Dressing service, makeovers and Photo Shoots

[Bev06 GG]

Hi Ladies,
As some of you may well already know, I used to do a dressing service for CDs in my home. I would advise on dress sense and style, I'd do the makeover and talk a CD through what I was doing and how she could do it herself, we would experiment with a range of different wigs and looks and then I'd take between 50 and a 100 pics and then either email, or download onto a site, or put them on a disc.

I had great fun and met lots of very lovely and interesting people. The charge was nominal really, infact I probably sold myself way short considering the time I put into it, I expect my hourly rate would have been something like 50p an hour. So you can imagine my shock when I discovered what a friend of mine had been charged for a mediocre photo shoot not so long back.

For 25 pics and a makeover she had paid over £150 which really shocked me. She was only at the salon for approximatley 1 hour Has any one here had any recent experience of this and does this sound like its the going rate. If it is I think I'll get back into it.

Take care
Bev

[chrissie-h]

Hi Bev,
£150 for one hour does seem a bit much. Was it done by a prof photographer in a studio?
How much you charge will, in many ways, depend on the 'experience' you want to create, how much space you have available, décor, range of clothes, shoes, and wigs to try on, etc...
I have paid around £25/hr in the past to go to a dressing service that was run from a lady's house. I'd say that she was possibly under charging a little based on the amount of effort she put into the session. Hope that helps ...

[Rachel Morley]

Hi Bev,

As a guide, here's a link to a place in Northern California for comparison. It's about $200 for full make over including unlimited pictures. It lasts 3 hours.

http://www.adamtoeve.com/services.html

[CamillaCD]

I had a photoshoot at The Boudoir (http://www.theboudoironline.com/index.php) 3 weeks ago. £420 for 5 hours and 40 9"x6" photos.

[sissystephanie]

Thank heaven for digital cameras with timers!!

[christinek]

Thank heaven for digital cameras with timers!!

And remotes

[Samantha Thomson]

bev i live in the usa but i have a female friend who does the same thing about 75$ for about 2 hrs get photos make-up training etc so im not sure what it come out in your country



samantha

[Sweet Jane]

i have no idea what a makeover and pics cost as i haven't had any done, however, i gather your friend must have known the charges before continuing on....still it does seem like alot of money for that....damn theres a career opening for some of us there (laughs)

[Joni Marie Cruz]

Hi Bev-

It's unfortunate, but I think it's simply the fact that many people prey (for lack of a better term) on tgirls who are more or less closeted for whatever reason. To me, and I hate to tar all with the same brush, lots of places that claim they cater to crossdressers and transgendered people simply use the opportunity to charge whatever they feel the market will bear. This goes for makeovers, photo shoots, an evening out, a shopping expedition, clothing in a size for larger girls, you name it. I think it's a shame when the same services are available to the general public for a good deal less. And please don't misunderstand, there are many places that do provide services of all sorts for our community without taking advantage. They're to be commended and we should give them our business whenever we can.

Anyone can go into a salon and get a makover for a reasonable price, anyone can go to a photo studio and have their picture taken professionally and pay a reasonable price. As a for instance, the pix in my "Just Another TGirl" album were part of a package deal through the salon I used to go to before I moved to Seattle. I had a makeover, then drove over to the studio and had pictures taken, the price included an 8x10 print and five additional photos of my choice on a disk all for one price. The photographer took about two dozen pix total, I had my choice of the ones I wanted to keep. How much was it? I paid $75 total, though I did choose to get more pix which were extra. Was it worth it? I think so.

As in so many things, we can be taken advantage of only if we let it happen.

Hugs...Joni Mari

[celeste26]

Those services are mainly for the closeted CD who just cant or wont get out of their closet and they do pay extra (sometime much extra) for the security of knowing that they wont ever be exposed to anyone.

For a CD who can and does get out on their own there really is little need for such services. Yes of course to the outgoing CD there is a whole world out there of shopping, makeup studios, and photo shops.

