i had heard cosmetologists talk about as far as shading. It all worked well. We went to the meet & greet and saw some of our old friends and met some new ones. We had a really good time and retired just a few steps from the meet & greet to the hotel room, way better than driving for an hour + to go home. Next day had continental breakfast then I was off to pick up my GG friend, Felixia, from philly. Picked her up then headed to the franklin mills mall. I still had Nothing to wear to the main event. Saturday is the red carpet, dinner & dancing. Stopped in JCPenny (I work in the portrait studio of a JCP so I has discount whoot!) Found the perfect dress & accessories and even a dress for my kid (awesome!)! We headed back to New Hope. Paula started on her makeup before we got there (as planned) so I only had to finish the work. Paula was sooooooooooooo excited to wear the dress I made for her. We all got ourselves together (a bit later than we should have cause we had plenty of time, oops) we got there still with red carpet time. Paula showed off her awesome dress. Looked beautiful! Like the prom princess of Raven 14. She got shoes just for the red carpet....then off they came cause they were super uncomfortable, but like they say, beauty is pain.
After the red carpet was dinner. Food was awesome, as usual at Raven. Marty was there again this time, but not our waiter (yes I have total waiter favouritism). Still had a bit of a chat with him. Awesome person, you should totally chat w/him if you meet him. Next off to the dance floor. I...had to consume a few amaretto sours before I could dance (I have a bit of dancing shyness). Had a few drinks, danced and made some new friends. Saw more GG/CD couples this time than before, which I thought was awesome! Also met a girl named Samantha (who a couple weeks later we, Paula, Jerome and myself took out to the mall to shop for girl clothes), who was very sweet. Also spent a good half hour or so chatting with Mercury. Kinda made tentative plans to hang out...never panned out. Maybe next time. Sunday morning we met with Jackie at the breakfast spot at the eagle diner. This time with Paula in guy mode. (We saw a few of the other girls in guy mode as well) We had a nice conversation & a nice breakfast there. Next we headed off home after a fun weekend. All in all I always have fun at the Raven weekends. The Next Raven is June 1st. I already am bringing 1 other Genetic Girl who is interested in dating crossdressers. Hopefully she'll find the girl of her dreams there. I'm hoping to bring a few other girls. We'll see.

I Love you ALL!
~Pirate Pebbs

Crossdress-O-Ween

The end of last month, October, is somewhat of a crossdresser liberation time. The time, where crossdressers can crossdress in relative freedom knowing...they can always just say its a costume...
...Ok...in reality thats less than Ideal. People would prefer to dress as they'd like whenever they'd like and not be judged harshly for it. Generally around halloween time is when it happens. Guys dress as girls, girls dress like whores (or atleast its generally acceptable to do so)... and everyone can get away with it with their reputations intact because its a 'costume'.

Which bring me to this year's festivities. I...don't celebrate Halloween, but I do LOVE to dress up in costumes. A friend, a couple of months ago, asked me if I'd come to a party if she had one cause she was scared no one would come due to her being in NJ and most of her invited guests are in Philly. I told her i'd come even if no one else did. She was at least relieved. Since I'm still borrowing Paula's car (long story) I invited Paula as well. I felt compelled to ask if Paula had ever dressed as a girl for Halloween. To which I was somewhat surprised that the answer was No. I got to thinking of some of the other CD's I know...some others have never donned girl gear for halloween as well, they were afraid they'd do or say something and be found out. Yet most of the Men I know have gone girl at least once in their lives for halloween. It's like a rite of passage. So I suggested Paula do so. Paula was apprehensive to do so especially since we were scheduled to go to a party at his friend's house as well but...I can be very convincing. I told Paula I'd dress as a guy, that way there would be less to no suspicion. I'd wear a suit & tie and even don a fakie beard/mustache. Paula agreed after that. ...Turns out his friend's party wound up being in Virginia...was a bit far so we just went to my friend's party. He was a bit relieved knowing he probably wouldn't see any of his friends.

So Saturday October 27th arrived. Paula and I step out to get a few things from a few stores. Paula was in desperate need of flat shoes. Paula found that the womens shoe size that is supposed to be worn is a size 13 and that Payless has that size. My mom told me there was a Payless in a mall near my house and we should try there first. Since we had to go to that same mall anyway to get a new wig we figured we'd try there. We went to the wig store and didn't really see what we were looking for at first. Walked around a bit more and decided on just getting a ponytail extension for the wig Paula already had. We wished we had the wig with us to check if the color was right...but it was. Pebbs is the awesome!!!

