I've mentioned a time or two on this forum that, even though I'm nowhere near confident enough to be going out fully en femme, I've found that a more androgynous look is more within my comfort zone: Every now and then when my wife and I go out for drinks or dinner, I'll dress in my usual guy mode, but with eye makeup. Thanks to the influence of the girls at the local MAC counter, I tend towards a more dramatic look, with my wife often wryly commenting that I'm usually wearing more makeup than most of the women in the place.
Now, this is always fun, and I've never had any overtly negative responses, but there's only so much satisfaction that can come from getting semi-dolled up for an outing to a dimly-lit bar where the only interactions will usually be with the waitstaff and some half-drunk strangers we'll never see again. I thought it might be fun to see how such a look would play out in a more open setting.
As luck would have it, my wife and I decided to head to a Scrabble tournament in Atlantic City this past weekend. (Yes, such things do exist.....and yes, we are such big fat nerds that our idea of fun is driving five hours to spend a weekend playing 19 games of Scrabble.) It seemed like a good opportunity to see what kind of response I'd get from the friends, casual acquaintances, and dozens of other folks we'd see there.
I'm happy to report that things went quite well. One of our friends, a sixtyish high-society type woman, was nonplussed but seemed amused ("You're wearing more makeup than I am! Why are you wearing makeup? It's not Halloween! What's next, a gown and heels?" Ha! If only she knew!). One of our younger friends insisted that I do her makeup for her next time she visits. A couple of other folks declared me "very pretty," and totally didn't sound sarcastic.One semi-creepy older guy that I'd never met before sidled up to me at lunch and started flirting a bit, but wasn't overly persistent when I mentioned my wife.
Other than that, and the occasional double-take from passersby.....not really much else. No one telling me I was weird, or avoiding me, or attempting to perform an impromptu exorcism. Most folks acted as if nothing even remotely unusual was going on. I'd been prepared to deflect the occasional barb, and was almost disappointed that I didn't have to.
I'd decided ahead of time that if any of our friends asked point-blank "Hey, does this mean you're a crossdresser?" that I'd discuss things honestly. But that never happened, even when my wife mentioned during lunch with a couple of close friends that "he spends ten times as much on makeup as I do!" But honestly, between this, and the painted toenails that I have on display during warm-weather months, and the shaped eyebrows that have been the topic of past conversations, all the dots are pretty much out there for anyone to connect. I guess I'd have to say it's reassuring that most folks in our circle don't really think it's that big a deal.
So aside from the fact that I spent three days totally sucking at Scrabble, it was a pretty positive weekend.
Oh, here's the look I went with on Sunday, if anyone's curious (the first pics I've ever posted here, yay!):
(Just kidding -- I love Scrabble.)
What colors you have there?
Originally Posted by 2SpeedTranny
