Fun With Immersion

As I prepare for my photo session in a couple of weeks I think back to my week in London in 2006 and how much fun it is to do a real photoshoot. I have played around with digital photography at home plenty of times, but there is something special about a professional photoshoot. Its nice to have someone else's perspective on things. They can give you real feedback on how a particular pose looks or if your facial expression is good or bad or if you have lipstick on your teeth. I found the number of quality photos is significantly higher. By quality photo I mean one that looks somewhat like me looking like a girl versus a guy in a dress. I highly recommend trying this if you have the means.

I have come to a point where I like trying all the fun things girls get to do when getting ready for a big night. Dressing is fun but immersion is really fun. As I was preparing for the upcoming shoot I remembered something my girlfriend asked me last Halloween. Yes, my girlfriend knows, which is cool but she is still acclimating to it. She has been very supportive and will talk issues out with me but I don't know if she wants to see me dressed or not. Short story quick, I thought it would be better to tell her early on in the relationship versus being discovered. She was happy I told her and has been great about it since I told her almost a year ago. Back to what she asked me last Halloween; "Why don't you do it for more than just one night or a couple of nights in a row?" It was a pretty good question and I decided to try a long weekend this time - morning, noon and night.

I had mentioned in a previous post that I had a waxing consultation. The esthetician tried three different test spots which allowed me to see how painful it was, how long it lasted, those kinds of things. It wasn't too painful and the irritation was minimal, so I am happy to say I have a full body wax scheduled for February 20th. That will give me three days before the shoot to get rid of the redness from the waxing. This is my first step in immersion.

Secondly, I have painted my nails before, I have had a nail technician paint my nails before, I have glued on false nails before but I have never had a full set of acrylics. Side note: My girlfriend did invite me along to a manicure pedicure with her about a month ago, it was fun but it was a manly mani-pedi for me. Back to the upcoming event. I found a salon and asked if they would be OK with a man getting a pedicure with polish and a full set of nails. I would rather people were aware of what I want going in so it is easier for me and for them. I don't like to force my hobby on anyone that isn't interested. They made sure their nail tech was OK with it and now I have an appointment scheduled for Feb 22nd. This will allow me to keep the nails for the entire weekend.

Thirdly, also in a different previous post "Fun With Hair" I talked about my coloring done at the salon. My hair isn't long enough to try that again and I am a little bored with the wigs I have. Mostly because they are small and give me a headache if I wear them for too long. So in order keep on with the immersion theme, I had a lace front wig made. If you are not familiar, this is the kind of wig that Beyonce, Tyra Banks or RuPaul would wear. It is made of human hair and is adhered to your head for days or weeks depending on how long you want to wear it. It is also sized specifically for your head. It was expensive but I am looking forward to seeing how it looks and lasts.

I also just ordered a new set of breast forms off E-Bay that are self adhering too. I don't know how they will work out, they were $100 which is pretty cheap for breast forms. I am hoping they give the right weighting on my chest. Beyond that it is just the same old, same old. Trying to find cute outfits for the photo shoot and to wear around the house all weekend. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it.

Halloween 2006 - part three

The morning of the party I was quite nervous, soon enough I would be crossdressing as a bride in front of all my friends. I had planned pretty well what I would need to do and when that whole day. I spent the morning shaving my arms, underarms, chest, legs, and trimming up my bikini area. I knew no one would see anything to revealing but I wanted to play the part well. After a light lunch I was off to the nail salon. I didn't go overboard and get a full set but I had been growing my nails out a little and asked for a french tip look. I did get a couple of weird looks from other nail salon patrons, but it was Halloween. It took longer than I had expected and only had 45 minutes before Angela would be there to do my makeup. I did get a little overzealous with my razor and nicked up my face a little just as Angela arrived. That wasn't too big of a deal though as there was plenty to do. About fifteen minutes after Angela showed up Zoey stopped by with a camera. Zoey was one of my bridesmaids wives that I had e-mailed on Friday. I didn't know she would even be there but was glad she did stop by to take pics for me.

For the next ninety minutes Angela worked her magic. Concealer, makeup, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, lip liner, lipstick everything in her arsenal. I will admit that the makeup I had done on my London trip was better but they had experience with crossdressers. Nevertheless, Angela did a very nice job. Zoey kept taking pictures when I reminded her, she was actually pretty enthralled with the whole process. She kept saying thing like wow, you have really great cheekbones or your lashes are so long. I'm sure the makeup is what brought those features out but it was fun to hear those things. Angela spent quite a bit of time on my hair getting the clips in to blend well and creating a fun updo. Eventually Zoey had to go collect her kids from daycare and Angela had done all she could. I did get a couple of pics with Angela and quick put on the dress so she could see the final product.

I had to wait about forty minutes for my bridemaids to arrive and they thought the makeup was very funny with me in boy clothes but well done. They didn't do any makeup at all, had pretty cheesy wigs and Mark didn't even shave his goatee but I was grateful I had a little support via a group costume. They spent a little time getting thier dresses to hang right and then it was time for me to get dressed.