Next in search of Payless...which was not in that mall. But we did some browsing in the shops anyway. We came across the Rainbow clothing store. They had some sales so we figured a browse wouldn't hurt. What we found there was pretty awesome! We found a brand new ensemble for Paula there. New shirt, skirt, leggings, jewelry, only thing we didn't find were shoes...which was our next destination. Off we went to Payless to get shoes. We went to one in Delaware...I can't remember the strip mall's name... but it's on Rt 202...the mall that also has a 5 Guys next to a 5 below...coincidence? I think NOT! lol. So we went there and found that Paula did indeed fit a size 13 shoe. Also we found some very nice flats and some wedge heeled shoes that Paula found quite comfortable. I had a coupon for 10% off but the lady who worked the register has a coupon for 30% off that she let us use! Yay! The price for 2 pairs of size 13 shoes were $30...and like 26 cents or something like that... but basically $30!!! So Ladies, if you're looking for shoes sized 13 and below check out Payless. Their website will tell you which stores carry larger sized women's shoes.

Next we stopped by the dollar store. I needed mascara for my fakie beard. I tried to use my brand new Avon Mascara and...well...the bristles are perfect for my lashes but too advanced for my face. What I needed was a cheap mascara wand. At the dollar store I knew i'd find something to suit my purposes. I found a mascara and eyeliner pencil set for $1. I got it in brown/black because black was a bit too dark on me when I tried it out the night before. I also discovered that i'd look horrible w/ a mustache.

Back & the batcave aka my house we set to putting our looks together. Paula got all dolled up, with my help of course, using some new Avon products that I bought from...myself, as well as the Bare Minerals makeup Paula purchased on a previous outing with me (click here for details on that) we got Paula looking Great! All Dolled Up Paula looked like a teenaged girl going to the prom...even though the outfit wasn't traditional prom style. I even put a tiny tiara on Paula's head.

I...looked guyish. I braided my hair back the day before. I put mascara on my brows and below my brows to make them look bigger. I noticed, guy eyebrows are closer to their eyes and girls brows tend to be above the eyes a bit more. I also put mascara in the beard area. Gave myself a chinstrap beard...it at least didn't look bad on me. I borrowed a shirt & tie from a friend and wore my younger cousin's dress pants, he and I wear the same size and I borrow his jeans often. I wore my own blazer and my work shoes which are pretty unisex. Then we were off.

Ok so we left the house about an hour after we'd planned...Making Paula look perfect was time consuming. We got to my friend's house about an hour late. Everyone thought our 'costumes' were pretty awesome. I had Made my friend's Elf costume over the week leading to the party between having to work etc. Her costume was lovely as well. Her boyfriend was the wolf man and his twin brother went as...him. lol, at least thats what he told us. It was a fun time. Ended a bit earlier than expected so we went back to philly to Dr. Thunder Karaoke!!! Where I usually co-host. Karaoke that day was at Headhouse on Lombard Street in Philadelphia. We went there I sang a song or two. Met up with some of my friends there as well. Fellow Karaoke Hosts for TNT Karaoke, Ray & Marci. It was fun seeing them there in their costumes. Marci was Storm, from the X-Men. She looked Amazing! and Ray was...one of the guys from KISS...I can't remember which guy...but he was Awesome as well!!! Dr. Thunder was dressed as...Viking Dr. Thunder! Which was also fun.

All in all it was a good night. As I reflected on my look for that night I had come to discover... I am not into looking fully like a guy. I like looking like a girl who is wearing guys clothing. I like my pinstriped suits and my fedoras but I will also wear lipstick & mascara cause thats what I like and how I like to look. Goy Style!

Laterz!

BTW, Below are some Pics. Are there any CD's out there who did dress as a girl for halloween? How's that go? I'd love to hear about it.

