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Thread: Did you have any famous crossdressing inspirations when growing up?

  1. #26
    Aspiring Member
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    My first inspiration :

    1) Janet (later episodes) from Three's Company. It was my favourite tv show back then, I watched it religiously. I didn't care for Janet's look/outfits in the early episodes, but in the later ones where she had a semi-mullet hair style, gorgeous yet simple makeup, and the office style outfits - pencil skirt with a thin gold belt, blouse, and heels. She always wore pantyhose, and I absolutely loved it.

    2) in the 80s, I remember the tv workout aerobic shows, like 20 minute work out. I loved the tight aerobic suits and spandex leggings the girls would always wear, with leg warmers. I had a few of those but I eventually purged them all.

  2. #27
    Lady By Choice Leslie Langford's Avatar
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    In the mid-1980's a VHS video came out under two different titles and at different times- Female Impersonator Pageant and Dream Boys Revue - but the content of each was the same. It featured a beauty contest for female impersonators/show"girls" in a lavish hotel ballroom setting hosted by Ruth Buzzi and Lyle Waggoner of Laugh In and The Carol Burnett Show fame respectively. The contestants were stunningly beautiful, and seeing this totally blew my mind as I had never imagined before that time that such contests could even be a "thing". My hands-down favorites from that event were Michael Andrews who did a bang-on re-creation of an Ann-Margaret song and dance routine as well as Jennifer Fox. Micheal went on to do a number of bit parts playing "transvestites" in otherwise forgettable TV shows and low budget movies along the lines of what Christopher Morley did, and sadly died an untimely death in due course due to AIDS.

    Honorable mention here should also go to The Kids in The Hall, and especially Dave Foley who made a very beautiful girl in many of the sketches he participated in. Speaking of which, I wonder how many of my fellow Canucks here also remember the CBC comedy series Codco which often featured the gorgeous Tommy Sexton in various female roles.

    Tootsie was also an inspiration for not only showing crossdressing in a positive light, but also as an enlightened and thought-provoking commentary on the male-female stereotyping and gender wars that we are still fighting.

  3. #28
    Aspiring Member GracieRose's Avatar
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    No real inspirations come to mind. But I did like to watch Bosom Buddies, and thinking about how I could get myself into a situation like that.

  4. #29
    Senior Member DanielleDubois's Avatar
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    I guess I should have explained that Jim Bailey was the first female impersonator I had seen. I'm not counting Milton Berle because he was very much a man in a dress characterisation. Many of the others mentioned in this thread were also favourites and inspirations. The wonderful Christopher Morley (he did a great pictorial in Playboy magazine) and Bosom Buddies, I watched them all trying to learn makeup secrets etc.

    Theresa, I saw Danny LaRue a few times but being British we didn't see much of him in Canada. If you aren't aware he was featured in a movie called Our Miss Fred ( parts are found on YouTube) where he was disguised as a woman in WWII Germany. Not a great movie but in one of the last scenes where he models several beautiful gowns in a fashion show is amazing.

    Leslie, I rented that VHS tape Dream Boys Revue and almost got caught at the school I taught at dubbing it from one VHS recorder to another. Excerpts of it can also be found on YouTube. And you are right Dave Foley made a very passable female on Kids in the Hall but probably his best was on an episode of NewsRadio where at a Halloween party his girlfriend was jealous because he looked better in one of her dresses. But Tommy Sexton in Codco could be truly beautiful in his female roles. His Linda Evans in a spoof of Dallas stands out in my memory.

  5. #30
    Member Roxy's Avatar
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    Michael Andrews was a big inspiration for me. I didn't know his name at the time or that I was a future crossdresser but back in the late 80s I recorded a couple low budget movies he was in just so I could see him over and over.
    He had a glamorous look and I can remember having an overwhelming urge to dress just like him

  6. #31
    Member Charlotte Haynes's Avatar
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    Charles Hawtrey as Lady Puddleton in the Carry On Again Doctor film. He gets in a bit of a dither with his stockings. Greatly impressed. It wasn't long before I took the opportunity to re-enact that scene.

