Nigella and Caitlin

Just a quick one.

I saw this picture in The Times today, briefly while shopping, and loved it.

Nigella Lawson and Caitlin Moran.
Photograph by Mark Harrison for The Times

The two women are TV cook Nigella Lawson (right) and writer/journalist Caitlin Moran (left) and they have both swapped styles for this photoshoot. I expect not many poeple outside the UK will know who they are. Nigella is usually dressed more conservatively in long skirts and dresses while Caitlin has a more eclectic yet modern style. In fact it's quite odd to see Nigella Lawson in such a crazy pose, she must have enjoyed herself a lot.

This appeals to my love of personality and clothes swapping. When I was much much younger I used to draw pictures of people, mainly fictional and cartoon figures, with their clothes swapped. The only ones I can recall right now are Asterix and Obelix. I think there was also something involving Madonna and that conical bra she was famously pictured with back in the early 1990s. 

Ok so not much but just another look into my psyche.

Dress Up Day

Well, I have a day off work today after attending a Doctor Who convention over the weekend.

I didn't crossplay again mainly because I didn't have much time/too lazy to put together a costume. I kind of wish I had though since there were some great costumes on show. One girl cosplayed as a Christmas tree and that definitely deserves respect; she looked amazing. I have to admit though that Oswin Oswald's red dress is very tempting. I have to say it wasn't my finest hour looking for love but I think I've discovered a few of my hang ups which I may or may not discuss at some point. 

Anyway, my reason for this brief blog (or at least it was when I started) was that since I have today off I thought I would try some dressing; at least until my housemate comes home. He recommended I watch a documentary on a transsexual the other day. Not sure what that means. It was a good programme though so if anyone gets a chance to see Transsexual Teen Beauty Queen then give it a shot. So, I'm currently sitting in the skirt and tights I bought for my Amy Pond crossplay. It feels a little cold but then this is winter time and the skirt isn't that tight so I just feel the tights more but otherwise it's nice. I can't say I finally feel released like others would but it's nice to give it a go for a few hours on my own. 

I think that this is how I would like it to be. I would like the freedom to wear a skirt or a dress sometimes. I doubt I would want to go the full wig and make-up route; I'm too much of a slob for that. Around this time of year when it's cold I just like to wear big, warm clothes too but at other times it would be nice to dress up. To have the freedom to do so.  I'm continually waiting for a knock at the door though or fearing any situation in which I might be 'found out' and trying to think up excuses. 

Oh well, It's fun for now. 

Get The Christmas Party Started

I mentioned my 25 Caps of Christmas idea before and, well, today is the 1st of December and I posted my one for the day. I'm quite pleased with it so I thought I would also post it here to spread a little early Christmas spirit.

This is the third cap I've used The Silent Swapper for. It was inspired by one of my favourite TG stories SlutFest by Wyrdey.

There are still days to fill if anyone feels like throwing their hat in the ring.

Edit: I see its come out a bit small. Hope it's still readable.

Hope you like :)

Get The Christmas Party Started (2012)

Tales From The Role Exchanger #1

Anyone that knows my work knows that I love Morpheus' Role Exchanger stories. 

For the uninitiated, the stories feature a blue glowy alien entity thing that just loves to swap traits of different humans to see how they react. For example, a prude and a dominatrix switch sexual morals, a teenager and a fortysomething can swap ages and of course there's the old favourite sex swapping. I love personality and mental changes and this really pushes my buttons.

I recently found a fourth Role Exchanger story so I thought I would share a couple of  extracts that really tickled my fancy. This latest story is set in an office block.

Disclaimer: I did not write this story. It is the copyright property of Morpheus and can be found in its entirety here: The Role Exchanger 4. If the writer sees this and would like it removed, please contact me.

Here's the first change:

Jenna stepped out of the office building for her mid-morning break,pausing to glance at her watch while calculating how long it would take to get to the coffee shop and back. She only had a limited amount of time for this after all.

At the same time, Jenna wondered if she could get some bagels for her office as well. Since she was the new girl who'd joined them straight out of college a couple months ago, it wouldn't hurt to butter up her coworkers a bit more with free food. So far the tactic had worked wonders when it came to making friends here.

For a brief moment, Jenna paused to glance back at the office building she'd just come out of. It was pretty large at five stories tall, the top two of which were occupied by the company she worked for. The rest of the space was leased by about a dozen other tenants, most of which Jenna knew little about except for their names. After a few seconds, Jenna continued towards the parking lot where her car awaited, walking past the smoking area as she did so.Unsurprisingly there were several people out there on their smoke breaks including her own coworker Diane.

Diane was about ten years older than Jenna and a mother of two. She'd also been something of a mentor to Jenna since she'd started working here. At the moment, Diane was talking to one of the other smokers with an unlit cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other. She was about to light up when she noticed Jenna walking past. "Hey Jenna," Diane called to her. "Come on over here for a moment." Jenna scowled inside but it didn't actually reach her lips. She thought smoking was a filthy habit and absolutely hated the smell of the smoke so was not at all happy about going over to where the air was thick with it. However she didn't want to offend Diane so forced a smile and went over.

"Have you started on the Sherman project yet?" Diane asked Jenna who shook her head no. "I just wanted to give you a heads up. Sherman is very particular and has a few quirks..."

"Not yet," Jenna responded with a polite smile. "I was about to start that one when I got back from break."

Just then, Jenna caught a flicker of some blue glow from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned to look for the source but didn't see anything there. Diane appeared to have noticed it as well since she was looking in the same direction.

Jenna shook her head and then turned her attention back to the topic at hand. She'd barely started talking about the Sherman project when she found herself staring at the cigarette in Diane's hand and wanting one. Jenna had never wanted a cigarette before in her life, but for some reason, she wanted one now didn't really feel bothered by this. "Can I bum one of those off you?" Jenna asked, feeling only a little self-conscious.