Raven 11

Ok I have to start with Friday September 21st. Friday is not Raven related, though The Raven party started on Friday, but was awesome and I gotta talk about it! My good friend Kandice bought tickets for us to go to the Beats Antique Concert in Philadelphia a lil over a month ago. She wound up not being able to go because she had to go back to Massachusetts sooner than she expected. So she gave me both tickets so I decided to take Paula (in ‘guy’ mode) with me to the concert. Zoe Jakes = teh Awesome!!! It was one of the amazing shows I have ever seen live! Oh and Lynx! She was Amazing!!! I had never heard of her before but now I will never forget her! Her voice was beautiful…then…then…She Beat-boxes too!!! Wait… & she Raps! But like…she is Awesome! You don't know…you don’t know… I have clips (scroll to bottom of page for clips). So we went and it was an awesome show. Zoe even crowd surfed at the end of the show! Ok, Ok, now to the Raven.

Raven 11, Saturday September 22, 2012

Ok, so Paula and I drove up there a lil later than planned. I went to a housewarming party before the drive up and I lost track of time a bit…oops. We shared a room @ the motel owned by the Raven. When we got there, around 5-ish we started getting ready… took WAY longer than expected. Paula had to do a bit o’ shaving, meanwhile I had to pick up a few things from Rite-aid. I needed to get some clear coat for out nails as well as some q-tips and bobby pins. I got back and Paula had started applying the make-up as instructed but had a bit of trouble with the eyes. I did the eyes for Paula, helped style the hair and…well…helped with everything else that she needed help with. Meanwhile working on myself…we took so long we totally missed the Red Carpet! Ah well. We tried. The nails took a while. 3 coats of the silver then 1 coat of the black crackle. Loved how it came out! Looked great on Paula as well as myself. I had re-fashioned some of my jewelry so that Paula could wear it. Turned some of my fav earrings into clip-ons. A necklace I had brought for my outfit, before I got the perfect necklace a week before, was de-constructed and fitted onto another necklace that went with Paula's ensemble. Then another matching necklace that I grabbed before leaving the house that just happened to match perfectly and also a nice noisy anklet from my jewelry collection. Paula looked like a greek goddess! Next on to getting myself together. Thankfully i'm quite used to handling my own makeup in a generally quick way. Then into my dress & shoes and we were off. We were staying at the cabin in the woods, which was across the street and up the block a bit from Raven. We decided to walk...was not the wisest thing to do in 5inch heels... But we did. When we finally got there it was maybe 8pm. Dinner started at 7:30pm so we were a bit late. When we arrived there we met Jen, the organizer of the event, and had a bit of a chat and also met a few other lovely ladies. Then we headed in and actually got seated in the dining room. Ok...it was in a cramped corner, but whatever, we were in the room w/ everyone else who were there for the party. We ordered and then I got up to say hi to a few people. I met a married couple. Was their first outing to one of these events. I was recognized as being the writer of this blog. We had a nice convo. The out appetizer came out. As I made my way back to the table I...tripped on my dress & knocked over Paula's drink onto the bruschetta...oops. Our Awesome waiter, Marty, came over and remade out table and quickly got us another one...I decided to stay seated for the rest of dinner so as not to destroy more food. I had the salmon & Paula had the grilled chicken salad. The food was awesome! After dinner we had a really nice conversation with Marty. Marty is also a Drag performer at the Raven!!! I would LOVE to see a performance! Maybe one day I will get to see him perform. We also conversed about crossdressing and my blog.

Next off to the dance floor...kinda. We went to the dance hall area and I was immediately called over by a lovely crossdresser. I thought she wanted to talk about my blog...but she wanted to take me out to dinner. 2 seconds in there and I was already getting hit on! lol. Since I came there with a date, I thought it might be rude to set up a date with someone else while already out on a date. I gave him a flyer for my blog and went to the other side of the hall to look for a seat so I could put down my camera and rest my feet (5 inch heels...yeah...) I was determined this time to try to keep my shoes on all night, where as last time the shoes came off about half way through the night and most pics of me were shoeless.

I set about taking some pictures and mingling a bit. Saw a few people I remembered from my last visit to Raven including Allielee & Jamie. I also saw a few people whose names...i just can not remember. I wish my memory for names was better. Paula and I had a seat in the gazebo and got into a conversation with another person named Jamie. Jamie lived in NY but was in the area, one of Jamie's friends told her about the Raven event happening that night so Jamie came. Jamie is the 2nd Married (to a GG) CD I had met that night. Jamie's wife accepts it and has gone out with Jamie while Jamie was dressed as Jamie, which I think is Awesome!!! Reena came over and spoke w/us as well. Reena is also married (to a GG) but Reena's wife isn't into it, but doesn't mind if Reena goes out and has fun dressed up, but at least she doesn't make Reena restrict her from dressing at all. It was about then that we took a nice group picture (which I used for my facebook page 100 likes as pictured below).