  7. #32
    Mannequiniste ! Stacy Darling's Avatar
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    UMM? Candy Darling MY IDOL!
    STOP, Well I just dance the way I feel
    Stop breathing imagine none of this is real

    Well I just dance the way I feel
    Well I just dance the way I feel
    Well I just dance the way I feel
    "Ou Est Le Swimming Pool"

  8. #33
    woman on the inside Ashlee's Avatar
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    this video leslie? https://youtu.be/JyGOrLLRic0

  9. #34
    Member CarleyR's Avatar
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    There were many women who dressed beautifully on TV and in the movies. I remember the Loretta Young show and her dramatic entrances wearing beautiful dresses. Not a crossdresser, but an inspiration to those who liked beautifully dressed women.
    I love myself in curves!

  10. #35
    Lady By Choice Leslie Langford's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ashlee View Post
    this video leslie? https://youtu.be/JyGOrLLRic0
    Yes, but that's just a snippet (opening sequence) of the whole event, which was about an hour long as I recall. Other bits and pieces of this competition are also present on YouTube. The whole thing was a full-blown beauty pageant-type event including an evening gown competition, a fashion show portion, a talent competition, and finally, the crowning of the winner.

    Sadly, what was posted on YouTube appears to consist mainly of 2nd or 3rd generation analog VHS tape copies that are grainy and/or blurry, with much of the original detail having been lost. Still, one is able to get the gist of it...not to mention seeing all that 1980's "big hair" along with the typical 1980's fashions in all their glory .

    Interestingly enough, there is not much evidence of HRT usage here to enhance the contestants' female presentations, unlike in current-day transgender beauty contests. Wigs, makeup, elaborate gowns, and emulating feminine mannerisms were pretty much all they had to work with, but they still did a fantastic job of it.

  11. #36
    Senior Member SaraLin's Avatar
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    Thinking back to my formative (childhood) years, about the only crossdressing incidents I can remember encountering were in cartoons.
    Most of THOSE were where the character fell victim to another. (such Foghorn Leghorn being tied up and made up to look like a hen, or George Jetson falling victim to the clothing machine dressing him wrong.) USUALLY the message was that this was to embarrass or even outright shame the victim.

    BUT -then there was Bugs Bunny.

    He was the only one I can think of that WILLINGLY dressed up as the opposite gender (and did a good job at it too!)
    He wasn't ashamed of it, wasn't a victim of it, and (usually) flirted with male characters - who were fooled by the change.
    I envied him that ability - secretly, of course.
    One interesting side thought: I remember him planting a kiss on male characters when he wasn't dressed, but always resorted to the old plunger gag when dressed up. Because of the times, I guess?

  12. #37
    Time to step out! Erin77's Avatar
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    Leslie,

    I remember Codco. I was more a kids in the hall fan though. I remember looking at those guys thinking why cant I do that? Then I remember my ultra conservative dad lol.

  13. #38
    There's that smile! CarlaWestin's Avatar
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    OMG, there's quite a few of the inner circle girls here. You know who you are.
    The first drag movie I was inspired by was Some Like It Hot
    All that crossdressing to really pass and Marilyn Monroe.
    How perfect is that!
    I've waited so long for this time. Makeup is so frustrating. Shaking hands and I look so old. This was a mistake.
    My new maid's outfit is cute. Sure fits tight.
    And then I step into the bedroom and in the mirror, I see a beautiful woman looking back at me.
    Smile, Honey! You look fabulous!