Diane gave Jenna a look of surprise, but wordlessly held out her pack of cigarettes. Jenna took one of the cigarettes out and then casually lit it and took a drag. It went down easily and didn't taste nearly as bad as she'd expected. She blew the smoke out to the side, feeling oddly comforted. In fact, this didn't feel at all strange or nasty to her.It felt almost like a comfortable old habit. She took another drag,barely noticing that Diane was wincing and backing away slightly or that she was dropping her own cigarette to the ground with a look of disgust.

"I need to get going," Jenna told Diane. "I still have to go get my coffee. We can talk about the project more when I get back." With that Jenna turned and continued the walk to her car, taking another drag of her cigarette and musing that this wasn't nearly as bad as she'd always thought. In fact she found smoking to be rather pleasant and calming. She could easily see doing this more often. By the time she reached her car, she decided that she'd need to make a quick stop at the store so she could buy her own pack.

Now, this strikes a chord with me because smoking is something that I have never taken up. Nobody in my close family really smokes and I was put off it at an early age. I nearly tried it in college but I was put off mainly because I was afraid I would look like an idiot, having never physically taken a drag before. So for smoking to become like a comfortable old habit to someone who is slightly anti it is quite a delicious idea.

I feel much like Jenna in this scenario and I love that she also gains some of Diane's confidence.

I'm not that anti smoking but I don't like a lot of it around me. A lot of my friends smoked in college and I would often go outside with them mainly to talk and avoid being left in the classroom all alone. Plus there was also a girl I really liked who smoked, unsurprisingly.

Back with another extract soon.

Harry Potter Cosplay #2

Well, overall my weekend was full of ups and downs but despite initial nervousness I loved dressing up again. 

My weekend didn't get off to a good start really. This time I decided to try shaving my legs again. Now, I normally use an electric razor for all my shaving needs because I'm the type of person that would doubtless end up hacking chunks out of my face if I used the traditional kind. The electric razor does take a while now (not that it's a proper Ladyshave or something like that) so I decided to give the traditional kind a shot to see if it would do a better job. I ended up cutting my thumb while trying to clean some hairs from it and at the time it looked quite bad but after a few days it cleared up and I'm left with a tiny scratch now. Luckily my lift arrived and verified that it didn't warrant a visit to the hospital. All through the journey I was wondering why one side of my body seemed colder than the rest then I realised that it was because I had one leg shaved. 

I did the other one a day or so later. My costume didn't change apart from adding a couple of bracelets and swapping my black shoes for my trainers but I did feel comfortable in it perhaps due to the combination of my usual clothes and the new stuff. I got a lot of compliments though especially with my star tights so at least that's all good. At least I wasn't the only person doing that costume so I felt less nervous than usual. 

I think that's all I would like really, the freedom to wear a skirt and tights or a dress if I wished. I'm happy with my body though and doubt I would want to go as far as a wig, breastforms and make-up. I'm a lazy bitch and doubt I could keep up that level of maintenance anyway.  

25 Caps of Christmas

Hey everyone, just a quick post regarding an offer I'm running over at Rachel's Haven.

Last year I ran the '25 Caps of Christmas' thread which was like a kind of capping advent calender and I've just restarted it today. The idea is that a different capper posts a Christmas cap in the thread every day.

So if you're on the Haven and would like to contribute please have a gander over here:  25 Caps of Christmas

The original thread can be found here: 25 Caps of Christmas 2011 if you want to read some damn fine turkey day related TG amusement.

Here's a taster from last year:

Christmas Office Party (2011)

Harry Potter Cosplay

Well, not exactly Harry Potter, that wouldn't be any fun at all now would it.

A couple of months ago (I think) I mentioned a Harry Potter themed cosplay and it will be happening at some point this weekend as I'm going on holiday with my friends. It started off as a loose theme of everyone dressing up as students from Hufflepuff house but a secret theme has been added: school age Nymphadora Tonks (both guys and gals). I gave it some consideration and decided to make a go of it and have spent the last couple of weeks putting a costume together. I tried it on last night and although I'm not as pleased as I was with my Amy Pond outfit, it still looked good. Speaking of Doctor Who, I'm going to another convention in December and am trying to decide what, if anything, I could do for that.

So I basically have a white shirt (normal workwear sort), pleated grey skirt, black and yellow striped socks, tights with stars on, black jumper, Hufflepuff tie and scarf. Oh, and a really cheap wand. I also bought a purple wig and wigs are something I have been thinking about a lot recently. Now, I did see a really nice layered purple one but I eschewed it for a cheaper one. Maybe I should have got the better quality but I guess I thought that would be going too far. Once again I feel very self conscious which I guess relates back to what I said in an earlier post, the average man either feels embarrassed and refuses to dress or goes at it with gusto. The crossdresser grabs every opportunity to dress but I would bet a good portion share my fear of looking like they are enjoying it too much or having their secret exposed.

I wonder if I was asked to participate because my friend wanted to feel better about crossplaying himself or maybe he thought I would enjoy it. I'm not sure which I believe or which I would prefer to be true. At the same time I fear being mocked, even light teasing really gets to me. I've played the fool too many times.

I am wishing I had bought more accessories now.

I guess I'll find out in a few days time.

Fashionista #3

Ok, so...

Remember last time I mentioned studs and spikes? Well this is now officially A Thing. Little studs and spikes are now adorning the shoulders of jackets, handbags and shoes as women are trying to look that little bit more badass and teen-emo punk.

Studded shoes

Studded Jacket

One little twist to this is also the jewelled collar on that Noughties favourite the sheer blouse. Notice on the picture below that the blouse is also tucked into the skirt. This is another little thing that has now become popular. The free flowing shirt or top is gone and the future is tucked shirts with skirts riding a bit higher up the waist.

