I went out today with five hundred dollars to splurge for this weekend. I'm stepping out dressed for the first time in over fifteen years and I want to look my best. Since I purged all my female clothing and cosmetics back then, I needed to stock up on everything - undies, bra, hose, shoes, corset (I've gained some weight since the good old days), dress, perfume, and makeup. No problem, I thought, five hundred bucks U.S. ought to be enough to outfit me for the weekend. Oh, boy was I wrong.
I spent $146 and change on makeup alone! Either I don't remember what makeup cost a decade and a half ago or it cost a whole lot less or I didn't buy at the high end of the market befoundation, re. Lets see. I bought a oncealer pencil, foundation, blush, three coordinated colors of eyeshadow, liquid eyeliner, mascara, and liquid lipgloss. One hundred and forty six dollars American. And change. I still have the clothes yet to buy. I think I'll go to Payless Shoes and a thrift store.
My consolation is that the makeup looks amazing on me. I took some pictures, but I suck at self-portrature (bad lighting, no remote shutter control, etc.) so they don't even come close to showing the colors right or showing me at my best.
Should I post some?And all my fears of ridicule were unfounded. In every store I visited, the salesgirls were absolutely wonderful and accomodating. Before I went shopping, I determined that I would not use Halloween as an excuse for a man buying women's clothes and accessories. I was going to tell the truth if asked - it was for my wife
. Seriously, if they asked, I would tell them the items were for me and, no, not for a Halloween party. To my surprise, the question did not come up. I stopped in Victoria's Secret, Lane Bryant and several other stores and even asked for help finding what I wanted and not one of the lovely ladies asked me anything except what size I wanted. Until the last store that is.
I had not yet found anything I was looking for. Hold on... I must digress for a sec. Shopping itself is more fun when I am shopping for women's things. I wish I had had the courage to do this when I was younger. I would have had a much better time of it and probably would have started my started my transtition a way long time ago. So, pay attention all you pretty young things - if you are scared to shop for ladies accoutrements. Most people won't notice or care and those that do will either not care one way or another or will be supportive. Such was the attitude of the lovely young woman working in the last store I visited.
The raven haired salesgirl asked me if she could help me. I told her I was looking for cosmetics. She showed me the store's line of cosmetics and spent an hour with me letting me try different colors and kinds of foundations, blush, lipsticks, and the rest. When she asked me if I was going to a Halloween party, I told her no, that they were for me; that I was going out for the first time this weekend. She smiled warmly at the news and became even more helpful offering suggestions as to the best colors for my skin tone. She even asked me what outfit I would be wearing and what color my wig was. She was just delightful. As a result of her terrific attitude and making me feel accepted, I bought everything she suggested and she got a 146 dollar sale.
I have more shopping to do tomorrow. Filled with confidence due to my delightful first shopping spree, I am sure I will have lots of fun. And, I feel even more confident about going out dressed Saturday night. I'm going to a TG friendly club where I will meet some local Tgirls who encouraged me to join them for a girls night out. Fun!
Love, Sarah