After that we went back into the dance hall. I had a few drinks and the liquid confidence kicked in and I was able to dance a bit w/o feeling too self conscious. My dress was altered, by me. Originally the dress was just a black & silver mini dress. I added a tear-a-way train to it. I made it tear away so that it wouldn't get tripped on or trampled upon on the dance floor (I tripped over it enough myself). So dancing time started and within seconds the train was off & tucked away in my bag. When I was tired of dancing we went outside again and we met another couple who were sitting under the gazebo...another married couple! 3rd married CD couple (ok, 2nd where both persons were in attendance) of the night!  We had a really nice conversation with them. i think we had the longest of our discussions with them...and i can not remember their names. I blame all of  the long island ice teas that i drank...probably shouldn't have had so many.

Went in danced and talked some more. The night ended, took off my shoes and walked back to the room. The next morning Paula & I were kinda late to the breakfast meet up (I was helping Paula get ready, took a lil longer than expected) Went to the diner and had breakfast. First time for Paula out in the day time...and at a diner with a mixed crowd which included the elderly & children with Paula dressed as Paula. We missed meeting up with Jen, but she did say she saw us through the window and that Paula looked great.

All in all, it was a very nice time. Can't wait till the next one. Sorry it took so long to finish this post. While at the diner I started feeling sick and I was sick for a good 2 weeks. Was hard to write while sick. Other issues happened and well... I'm finally finished. I do have Pictures & Video (of the Belly Dance Performances) which I will post links to here.

I am curious about something. I have over 500 hits a month on my page and only 2 subscribers... Its a bit disheartening to have so few subscribers, but it makes me feel a bit better seeing so many hits. I just wonder if my subject matter is too embarrassing to subscribe to?  I guess it might be but I'm not embarrassed.

I Love you ALL! Ans now for links to Pics & Videos!

Raven 11 Pictures by Pebbles

CD learns how to apply Make-Up

A month or so ago I stopped by Bare Escentuals to price some replacement make-up. While I was there I decided to inquire as to whether or not they apply make-up to males. I explained that I write a blog about straight crossdressers and that I was impressed with their teaching me how to apply make-up 4-ish years ago, and I wondered if they’d do the same for males who want to look female. They told me that they do and have. They even went on to tell me a few stories. I was quite pleased that I would be able to bring men there to learn how to make themselves look girlish without the use of make-up with harmful chemicals. They told me the best times to come are Monday-Thursday evenings. There are usually less people in the mall and even less in the store. I was told to call in advance for an appointment.

 The original plan was to take Paula to Bare Escentuals on Wednesday night. I called and set the appointment explaining I was bringing in a male to have a makeover. …then I remembered that I had work Wednesday night. I called Paula up and asked if *he were free that night (Monday) and he was. I called back and set the appointment to just a few hours from the time I called. I picked Paula up and we headed to the Christiana Mall in Delaware. Paula brought along his new dresses (which had come in the mail that day) and his wig…in a duffel bag (ah the trusty duffel bag that every crossdresser has, or at least has had, for storing his girl things). We headed to the store and told them who we were and the lady there started on his face.

She started out with their basic ‘Get Started’ kit which included a foundation, mineral veil, brushes. She even showed how you can cover up the old 5 o’ clock shadow with just a few strokes using the concealer brush. That’ll totally come in handy. She showed him how to do some natural looking contouring on his face. It was quite interesting to see. Since, at that point, paula was unsure of  what color dress he’d be wearing to Raven 11 (either a red dress or black one) the make-up artist decided to go with a light pink & smoky eye combo that she figured would go great with either color. After she was done I took a picture of Paula’s face …but… well… I couldn’t really see if it looked right w/o the wig on. So I pulled the wig out of the trusty duffle bag and put it on Paula’s head and took another picture. Now I could see it and it looked Great! Before we left… he took all of the makeup off, we were in a populated mall after all and he was dressed as a guy. I would have loved to have him stay in the makeup so that I could see him in his new dresses all made up, but that wasn’t to be. We did go back to my place and had him try on the dresses. One was way too big. The other one was just right. I fashioned some accessories for him. I made a pair of my favorite earrings into clip-ons for him to wear. I also made a necklace, and extended the chain of an anklet. All he needs now is a ring and maybe a  bracelet or two and his look is complete…though…he really doesn’t need either of those and he’d still look great. On Saturday I and all in attendance at the party will see how well he learned how to apply make-up from the lady at Bare Esentuals. …but if it doesn’t look great…I’ll probably help him out. I mean, he is still a beginner. I’m amazed he agreed to actually go into the place…inside of a mall, to learn. He’s definitely got guts! …Or maybe he just really trusts that I won’t let anything go wrong. Well…I guess we’ll know if I can get him to write about his perspective of the experience. J