Tucked and Bejewelled

Patterned tights are in mainly with hipsters and geeks but are slowly creeping into the mainstream. Leggings with floral patterns are in especially with matching jackets.

Patterned Tights and Leggings

Speaking of jackets, Superdry Japan are out and this years essential jacket is quilted. It seems that the Sloane Ranger look may be about to make a comeback. Ok, yah!

Quilted Jacket

Staying with jackets, this is more men than woman but it's now becoming fashionable to have the collar of your overcoat turned up and some colour underneath. Can't really find the right picture to illustrate this one.

Sticking with comebacks, the military look may be on the rise again. This is one look that keeps emerging and it's understandable considering the times we live in. The military look, green shirts and khakis, was quite popular in the 1970s following the Vietnam War and let's not forget that one of the biggest and most durable fashion items is military in origin: the T-shirt. US Veterans started wearing them casually after World War II and they really caught on in the 1950s. The last time it came around was in the late 1990s and I doubt I will forget the cargo trousers and multicoloured khakis that adorned market stalls everywhere as I was in my late teens.

In the Army Now

To finish off, one item I'm seeing more of is the dress or jacket and skirt combo with the frill in the middle. A tight dress with a frill looks sexy, stylish and professional. A 21st century version of 1980s power dressing.

Fantastic Frills!

 That's all for now. Ciao!

The Apocalypse Scenario

One of my favourite little fantasies is the end of the world.

Ok, just to draw it back from the edge I'll explain what I mean. The idea of waking up to find that you are the lone survivor of some kind of apocalypse or not even that I suppose but just to wake up and find that you are the only person alone in the world. There might be people alive from whatever MacGuffin has wiped us out but lets not go too far into that, I'm not writing The Walking Dead fanfic here.

No, my fantasy involves, unsuprisingly, clothes shops. Imagine going to a shopping centre and finding it deserted with many clothes shops ripe for the picking. I know I would be tempted to just go in and play dress up with all those wonderful tops, skirts, dresses and tights. Initially, I would be wary that there were people still watching me or that it was all going to be a big joke and Jeremy Beadle would jump out grinning ( I know he's dead but dammit I grew up in the 1980s and I have my reference points!). Once I got used to it though, I would enjoy the freedom just to experiment. Whether or not I would feel confident to wear such clothes in my everyday life, even with no-one seemingly around to judge, would remain to be seen.  

I was going to leave the blog post there, just another CD fantasy of mine, but then I went shopping yesterday and realised how nervous I still get in womens clothing sections of stores. I feel like I'm being watched, like I'm going to get 'found out' somehow. I went into Claire's, half to look for cosplay stuff but also because my niece has a birthday soon, a legitimate reason but still I felt like I needed to get out of there as quick as I could. I'm getting good at the quick browse, just eyeing up certain areas and moving on. Wanting to flip through the skirts or tights or whatever but making it as quick as I can.

It's always been like that for as long as I remember. Maybe it was because my mum used to tease me a little about it when I was dragged around the shops as a youngster. Does she know? Probably not but I wouldn't put it past her. I guess if I was with a woman, it might be different. Perhaps if I had more experience, as it were, been dragged around shops by girlfriends it would be easier. I guess this says something about me though. I mean, if I was just a normal man it wouldn't bother me, I would probably be bored and wanting to look in menswear or just to go and sit down somewhere which is what used to happen to me. Perhaps that I'm actively considering looking around and even buying items shows that I'm developing finally. It all goes to whether or not I want to continue exploring this side of myself or lock it back in the box. I certainly notice female clothing a lot more these days and the urge to wear it myself is growing.

My Week #6

Hi everyone

Apologies for not updating this recently. There's still a lot I want to write about but at the moment I'm just a bit lethargic. I've had a busy few weeks at work, a flurry of new work like never before and then the catching up. I just don't feel that I'm on top of it right now.

I'm still hoping I might see that girl again but it's looking more unlikely and I'm filled with so much regret because of it.

I've also been trying to catch up with my DeviantArt account and I'm trying out a new roleplay chat room. This is proving to be a bit frustrating as after about 5 minutes after starting a personal chat with someone, they tend to go silent. I don't feel like I'm being given a fair chance. Of course I could leave but then there's the temptation that you might find someone you really click with. So exciting!

Hmm. Just watching the dating show Baggage on Channel 4. The girl is asked to choose between 2 pieces of made up 'baggage' from her potential suitor. Either he's a crossdresser or he will never share his bed with her. It turned out to be the latter but the amount of women shouting for crossdresser is quite encouraging. Even the girl said they could share clothes.

Anyway, hope to write more soon.

Tube Girl

Life can be really random at times.

Coming home on Friday, I took the tube and ended up talking to a couple of American tourists. a chat which began over something as simple as a standing position. One thing I did learn was that stereotypes are sometimes true, they said a lot of things were "quaint".

Anyway, I did get get talk to another girl, a British girl, at the same time. She was lovely to talk to and I felt calm and relaxed. As long as I get past the first stumbling block I'm fine with conversation. We even got off at the same station and carried on talking. Eventually I lost her at the barriers. I guess I could have gone after her but I thought that might be weird. I'm cursing myself for not taking the chance though. 

Maybe I'll see her again one day. She gives me hope for the future though and I left that day with a smile on my face. 

My Week#5

Apologies for not updating this sooner but it's been really busy lately.

Not been in the best of health recently, I have a cold at the moment.

I have been continuing trying to talk to strangers though and mostly succeeding apart from the last couple of days. It's all an exercise in confidence building and hopefully I may get to the stage where I'm just not scared of saying things at all. There are lots of times when I've wanted to, no matter how mundane, and felt bad because I couldn't get the words out.

