Check-Up #36

 I've meant to write this one for a while but I keep getting sidetracked by other things. First of all a bit of fashion stuff, recently I've been buying some more stuff: a black maxi skirt with a pleat, a black dress covered in blue and white flowers and a gorgeous red dress, a darker red with a pleated skirt and a roman kind of style. I will probably never have the opportunity to wear it but it's nice to have in case. I do get pangs of doubt now about buying more stuff as I maybe I feel I have enough however I have trouble getting rid of clothes especially my guy stuff which I probably should given how things are going. A couple of other things I've noticed recently too is that more people are wearing coloured tights especially burgundy and extra buttons seem to be back to, the sort that don't really do anything. I've always liked this, especially on skirts, as a kind of rich, preppy girl style look.   

Last month I went to a convention which was a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to dress up a bit, basically for the whole weekend. I cosplayed as Missy from Doctor Who and as Glinda from Wicked. I loved being Glinda so much! She's not a character I ever thought of doing before a friend took me to see the movie. In fact I did end up trying on the cosplay with a bleeding finger I never spotted before and had to get undressed while trying not to get blood on my clothes. As someone who doesn't dress that brightly it was odd to be dressed in purple and pink and basically be the brightest one there. While not the most forthright person I did my best to chivvy my friends along in a very Glinda style. I had some much needed assistance with my hair and make-up and was called 'Miss Glinda' for much of the day. It was one of the best times I've ever spent in cosplay. 

A friend of mine who is also non-binary said that while they are prepared to present male for work reasons I obviously hate it which is apparently a difference. I think I agree with that. I think dressing male now is so ingrained that there are certain things I'll never stop doing but it's beginning to grate on me more and more.

Check-Up #35

Ok so I wanted to do a brief section on some television I've been watching recently so this may be a bit reality show heavy. 

RuPaul's Drag Race

This year's Drag Race is reaching its finale and this year I've been quite taken with transwoman Lexi Love. I'm not sure that she'll go ahead and win the actual title as there are a few strong contenders this year (although one has just been given the boot which was quite the surprise). I've loved her Werk Room outfits as well and she managed to beat Snatch Game! Notice I didn't say 'win' but she managed to lose in such a funny way that Ru saved her anyway which, after all these years, is surely a game changer. You can be bad but as long as you somehow manage to be funny with it then you'll scrape through. I didn't think her impression of Gilbert Gottfried was all that bad though but as ever it's just that she didn't do much with it. I'm not sure I could either, truth be told, never one much for improv. She has been very funny in other challenges though and had a lovely tender moment when her mum came on during the Drag Families challenge and used her pronouns correctly for the first time. Good luck Lexi!

Lexi Love in a promo shot for RuPaul's Drag Race season 17

The Apprentice

The Apprentice is also entering its finale week and I've already expressed my sadness that Aoibheann Walsh didn't continue (I mean even the coat she left in was fab) and since then there has been some notable fashion from contestants Mia, Anisa (who made it to the finale) and Amber-Rose. In fact I did see Anisa wearing one of Aoibheann's dresses a couple of time throughout? Did she leave it behind? Did they both have the same dress? I've thought about this more than I should have done. One challenge that she would have slayed though is the fashion challenge and in this one I was pleased to see Mia making a passionate argument for skirts and dresses for men as forward fashion. Unfortunately this didn't quite work out for her and, despite being a very strong candidate, she was fired. Despite the crop top, jacket and skirt she designed looking quite high fashion perhaps it was the fact it was made out of parachutes didn't work. The other team had very basic outfits but sailed through on their commercial viability and introduced the concept of a scrunch bum (nope, I didn't either) to a grateful public. It's hard to know if skirts would have been a winner anyway with most of the male populous understandably turning their noses up at the very concept anyway.  Then again whenever the idea of male skirts comes up they usually turn out to be a bit grey and utilitarian.  Perhaps if they had been designed differently, which brings me on to my last section...

Screenshot from The Apprentice Series 19 ep 10: Fashion
(left to right: candidates Mia, Anisa and Jordan alongside a 
model wearing their parachute skirt) 

Doctor Who

Yes, it's back! Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor is no stranger to fashion and indeed in his first full story (The Giggle aside) The Church on Ruby Road he was wearing a kilt which also represented Gatwa's Scottish roots. In the first episode of the new series (and in the promos) The Robot Revolution he wears a long blue pinstripe skirt which looks quite nice. It's this kind of garment that does look more like a male skirt (at least as a concept) should be, made of a hard wearing material, with pockets and worn with trousers but at least with a pattern. It will be interesting to see if the Doctor wears anything similar during the upcoming series. 

Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu in
a publicity shot for Doctor Who

Also, I previously mentioned sitcom Smoggie Queens on here which I really enjoyed and am now pleased that it's been renewed for a second series.  

Clueless: The Musical

 Recently I had a couple of days off and took the opportunity to see a couple of shows in London. Previously I've mentioned Inside No.9 and I went to see their new stage show Stage/Fright which was very good but I also went to see Clueless: The Musical. 

I've probably talked a lot about Clueless before and how it was an influential film for me growing up. In fact I think at one point I was writing letters pretending to be Cher (not posted of course, just a fun thing) and drawing pictures of how I thought I would look in some of the outfits (which are still in existence and I'm torn on whether to destroy or not). Anyway, I rewatched the film the night before I went and it's still a lot of fun. It did also strike me that in this day and age you probably need a Monty Python style caption blinking 'SATIRE' at several points as there are a lot of gags particularly to do with mobile phones that would sail over peoples heads these days but back then they were more of a status symbol and you had to be wealthy to afford one. 

I was please to see a few people at the musical in Clueless inspired outfits and I myself was wearing a yellow plaid skirt, yellow cardigan and a pink 'Bronson Alcott High' t-shirt. I did stop short of the white knee socks though but I would really have wanted to do it if I didn't have to travel on the train and I still feel a bit self-conscious about that sort of thing.

Emma Flynn as Cher Horowitz in Clueless: The Musical
Photo by Matt Crockett

Overall I enjoyed the musical and may see it again as I note the songs were inspired by 90s music genres so I may have to listen again to properly appreciate them. The outfits were good too, not quite the same as their film counterparts but still recognisable. For example, Cher's iconic plaid outfit (above) has been redesigned with a cropped jacket and a blouse/shirt with tails out with additional beret. Cher does wear a beret sometimes in the film but they've added it more here and I quite like this look. The main actress, Emma Flynn, certainly has a good history for playing Cher having played Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) and Sandy (Grease) previously. Actually I've also noticed how serendipitous her name is. It also made me notice how much people on stage work shifting bits of set and scenery around and how props were adapted for example a sofa being changed into Cher's white jeep. 

I did finally get the shoes for my Cher cosplay so I've now got a bit more enthusiasm to do that at a show at some point this year. I've also made a point of wanting to go back to the source material and read Emma by Jane Austen (which Clueless is based on). I did watch the 2020 film adaptation with Anya Taylor-Joy (in which she also wore a yellow dress in tribute to Clueless) but I haven't seen the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow version as yet. 

Pink Library #14: Candy's Hearts

Valentine's Day has been and gone but here is a nice little bimbo transformation tale I came across last week.

Candy's Hearts by BimbosAndDolls

It's interesting sometimes when you read something and imprint your own thoughts and preferences onto it. I think if I was writing this I would have ramped up the differences between the two and maybe made Amanda a but frostier towards Candy and even look down on her a bit which would make her transformation into her bestie a bit sweeter. I've always leant into the 'They will become what they hate' style of writing a little bit more: nerds to popular girls, frugal guys to bratty shopaholics, prudes to sluts etc. 

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the story or how it could be 'improved' but I found it interesting thinking what direction I would take it in personally. This is still in that wheelhouse though with the transformation being a the 'plain jane' to bombshell change however it's also clear that by the end of the story Amanda seems much happier as bimbo Mandy than as her overworked previous self. It's a fun little tale that I really enjoyed.

Here are some other tales I'm following at the moment:

Bikini Beach: My Dumb Sapphic Summer by Emily Safeharbor - A woman accidentally swaps places with the bimbo lead character of a cheesy 1980s lesbian movie.

The Chav Next Door by Elsie - a teenage boy moves to a council estate and falls in with a gang of chav girls.

Marc's Secret by Dani Sweets - a man discovers that he seems to be unconsciously crossdressing.

Check-Up #34

 It's been a bit of a rough month especially getting back to work after a short break for Christmas and the New Year. I've often come back to the idea to dressing at work and sometimes I think it's a good idea and sometimes bad. For my birthday a friend even bought me a nice blouse I could wear and I may still do at some point but at this point it feels like it would be a hollow victory. Dressing how I would like is not going to change certain aspects of the job that I hate and colleagues I have issues with. What would be the point of it all? 