*(The reason I used the pronoun ‘he’ is because he was in guy mode most of the time and he doesn’t care what pronoun is use when referring to him. I asked)

How to Impress a GG with your pictures

Ok, as I have said many times, I am a member of a few different dating websites, some of which are crossdresser dating sites. I have seen and been sent many pictures of crossdressers doing their thing. But...how do I say this... not all of the photos are pictures that would ...impress a GG* looking for a CD* BF* (i use a lot of abbreviations in here, don't i?). So I am going to give you a few tips. Cause, you see, a GG may not want to just see a headless set of boobs on an impressive or less than impressive body. Most GG's wanna see a face on that body. And that face should at least try to look pretty. (now if you're trying to impress another man that is a different story and being that i am not a man...i can't tell you how that kind of pic would go over)

Do: Shave. Before you take your pic, make sure you are clean shaven. No stubble, no facial hair that isn't brows or lashes.
Do: Apply Make up. Even the noobist noob can put on lipstick and mascara. If you feel embarrassed to buy it from the store, buy it online. There are many tutorials on how to apply make up for all shades of people on Youtube. It is an excellent resource for Girls and Gurls alike!
Do: Wear a Wig. Unless you have long hair. If not, at least style your hair in a girlish manner. Maybe some hair accessories or something. Hair does matter.
Do: Invest in a tripod and camera with a timer feature. I am not a fan of mirror shots. Mirror type pics...I just tolerate only because I know that a lot of lovely CD's don't have someone else to take their pics for them. But if they can get a $10 tripod from Walmart (possibly cheaper from craigslist or ebay) and they have access to a camera, most of which these days have a timer feature. If you could save $50 you could get a decent camera second hand from craigslist, ebay, or a new, but probably kinda crappy one from Big Lots or maybe even Walmart as well. With about $60 investment you could take nice self portraits. Cellphones are only good for face shots, for the most part. You can do a full body shot if you have a smartphone that has a timer feature if you prop up your phone.

Those pictures were taken with my smartphone's timer feature with the phone propped up in my closet. Not the prettiest pics (or the prettiest bedroom sorry took those pics months ago), to say the least, but you have full body and 3/4's body pics and a few minutes with trial and error. I do realize not everyone has a smartphone at their disposal. 

With a regular cellphone w/camera you can at least take a good head shot with some practice (the following works with hand held camera or cellphone camera): 

Hold the camera in your right hand and hold the camera slightly above your head pointed down at your face. Hold steady and hold your finger on the trigger. Wait a second or two before lowering your hand to look at your pic. It takes practice, but you can do it.

Do Not: Send headless pictures. If you're emailing pics, it means she wants to see your face so don't cut it off. Unless it's a case where you're sending more than one pic and at least one of them has your full face in view and the cut off pics are posed well.

Do Not: Send naked/NWS* pictures, unless you ask if it's ok first. You don't know who is around when they're opening their email. They may have a child on their lap while they check their email. just not a good idea unless you've asked first or at least put NWS in the subject header so she knows to open it when she's alone. (i know i've had some close calls not knowing what would be in my email)

So, yeah, Long story short. Send a polished (or as polished as your abilities) picture of yourself crossdressed. If you have no cd pics, send a nice looking/non blurry male picture of yourself. A nice looking male pic will go further than a blurry bad looking male pic, a half-hearted cd pic or no pic at all.

I may add to this list at a later time. These are all just my opinion being a Straight GG who likes CDs.

*CD= Crossdresser, GG= Genetic Girl, BF= Boyfriend, NWS= Not Work Safe