However there is a reason why I'm finally typing. I'm going away for a weekend with friends in a couple of months and we usually have a fancy dress thing. This year there was going to be a Harry Pottter theme and I hadn't decided whether I was taking part yet. I had a message from a friend today asking me if I was going to take part...and told me a secret cos/crossplay twist.

This has of course piqued my interest but also set me wondering why he thought I would enjoy this. Now, obviously he has been present when I have crossplayed before and saw the Amy Pond photos (BTW really enjoying this latest series) but lately I have been getting annoyed that people expect me to do this and that if it's fancy dress the of course I'll turn up in a dress. This could be my own neurosis but it's also that I don't like doing what people expect, I don't like being stereotyped or anyone thinking they now exactly how I'm going to act.

Perhaps I could just shut up and enjoy myself. Would I though or do I think that I should just because I'm a crossdresser regardless of whether I might enjoy it? It's the same kind of dilemma that I've been struggling with for many years now.

I will expand on these details at another time but or now that's been my day.

Chatting to Strangers

Ok, so my housemate lent me a book The Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss which I have to say I dismissed as one of those 'become a playa' kind of guides. I do not want to become a 'playa'. It would at least be a 'player' spelled correctly but being able to talk to women is at least a bonus. The book is full of missions and things designed to boost confidence and help you on in the dating game. To win the game is to simply get a date. I was looking through it and one of the first challenges struck me: 'Make small talk with 5 strangers".

I kept thinking about this and decided it would be something that could definitely help me so I tried it out today and...well I didn't get a date out of it but I spoke to 5 people at least. It doesn't matter whether it expands into a full blown conversation or you just get a grunt back. What matters is that you open your mouth and say something

1. Man on the train sitting next to me. I noted that the weather was colder today. I didn't receive much of a response but he soon fell asleep anyway. 

2. Woman in Waitrose. I commented on the amount of brands of water available. She smiled and agreed.

3. Man by the traffic lights. I asked if he could feel a few spits of rain. For some reason he at first thought I said 'rangers' but he more or less agreed with me. 

4. Woman on the Tube. I commented that we were always stopped at a red light at Baker Street. She smiled. 

5. Man on the steps up to the station. Weather again. I said I hoped it wasn't going to rain and he agreed. 

I think I mentioned that I'm English and therefore if I know how to talk about two things it's the weather and the failings of the transport system. Each encounter was barely a minute but knowing that I had chalked up another person pleased me and by the end I was quite proud of myself. I may try to talk to a couple of people per day just to try and get my confidence up but that will probably fall by the wayside.

 I don't know whether I will continue with the book but just doing this was a nice exercise and may make me think I can actually open my mouth next time I sit next to a pretty girl on the train.

Invasion of the Hipsters

I was on lunch break last week when I spotted a group of hipsters/emo kids walking in the park. I didn't think anything of it until I saw many many more gathered in another area. Now, I was intrigued by this and asked a girl with blue hair who explained it was a meet up organised through Twitter.

Now, anyone who knows me from the Haven will know how much I love the whole eclectic emo girl look and I couldn't help seeing some really cool clothes including more cool leggings. Some of the haircuts were really odd though. I kind of wished I could have hung around with them for a bit longer.

Sex and Sexuality

I remember a very specific time when I was about 16 floating in a swimming pool thinking about girls and deciding that as I get older I will understand them more and perhaps actually begin to fancy them. I thought that the knowledge would come with time and it never did. I was a bit of a late bloomer and by college I think I must have fancied near enough every girl in there at one point or another. Not that I got anywhere though.

While gender has always fascinated me, I've never really had the chance to explore my sexuality. As mentioned before, I'm straight and happy with my current gender. I have never really had the desire to be a girl, only dress like one on occasion. I can't say I've ever fitted in with either gender. I'm not a manly man into football, birds and booze and those kind of guys and discussions do make me uncomfortable and I can't say that talking with girls make me feel any less socially awkward. I seem to walk in two worlds yet belong to neither. A T Girl friend of mine always said that she preferred hanging out and talking to girls, it made her feel more feminine when she was at school. There were a couple of times at college I was eating my lunch and it was just me and a group of girls in the classroom. Somehow the conversation always got onto useless men and I ended up just trying to finish and get out of there.

The first time I was in college it was the late 1990s and two items of female clothing really took with me. Gradation jumpers and lines t-shirts.

Gradation Jumper

Teacher's Lines T-Shirt

I remember hearing another guy talk about the jumpers too which cheered me up - until I found out he was gay and it made me wonder about myself. As I said, I was young at the time and of course being a crossdresser doesn't mean that you're gay and vice versa. Not every gay man wants to dress up in drag and perform on stage, these are just stereotypes.

Now, not to go into too much detail but I have never enjoyed much of a love life although I have at least been on a few dates and lost my virginity (just). I saw the film The 40 Year Old Virgin the other week and I love how Steve Carrell's character  is portrayed not as a geeky man child Mr Bean like character but just as someone who it just never happened to and of course over time it makes you more nervous. I've also never really had the chance to explore my fetishes with a partner so who knows it could make things better. Never really had the chance to be a sexual being either and I wonder if it's too late now. I have been thinking about internet dating recently and it was during a discussion with a friend that he admitted some girls have complained that I stare at their breasts. This has horrified me and made me ever more nervous as I've never thought about myself as that sort of guy and now it's something I can't get out of my head. I rarely look people on the eye anyway, maybe it's been misinterpreted although I'm probably just making excuses.

I've recently put up a Dalek poster on my wall too. It's a nice picture and I wanted something to cheer up the blank and bland walls. What if I bring a girl back? What would she think? It never crossed my mind until recently that she could look at it and think it was the coolest thing ever. I used to think that I would get married in my early twenties like my dad and that it would mean compromising things but now I know a lot of couples in great relationships and that's what I want now.