I walked back to my bedroon where everything had been all laid out. I took off all my boy clothes and proceeded to dress in my lingerie with my two friends just down the hall. First I stepped into the panties and drew them up my legs. I hooked the bustier around my front and shifted it around my torso until the cups were properly positioned and slipped in a couple of fillers for the cups. I sat on the edge of my bed and took out the brand new pair of stockings and slid them up my freshly shaved legs, the elastic holding firm against my thighs as a slipped a garter with a blue bow up my right leg. I slid my foot into the white satin bridal shoes and took a quick glance in the mirror. So far, so good. As I stepped into the dress I enjoyed the sound of silk on nylon swishing over my legs and torso before zipping the gown into place. It fit perfectly. The straight bustline filled out well but didn't gap, the waist was tight, the dress allowed for me to sit and walk but showed off my hips and legs well like the mermaid design was supposed too. I added a few final touches, like pearls on my neck, wrist and earlobes all of which had been my moms which I kept after she passed away.

I opened the door to my bedroom and walked out to meet my friends, the swish, swish of each footstep was very loud announcing my feminine garb. Art and Mark both greeted me without laughter but with wow's and a very nice. I love Halloween!

Just as we were getting ready to leave Zoey called and asked if I had a veil. I said I didn't and I was afraid of covering up Angela's work. Zoey said she would lend me her veil which clipped on the back of your head. It was official, that made for old, new, borrowed and blue. We all drove over to Mark and Zoey's where their three kids saw me and their father wearing dresses. The babysitter was also impressed with the lengths at which I was willing to go for Halloween. Zoey clipped the veil in place and I was off to the party.

The party was a fun as always. I got some wierd looks and some praise. I was surprised that I received more weird looks from girls than from the guys. My favorite part was when Kayla saw me passing by her and caught my profile. She said, "Wow, who knew you were so slim." What a lovely thing to say to a bride. After midnight most of the partygoers had left and only the hardcores stayed on for a little game we play involving passing a bottle of vodka around. By the end of the bottle I was in no shape to drive so I stayed the night at the hosts along with a few others. After taking off my makeup, so as not to leave an imprint of my face thier pillows I slipped out of my dress and climbed into the spare bed.

The next morning I must have looked like a wreck with no makeup, tons of hair spray holding some curls in place but the rest of my hairdo unclipped from my head. I didn't bring a change of clothes so it was back on with the dress and upstairs. Kayla and Ted's house was very old and each step squeeked as I walk up the steps, the dress swishing louder than ever in my lightly hungover state. I had planned on sneaking out but Kayla heard me, which isn't too hard to believe if you had heard the dress, and let me out. That night had brough a frost and the morning was bright with frost reflecting off of every tree and blade of grass. I had to walk in just the dress about three houses down and scrape the frost off my windshield before I could be on my way. At the time it was cold and I felt very conspicuous but it does mae for a great story whenever I get to tell it. The girls just love the morning after story.

So that is my great Halloween adventure for 2006. As I write this I am already planning something big for February of 2007 but that is for another time.

Dressing Season

I am a crossdresser. I have spent the better part of my life trying to understand why I do it. To tell you the truth I really don't have a good explanation, I just know that I like it. Early on, during my teenage years, there was the thrill of doing something taboo. I would dress up in pantyhose and slips I found in my mothers dresser when my parents were out. I was always careful to put things back where I had found them. Eventually I got lazy and my hobby was discovered by my parents. That wasn't much fun but it didn't stop me from wanting to dress up.

During college and after I started to aquire my own items that I kept hidden away and would sometimes find time to enjoy my special hobby. Again, part of the alure was keeping a secret that I was sure no one else would understand. Then about ten years ago I was living in my own house with a roommate. My crossdressing evolved into something different. It was no longer about sneaking around but it became about trying to achieve a complete look. It was more than just pantyhose and slips. I started to buy dresses, wigs, makeup all to better achieve a completely female form. Eventually my roommate moved out and I could dress whenever I wanted. Sneaking about had lost its appeal.

Over the last five years I have fallen into a pretty standard pattern of dressing. In the fall, just after I start to wear long pants again, I am able to remove any extra bodyhair that I have. And I have a lot of body hair. Where I used to be able to just pull on a pair of pantyhose, now I can't stand the look or feel unless my legs have been shaved. This is why I wait until the fall to start dressing again. I am also able to remove armhair because I can just wear long sleeve shirts to cover up. This usually satisfies my desire to dress for a while and then I might shave it all off agin in March. This gives me time to grow things back to normal before Summer.

Fall is just around the corner and I find myself starting to look forward to "dressing" season. I don't know why I decided to blog about this sort of thing. Maybe you are interested, maybe not, maybe its not about you reading it but more about me writing about it. I might write about the things I plan to do this year or things I have done in the past. Who knows, I might just write about sports if thats what I feel like. All I know is that I am a seasonal crossdresser and fall is coming up fast.