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)

Christmas Captions #1

 Every year I have been running an advent caption calendar on Rachel's Haven which many people have contributed to over the years so I thought I would throw this year's captions in here and one from last year I liked. 

Girl on a Pearl (2023)

This one is from last year and is based on the whole 'Elf on a Shelf' thing. Not something I'm overly familiar with as it wasn't around while I was growing up. A simple idea given an Ember twist. I usually bring her back at least once a year at Christmas as she's so much fun to write for. Re-reading this I think it's the dialogue that tickled me the most. It does feel a but cringy sometimes to laugh at my own jokes but then if I don't, no-one else will. I'm especially proud of the petulant final line. The lament of many a TG caption protagonist. 

A Christmas Like Hers (2024)

This one is another Ember one and it went through a number of changes. In other versions it was more of a twinning one and they were still together but it ended up more as a jealous ex one. The 'Winter Wonderland' line was one I took from another idea with another picture I never used in the end and I'm quite pleased with the 'baby kick' line as well. People getting understandably angry with Ember is always fun. 

Stand-In Stacy (2024)

Ok here's the last one and I'm stupidly pleased with it. When I saw the photo it immediately said 'vlogger'. Here is someone giving an instructional video. The little antlers as well were an easy item you could attach to a willing victim. It's almost like a Twilight Zone twist in the tale at the end. Cute outfit too.

Pink Library #13: Twin Bullies

 As we are getting closer to Christmas, here's a very festive story about a boy who will stop at nothing to give a friend the best damn Christmas he ever had. Nothing wrong with that of course but when I say friend I mean the nerdy boy he bullies and that perfect Christmas present being turning himself into his own twin sister so that he can offer a very happy ending...I mean Christmas. 

Twin Bullies by Fibaro

This is a lovely little Christmas tale of a bully compelled to feminise himself in order to give his victim a good Christmas no matter what the expense and what's more he knows exactly what to do, what he wants and is willing to spend all his money making it true. The feminisation scenes and descriptions of his new outfits are very well done too.