And just maybe there's a perfect geeky girl out there who would love to see me in a skirt...

Fashionista #2

Ok, so...

Due to the Olympics there's been a lot of patriotic clothing around with 'Team GB' and the Union Jack on.

Team GB T-shirt

I love the little lion symbol and our 'Pride the Lion' mascot is certainly better than the official ones although obviously you couldn't have anything as nationalistic as that to be the official mascot. It will be interesting to see how much of this patriotic style remains in a few months once the games have been forgotten. Another thing I've noticed is the rise in leggings with the flag, and not just the British one, on them stretching down the side.

Flaggings: UK Style!

Flaggings - USA style!

Of course with the sun out there are plenty of sunglasses around and not the big black Victoria Beckham ones either but cheap, very 80s looking ones with neon rims. The 80s still seem to be in at least. Also rising in popularity are the Pussy Bow blouse and the round collar blouse. I didn't like the latter when it first started getting popular but now it's growing on me. Still not sure if it's the sort of thing I would wear though. Maybe, but it looks quite cute especially with the outfit below.

The Round Collared Blouse

I've seen some wonderful outfits recently too, for example a woman looking a bit like a rock chick with a shock of blonde hair wearing a band t-shirt, fashion jacket, skinny jeans and fake leopardskin high heels. So stylish.  Lastly, there are the shorts. Cut off denim shorts with the pockets pulled through although, unlike the picture below, I've seen quite a few pockets painted with different designs like, and I'm sensing a theme here, flags.

Jean Shorts with pockets pulled through

  
Since I saw this picture I've also noticed that studs have been creeping in to clothing. I saw some on a few jackets recently. Very bad-ass.

When I was talking about posting some caps before, Alectra suggested having caps added as part of the theme of whatever I was talking about and sinceI sourced this picture here to do a cap I thought I would share. This was done for the Haven's teen dream Totalditz since she did a similar post over at Tis My Life - OMG!

Laters!

New Shorts (2012)

Olympics #2

Well, the Olympics have been over here for about a week now and everything's more or less back to normal.

The travel wasn't too bad in the end although it was mainly the helpers that got on my nerves. Now, don't get me wrong I would be glad to see so many people leading the way if I was a stranger in a strange land but since it was just a normal working fortnight for me I slipped into haughty commuter mode. I resented being herded about and asked if I knew where I was going by people younger than me. This must be what being a pensioner feels like. Before some cordons were put up they were all holding hands to guide us around the station. What made it weirder was that I was wearing a suit so I don't see why people thought I had come from the Olympics anyway. At least they put on a lot of extra trains and I used to walk over to Hyde Park in my lunch hour to see what was on. I expect come the winter I'll look back on it with fondness

Still, you can't deny the wonderful sense of national pride that it's brought about which is something virtually heard of in this country except in extremist organisations. It's become such a national event and a real pick-me-up for people. I've known people that are not that into sport but have got wrapped up in it all. I even went to see the closing ceremony up on a big screen in the middle of town. Yeah, that wasn't too hot I have to admit.

Just a quick note on the mascots. I've read up on all the thinking that went into them, the designs and names etc. and it all makes sense in a weird way but sadly I still hold the same opinion.

The First Time

Looking back at my two years on the Haven, here's a little blast from the past.

The first two captions I posted.

This was for the August 2010 caption competition which had the subject of Group Shot

Teenage House Party (2010)

This was the first trade cap I ever posted and it was for the lovely Totalditz. 

Exam Results (2010)

Anniversary

Hey everyone,

I've been meaning to post before now, there's another Olympics rant I wanted to have plus another Fashionista and I will do that at some point over the next few days. Hopefully.

I didn't want to miss today out though because it's my second anniversary as a member of Rachel's Haven. The Haven has helped me more than anything else to come to terms with my crossdressing and gender issues. There is such a great mix of people there from those who transition, are close to transitioning, to those that crossdress or enjoy certain fetishes.

Before I joined, I used to hang around chatrooms and do roleplays or else try to trick people into dressing me up or something like that. A T-girl friend of mine got tired of chatting with me, not altogether just in that kind of roleplay, because I wasn't a challenge. I even went into lesbian chatrooms a few times for cybersex. It did give me a little rush to know that I fooled people into thinking I was a girl but I felt really bad about it. Doing all this just to feed a fetish, I hated myself. I joined the Sissy School website forum which was a nice place but just not for me. I recall one thread about freezing and then eating your own cum which left a, er, nasty taste in my mouth.

Rachel's Haven is such a wonderful fast and funny place, it's become one of the websites I must check every day. I never thought I would get into captioning though and since them I've created some wonderful stories and still enjoy the whole process. Perhaps it's the regular exposure to TG that's helping me with my own issues.

If I'm like this after two years, who knows what another two may bring.
       

Whither Cap Blog?

When I started this blog I said that it was not going to be a cap blog.

I set out with the intention of blogging about the girlier aspects of my life in an attempt to understand them better but lately I've been thinking about some of the other Haven bloggers out there and the wonderful stuff that they do. Now, I couldn't really do a cap blog because I can barely find the time to do my capback list and the super secret list of people I want to cap plus I like having a set of rules to follow. Someone's personal preferences or a list of pictures to inspire me.

However there are some things that I feel I can't explore and oddly enough it sometimes comes down to having to include a TG change. I like a lot of personality change too like the Role Exchanger series and wish I could explore it more often.

So maybe I might start doing the odd new cap just for here and I also might start putting some old ones up. My personal favourites or maybe some that never got a lot of love at the time. I still haven't really started what I wanted to do with this blog.