But for someone who is desperately afraid of losing wife and kids if they were ever exposed this does offer an outlet. The xformation studios need to have on hand clothes that fit a wide variety of people's size and taste. Just a good size wardrobe might run $ thousands and the makeup schooling and styling schooling goes for thousands of dollars too. They should at least have wide variety of experience in make up and hair styling (preferably certified with whatever local licensing requires), and they should have some valuable experience in photography.

Obviously, there is great variety in the quality of such studios and therefore is a variety of prices that a person might pay, hopefully there is some correspondence of quality with price. The ones I've seen advertised on the net have photos (used with permission) of people who have used their service so one can guess more accurately of what is possible for their own session.

From the business side of things there is only a very narrow niche market for such services and therefore few customers, so their mark up must be high. But some neighborhood girl who just offers to do a makeover is merely an amatuer and has little invested. They might be good, might not be, but they are less likely able to service a wide variety of clients that some professional service would be able to work with.

So I dont begrudge the service fees they charge and since I am not one of those closeted people I just go out and get what I want done without the need for such special care.

[Joni Marie Cruz]

Hi Celeste-

Thank you for your well stated post, you are absolutely right, of course. I suppose I hadn't really thought it through about the very real help that dressing services provide for all our sisters who, for very real and cogent reasons, need to be discreet about themselves. Truly, services like that wouldn't exist without a need for them. In a perfect world, we could all be out (if we chose) but things are what they are.

BTW, I love your pic. You're a doll, and I love that dress.

Hugs...Joni Mari

[youngjulie3]

hey celeste i saw your post..im also from salem..we should chat more but it wont let me view your profile!

[Julogden]

Hi Bev,

Yes, I've seen some exorbitant prices charged for services like that.

I've been wanting to do portrait photography for TG folks, either at their homes or in my home, figured I'd want maybe $25 an hour for just photography, but that's not just snapshots, as I have studio speedlights, light modifiers, backdrops etc. and know how to produce a better-quality image than one would get with a digi-cam and a self-timer. I've tried a couple shoots already just to see what it would be like, and they turned out well. The only problem is that I don't do makeovers for customers, so they have to supply their own makeup, wigs and clothes. I did a bit of touching-up for them though, makeup and wig-fluffing, helped a lot.

Maybe I ought to put the push on and see if it's worth doing.

Carol

[WifeofWrenchette]

Hi Bev,

I'm a GG and helped my S/O do her first make-up, walking lessons,, buying shoes/clothes, and pictures. I also did her nails.

I've been wanting to get into a new business and maybe this is what I need to look into. Thanks for the idea!

[raleighbelle]

I think there is a big difference between going to a transformation service and going to a place that does makeovers for GG's. A regular makeover place will try to bring out the natural beauty of a woman, while a transformation service will try to feminize a man, which are totally different ways of doing make-up. I think the latter is a whole lot more challenging. And more expensive for them if they are also providing clothing, breast inserts, padding, beard cover. And more skills required if they are to bring out that feminine smile and look. I have never been to a transformation service (nor a makeover place) but would love to, and if they really did a good job at the transformation I think it would be well worth it, especially if they could teach me how do to some of it myself. As mentioned before, the privacy and knowing they understand our situation (and not grossed out by a man coming into their make-up studio) also is worth something.

[emmaboy]

hello i have finally accepted the fact that i am a transgender. however i am in need of such a service to help educate me in the art of appling make up.this is the only thing i have not ever done because i have not known where to start. and what is needed. can anyone help me find a service in the ten.ky. or in.area. thanks.

[AmandaM]

You should gather up these prices and form a price sheet. Stay near the top end so you don't sell yourself short. Start at the average cost, add 20-30% and I think you're good to go.

[sherri52]

That's high in any market, but you should still get back into it.

[AmberLynn]

That's high in any market, but you should still get back into it.

I agree,keep it fair to your client's and fair to your self. i think it would be awsome to do something like that

[Crystal Rose]

I would whole heartedly agree that some of us need to learn, like me. Does anyone have a list of all these places in the US? Then I can learn and know, which equals confidence. I would like to totally learn more to progress but I feel save with these places as they are private.