I've managed to get some new clothes over the past few weeks too; a nice purple dress with a black floral  pattern, a blue and grey top with a lilac collar trim and little bow on the side which looks quite cute, a beige maxi-skirt and a red plaid dress that looks a bit 1960s. I've had a look at the dress in the shop a few times and never really thought it was for me but I decided to try it on at the same time as the skirt and grew to like it plus it was a nice fit. Also bought a make-up kit as well so hopefully I can start experimenting with that. 

I was thinking of doing a new 'Outfits of the Week' section on here featuring some of the great stuff I've seen on TV series or films although it may take a bit of work by sourcing various screencaps plus even without the time aspect I sometimes get a bit overly focused on things and what does and does not count so it may not materialise. That aside, I still thought I would give a quick shout out to hair and beauty salon owner Aoibheann Walsh who was recently on the new series of The Apprentice. 

Aoibheann Walsh in a BBC
publicity shot for The Apprentice 

From the shot above you may able to see why. I've always found something alluring about a woman in a suit and tie since seeing Amy Acker in an episode of Dollhouse. Unfortunately Aoibheann didn't last beyond episode two which is a shame because she seemed like a nice person and had some great outfits including some fab dresses and it would have been great to see more. 

2024 Wrapped - Part Two

Last year I meant to post more on the blog but ended up doing about one per month which was at least something. I discovered that maxi skirts can look quite good on me, especially pleated ones, and were quite nice to wear in the summer when I was a little self conscious about my legs. I got some new cosplay, some of which didn't fit and others which I still need to complete. I did go to some conventions but it just felt easier to go in more casual clothes. For the coming year I would like to try and complete some of those cosplays and also learn a bit about make-up. 

Recently I've bought a new top and some new skirts, a nice red maxi one and a black one. This past weekend I bought some jewellery too. Buying new clothes still gives me a confidence boost too. There was a lovely blue and gold skirt I saw a few weeks ago which was too big for me (usually the other way around though). It's getting so I'm falling for retail tricks now. A shop I went in had some lovely cream jumpers paired with some black plaid skirts which looked like such a cute outfit. Didn't get them though but you never know, I might go back...

Recently I also rewatched Legally Blonde and while it is still a fun warm hug of a movie it now has added nostalgia vibes. Everything seemed so colourful back then. I sometimes wonder if it was genuinely a better time 20 - 30 years ago or if I was just younger and had more of my life before me. There was one line that puzzled me though. When Elle is about to jack law school in she swears off wearing suits and pantyhose. Suits I understand but are pantyhose mainly worn by professional women in America or maybe is it just warmer over there so bare legs is more of an option whereas over here tights are worn both professionally and more casually?

I also went to see Wicked before New Year. A friend of mine really wanted to see it and although it wasn't on my list I really enjoyed it. It has high school mean girls vibes and some of the songs are more subversive than I expected. What is This Feeling? for example has the structure of a love song but it's really about two people hating each other. Then there's also the song that's been living rent free in my head which is Popular. I love it the more I listen to it. Glinda is a wonderful character. I have considered cosplaying her so who knows. Most of the men I know seem to have been dragged to this by their partners but it's probably on brand that I really enjoyed it. So anyway, I've leave you with Popular. I know, that's what makes me so nice!

2024 Wrapped - Part One

Over on Twitter they've now introduced a 'wrapped' feature so I was interested to see which were my most popular tweets/captions of the year. The results may surprise you. They did me. My three most popular caps came from later in the year and I don't know if they are the ones I would have chosen but it's interesting to see. 

So here's the countdown...in third place we have: 

The Applicant (2024)

In second place...

Skinny Dipping (2024)

And finally the winner is...

Trapped! (2024)

Of the three I think I prefer the first one and I'm quite surprised at what came top as it was quite a quick one. In fact whereas I work more on long form captions the Twitter ones are just a case of finding a picture and thinking something up and only occasionally do I plan things out. 

Although I know it's an AI and I should take everything with a pinch of salt but I think that there is some truth there. For example, apparently I seem to do bimbo captions the most of all which is surprising because I've been doing some more sissy stuff this year. It does mention a love for the Barbie movie though which I don't think is correct although I did use it for some caps in the early part of the year. Apparently my top words of the year were: Bimbo, Transformation, Sissy, Pink and Elixir. It's also nice to hear some words of praise as to my caps using a blend of humour and TF fantasy and some witty dialogue. Yes of course it's all AI BS but it's nice to think about. 

So what of my captions for Rachel's Haven? Well I haven't done that many this year but I think my favourite would be the below one for Dementia. 

Hostile Takeover (2024)