More to come soon, it's just been a bit manic this week.

Fashionista #1

Ok, every week I seem to do a round up of clothes I've seen and liked so here we go.

I saw a girl wearing this extremely cute top during the week.

Today's Outfit. Yesterday

Working in an office means I have to wear a suit and sometimes, cross-dressing tendencies or not, it does get a bit frustrating to see the girls come in wearing various outfits and I feel that I'm doing bad by undoing my top button. Never liked ties although I'm considering getting some Tenth Doctor ones and maybe a red Shaun of the Dead one and maybe some 80's style Gene Hunt ones. My Dad still has some quite 80's ties. Anyway, the one article of clothing I'm most jealous of is the fashion suit jacket with the turned up patterned sleeves (apologies for the small picture but it's the best I could find).

Fashion suit jacket

 Wonderful. Wish I could wear one.

Olympics

I can't really avoid the Olympics living and working where I do.

I can't say that I'm that interested in sport generally. I might watch the football when England are in a major tournament, probably in a pub to soak up the atmosphere, but other than that no. However I do recall the Seoul Olympics in 1988 mainly because I saw all these posters with 'Seoul '88' on and I had no idea what it was only being 9 years old at the time.

The London 2012 Olympics has been creeping up and suddenly its here. I work in London and quite close to Hyde Park, one of the big venues, and travelling right past the Olympic stadium at Stratford on the train. Travel is probably going to be a bitch but the first day wasn't so bad although I'm not looking forward to it. A lot of people are leaving the country so that may balance with all the people coming in.

The promotion troubles me too. I still don't like the logo, it's trying too hard to be edgy and cool. There's also of course the thing you see. Do you know the thing? Ok, so I'll explain the thing but I'll warn you that once you see it, you can't unsee it so skip below now if you don't want me to warp your mind with my twisted humour. well, not MY twisted humour, I didn't invent this but at some point someone realised that the picture is basically Lisa Simpson giving a blow job.

London 2012 Logo

Then we also have the mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville. I don't mind them that much and I love the taxicab lights on top of their heads. However one reason for mascots I would expect is to give something for the kids to enjoy. You get the kids interested the the characters will be very popular and lucrative and with this in mind I have to question a couple of things. First of all, they need expressions, a smile at least, and then there's the dip. One of them, I think it's Wenlock has a little dip above the eye and this makes it look like he's frowning and a bit evil. Seriously, all he needs is a small black goatee beard.

Wenlock and Mandeville

McDonalds have also plastered posters all over the tubes and they are beginning to annoy me. They're based on their campaign about the different types of people who use the restaurant. For example, the ways they eat fries like "the bottom of the baggers" and now it's the ways we watch the Olympics like "the nervous peeker" or "the air puncher" which is all well and good and I find it quite smart but then you have "the showing-the way-er" or "the peckish pick-me-up-er". THESE ARE NOT REAL THINGS! Ok sorry, got that out of my system now. There's even a promotion for the next winter Olympics near Hyde Park, a cat in a scarf with an igloo on an ice floe. Considering how hot it's been lately, it was quite funny. Lots of people are arriving with big pieces of laminated square card around their necks. 

Despite everything though, I can't help feeling the buzz around it all and the sense that I'm living through history. Smack bang in the middle of it (well, off to the side anyway) but it's a wonderful feeling. The opening ceremony was marvellous and I'm sure things will calm down as the games get underway. I'm sure I'll take all that back when I'm bitching about travel next week.     

Clothes

Another kind of jumbly post this time.

Just finished watching Primeval and first of all I must say a word about Ruth Kearney who plays the tech girl Jess. As well as being cute as a button she wears such wonderfully smart clothes as well. Mini skirts that are not too slutty (although some seem too short for the character) and cute tops. Now that is a smart wardrobe for a modern girl. I would love to dress like her perhaps on a night out to a restaurant or bar, the smart casual kind of look.

Ruth Kearney as Jess in Primeval

I saw a girl on the tube the other day wearing the strangest outfit, well I thought it was anyway, but it was glorious. She was in her twenties, a short brunette (which I have to say is most definitely my type) in a top and green leathery jacket. So far, so indie chick I guess but she then has a tartan skirt on. Not the kind of cute short and pleated that I just adore but an old lady woollen kind of skirt. This was topped off by shoes that were really strappy and showy; the kind you would expect to be worn by an overly made-up bottle blonde in a skimpy dress. I say none of this to insult her, you understand, but this outfit really stood out to me and I sometimes wish I could, or had the confidence, to wear such eclectic mixes of clothes like Japanese girls seem to do.  

Clothes have always intrigued me. People swapping outfits always look fun because a style is very individual and you are passing that on to someone else. A pink-loving bimbo and a goth girl switching togs would always be fun because neither of them would choose that outfit for themselves. Even people wearing the same outfit as another like this still from Suburgatory which started on E4 this week.

Dalia shares her style with Tessa in Suburgatory

The show was a bit like Mean Girls but it will be fun to see how it develops. Recently makeover show Snog, Marry, Avoid has had a new host for the new series in the shape of attractive comedienne Ellie Taylor. The basic idea of the it is that it's a make-under show featuring girls being stripped of their hair extensions, make-up and fake tans for a more natural look. This is a guilty pleasure of mine and although I haven't seen may episodes of the latest series, it has featured Ellie trying out many of the fashions involved like the Scouse Brow or dressing as a WAG.

The below picture is a promotional shot for the show featuring Ellie next to an overly made-up and tarty version of herself. This is the kind of stuff I love; people taking on different personae and looks through clothes. What you wear tells a lot about your personality.