  14. #39
    Silver Member LilSissyStevie's Avatar
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    I wasn't inspired by crossdressing so much as by gender non-conformity in general. I remember early on seeing a Disney cartoon about Ferdinand the Bull. He wasn't interested in macho bull fighting, he just wanted to smell the flowers. I totally identified with that. Ferdinand was my first sissy role model. Then there were the characters of Jerry Lewis who were unmanly if not effeminate. I greatly admired flamboyant entertainers like Liberace and Little Richard. Tiny Tim was a big inspiration. I used to sing a pretty good imitation of his singing Tip-toe through the Tulips in falsetto. When I was with my homophobic friends, I would mock the behavior of effeminate gay dudes but the truth was that I really admired their ability to be themselves. And it gave me an opportunity to act effeminate. Then there were the crossdressing comedians like Milton Berle, Flip Wilson, and even Jonathan Winters. But I always saw crossdressing as an adjunct to effeminacy rather than an end in itself.

  15. #40
    Junior Member Manasi's Avatar
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    Eddie Izzard was a huge inspiration for me.

    - Manasi

  16. #41
    Aspiring Member josie_S's Avatar
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    I didn't have a lot of crossdresser inspirations--in fact most of what I remember is stuff like Sally Jesse Raphael and Phil Donahue and those weren't all that inspirational since the cds were usually treated like sideshow attractions. Although I do remember one female impersonator that did Joan Rivers and I was pretty taken by her. I can't remember his name.

    But gg women were always more directly inspiring to me. I LOVED Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman. And like Wendy, I loved Janet on Three's Company, especially in later seasons. That jet black hair and her eyeliner and those pencil skirts like Wendy said were amazing to me. But I had a real revelation when I saw this clip of Heather Locklear dancing on TJ Hooker...I realized I wanted to be like her! Looking back at her "dancing," I think I wasn't that far off LOL! Regardless my life was different from that day forward

    https://youtu.be/xC1eZQXz0yM

  17. #42
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    Same for me Josie. GG's were always more of an inspiration to me. Admittedly, Britney Spears was definitely a huge influence on me growing up. She was kinda both my first crush and an inspiration haha. I know there were many more influences, but my thoughts always go back to her first.

    As for crossdressers, I never had any one in particular as idols, but more of the whole cosplay community who crossplay. I always admired how much they could transform themselves to fit a character. Being an anime nerd also helped haha.

  18. #43
    Lady By Choice Leslie Langford's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by josie_S View Post
    I didn't have a lot of crossdresser inspirations--in fact most of what I remember is stuff like Sally Jesse Raphael and Phil Donahue and those weren't all that inspirational since the cds were usually treated like sideshow attractions. Although I do remember one female impersonator that did Joan Rivers and I was pretty taken by her. I can't remember his name.

    But gg women were always more directly inspiring to me. I LOVED Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman. And like Wendy, I loved Janet on Three's Company, especially in later seasons. That jet black hair and her eyeliner and those pencil skirts like Wendy said were amazing to me. But I had a real revelation when I saw this clip of Heather Locklear dancing on TJ Hooker...I realized I wanted to be like her! Looking back at her "dancing," I think I wasn't that far off LOL! Regardless my life was different from that day forward

    https://youtu.be/xC1eZQXz0yM

    You're likely thinking of Frank Marino. He spent many years at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas headlining his drag show A Evening at La Cage. Joan was one of his main acts, and he actually had several FFS procedures done on himself so as to look more like her, as she was always an icon and an inspiration to him. They had a brief falling out for awhile some years back, but eventually became BFF's and Joan ended up being one of Frank's biggest fans and supporters.

    Speaking of those '90's talk shows, Frank actually co-hosted one of Leeza Gibbons' shows with her one time, and they dressed as "twinsies". The impersonation was spot-on, and the resemblance uncanny. They truly did look like twins. You can find a clip of that episode on YouTube.

  19. #44
    Senior Member michelleddg's Avatar
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    Leslie, you've reminded me of one of my all time favorite stories. Five years ago my Girls Do Vegas week was at The Paris. I got my face beat by the incomparable Denise Alvarez midday. Then we ventureed out on The Strip for photos. Nothing blendy about this - party makeup, hot dress, high heels. We made it in front of the hotel and a dude walks up. "You're gorgeous! Are you Frank Marino?"

    Hugs, Michelle

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