Ellie Taylor and Ellie Taylor in Snog, Marry, Avoid

I'll always remember one day back in 2004 when I wore 3 different kinds of clothes. I had an interview early that day so I had to get up early and put my best suit and tie on. I wear this every day now, I must look quite the young professional which is quite scary. I didn't get that particular job and it remains one of my worst rejections. I came back home and changed back into my regular jeans and t-shirt. Later on I went to work dressed in older clothes: tracksuit bottoms and a big fleece. Three different looks in one day. It may not sound much but this kind of thing sticks in my mind and there's something I could write about it but I'm not sure what.    

A Change Would Do You Good

This is A Change Would Do You Good by Sheryl Crow from 1996 and I absolutely adored this video at the time. Everyone swapping roles and clothes all over the place, this was just awesome. I watched it again recently and didn't realise the amount of well known people in it, Molly Shannon Jeff Garlin from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mary-Lynn Rubikscube (or whatever) from The Larry Sanders Show etc. At the time I just recognised Ellen DeGeneres because I was a fan of her sitcom, Ellen. Of course, if you hadn't guessed, I loved the boss turning into his secretary in that long red dress.

Yeah, so this was an early influence on me.

My Week #4

Hey everyone.

Yup, not many updates this week. I really do mean to start posting properly at some point about areas of my life past and present.

This week I've largely been feeling like shit. I've had a cold all week that still hasn't cleared up not to mention various parts of my body aching. I had a day off work and went back after that which perhaps I shouldn't have done but then I would have just been hanging around the house thinking that I could have gone in to works after all. Erm ok so dresses and skirts then...dresses and skirts...oh ok here's something I've noticed recently, the rise in girls wearing patterned wellies.

This is just a brilliant idea, how come no-one has thought of this sooner. This is Britain for God's sake, it rains here constantly so how come stylish wellies haven't come about before? I'm surprised we don't have umbrellas with more pictures on like avatars. It's all you see of people sometimes.

Speaking of going out, this time last week I was at the London Film and Comic Con which was so much fun as it always is. I met Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones in Doctor Who and John Simm. John, of course, played the Master and Sam Tyler in Life on Mars which is one of my favourite genre series amongst many other roles. Human Traffic is still a great film about 1990s club culture.  I always thought he was the type of actor who didn't do these kind of shows so I was surprised to see him there and he was the person I mainly went to meet even though I do this show every year. I've always wanted to meet him.  

My Week #3

Ok, so again I've meant to post different things this week but I've not had time so I thought I would be lazy and do the jumbo update which will probably include a lot of stuff that you're not interested in.

Anyway, I got a Kindle recently which is something I never thought would happen. At first I thought it wouldn't be much use especially for me as I have so many actual books to read already. Over time it became more popular and I suddenly cottoned onto the fact that it's like the book version of an iPod and that really appealed to me. A couple of my friends have also released e books recently and I wanted to support them. My housemate was selling his, so I bought it and have been reading with it all week. I'm really enjoying it although that may just be the novelty. There are so many books on offer now and they seem cheaper and easier to get so I can really see myself using it more.The only trouble was when I tried to download my first book, the billing address on my credit card didn't match my new one. I haven't used Amazon since I moved house last year. So I ended up with a call from the bank which always puts the frights up me since I have been a fraud victim twice before. Still, it got sorted out although they called my old number at first so I had some explaining to do to my parents.

After that I ended up watching Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Now, everyone moans at these sequels but, although the first movie was better, I still really enjoyed this. I went to see The Amazing Spider-Man yesterday and can't say I was that impressed with it. I don't see why we had to have another reboot for a start and although Andrew Garfield is a good actor, his Peter Parker was very furtive and geeky, he's just too much of a pretty boy. Martin Sheen was good as Uncle Ben though but overall it didn't feel fun enough for a Marvel movie.

Rose and Thorn

I saw this wonderful image over the Codex of Corruption run by the lovely Victoria Hyde and just had to repost it here. The juxtaposition between the two images is wonderful, two very different girls in the same pose with one the dark side of the other. The reflection in the mirror of the alternate bedroom is a great detail too and the closet full of weapons suggesting that the other side is bleeding through.

I don't know too much about this but it's the cover art of DC's National Comics: Rose and Thorn #1 by Ryan Sook, due for release in September. I know virtually nothing about the character but this is enough to intrigue me into reading.

Role With It: Caption Trade

This is just a brief Rachel's Haven thing I'm trying to drum up some people for.

Evie, she of the wonderful TG Backburner, has invented the game of Role With It which really pushes my buttons. Stepping into another person's clothes and becoming like them has always been a fantasy of mine.

Anyway, I've set up a thread to do a mass caption trade using the game so hopefully people can take a look see and sign up if they fancy it.

The thread is here: Role With It Caption Trade

The original game is detailed here: Role With It Cards and Caps

My Week #2

I did mean to post a few things this week that I never got around to so here is one big jumble full of stuff. 

First off we have Love Shaft. Now, this is a trashy dating show featuring not so bright young things which is much beloved and laughed at by myself and my housemate which goes out every Monday on E4. Basically, the contestant is in a lift and he/she faces a suitor on every floor which they then do an activity with before deciding whether to stay with or dump them for the one on the next floor.There were a couple of things I noticed this week, firstly the girl on there just did not like men with scoop necked t-shirts.

This seems to be a growing trend and it's one I think looks very feminine in a way. The male version of showing a bit of (waxed probably) chest. Now, I wouldn't think of wearing something like that because it's a bit poser-ish but it's just a thought that occurred to me. The second thing I noticed about the show was a segment where they had 3 guys kiss the blindfolded girl: the current lift guy, a dwarf and a transvestite. Who was wearing the same wig I wore when I dressed as Amy Pond *sigh*. 

On Wednesday, I saw a girl swimming in the park in a very cute outfit. Pink mini-skirt and a 'Guns and Roses' T-shirt tied to her waist. She looked really nice. The same day I was watching an episode of Community and the always lovely Alison Brie was wearing a cute grey mini-skirt that I really loved. 

There is another Doctor Who convention coming up and I wasn't going to go due to the dates clashing with something else and it being a wee bit expensive...and then they announce David Tennant and Billie Piper. This needs more serious consideration.

Well, I think that's about it for this week. There was a girl, someone I knew in college years ago, that I was kind of thinking of asking out bit I found out she's in a relationship. Oddly enough it doesn't affect me that much but at least I know. I may start trying a few dating websites. 

Sick

Well, I'm sitting at home at the moment off sick from work and and I'm feeling a bit rubbish. In a weird way I wish I felt a little worse then I do to kind of even it out a bit.

Basically, I got up this morning and had some trouble with my stomach which does tend to happen a lot. I've suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome for most of my life and it can get really bad at times but I've tried to never let it stop me doing anything. So I felt pretty bad this morning, missed my lift and thought I might go in a bit later. Then time continued and I was feeling worse so I called in sick.

The trouble is that now I'm feeling better and wonder if I could have gone in after all. I almost feel guilty for sitting at home when I could be working and it's making me a little depressed. Of course I've also taken some medicine which has cleared things up. It just feels so odd that I'm almost willing myself to be ill so that I feel properly justified in staying home.  

Snickers

Ah Snickers, the name still makes me flinch slightly. I remember when they were called Marathon. And Starburst were Opal Fruits. I can still recall the ad from 1992 featuring a French woman inexplicably wandering around a station looking for Snickers which leads me on to the reason for this post.

This is the latest series of ads and they are based on the premise of being hungry turns you into a diva. For some reason this floats my transformation fantasies boat and I love the concept. Joan Collins is good and the other actors play it wonderfully.

Occasionally I will put up little videos and stuff I like because, hey, it's my blog. Some might be from the past or the present. If I put up one from the future then it gets scary. I also hope one day to find an advert that was on around 1998/99. I can't recall what it was for, some kind of games system, but it featured a family swapping roles many times over.

Doctor Who Cosplay

After my shenanigans last weekend, I got to thinking about other types characters I could do in the future.

Amy has some great outfits of course and very simple to do. I guess that's the attractive thing about it, the clothes don't look too out of place as some would do. That's why men love putting a black suit on: it's smart and makes you look cool and it can be passed off as James Bond, The Blues Brothers, Reservoir Dogs and countless others.

I would love to do Idris, the human form of the TARDIS, in that wonderful bluey gothy dress.

I saw Tegan's purple air stewardess uniform on sale as a fancy dress outfit a year ago and thought about that. There was also a green shirt and shorts that Rory wears in Day of the Moon, I could just cover myself with marks and that would be a pretty easy costume. I've never really thought about any of the Doctor's costumes apart from maybe David Tennant's which is pretty nice plus I have the coat. I bought it to wear as Mal Reynolds from Firefly one Halloween. The first pictures of Tennant in costume were released around that time and most people thought I was meant to be him despite the absence of a pinstripe.

I love the feminised fan costumes there are about these days too like the Dalek girls:

There are also some wonderful designs featuring the TARDIS, Cybermen and even individual Doctors. I saw one girl wearing a Tenth Doctor outfit with a pinstripe mini-skirt and another dressed as the Second Doctor albeit with a chequered kilt-like skirt with a blue shirt, black jacket and bow tie. It's wonderful that people are being so creative with the concept.  

 A T-girl friend of mine said I should do the new companion at some point. Of course that all depends on what she wears...

The Convention

Ok, yeah so I totally rocked it.

The convention was a lot of fun in the end. I saw some people I knew from previous years and they had some great guests. I even met Matt Smith, however briefly.

I wore the costume on Saturday night and I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. When the time came to put it on I didn't feel as nervous as I have previous times although as I walked down the corridors it did seem eerily quiet and I could hear every step. I still had doubts over the wig and there were so many good Amys about. I looked down at my feet and I was pretty good although looking at the full thing in the mirror my upper body seemed out of proportion with the rest. I didn't have falsies in, by the way. As always you do get the odd comment but I've always been able to handle them which is strange for me since I usually take such things very personally. "Terrifying but brilliant" was how one of the guests described me. I even met up with another 'drag Amy' and we had a few pictures taken that I believe have made it onto Twitter. Well, I kind of requested one sent to a friend of mine to cheer her up. We even had a few dances once the disco started up. Someone requested "Dude Looks Like A Lady" by Aerosmith. Can't think why...

At one point, early in the morning and through my drunken haze I saw a girl in a UNIT uniform. And reader, I married her. Actually no, I didn't even speak to her but I've always wanted to write that line. I've enjoyed the odd kiss at a convention in the past and I seem to put too much pressure on myself by hoping that it might happen again, some small morsel of romantic entanglement to convince me that I may still have a love life one day. Oh, and as for being drunk as well that was no mean feat at £4.40 a pint at the hotel but one rarely left my hand that night as I used it as a kind of crutch. I believe this was only partially down to the alcohol though; having something to hold in my hand somehow helped my nerves although, as I said, I wasn't really that nervous.

Searching back through the wilderness for my point, the dancing girl brought to mind a couple of things. Firstly, that I hadn't noticed the women in drag getting as much attention as some of us guys and I'm not sure whether I should feel a little jealous of that. Secondly, that I would rather be the Doctor's flighty assistant than a soldier any day. There were some lovely female versions of Doctor costumes around too.

Once I got back to my room I almost didn't want to take the costume off and I was really proud of myself that day. It turned out to be one of the highlights of my weekend. I have to admit to feeling quite sad, as I normally do, when I had to leave and it was all over. I've had a couple of days off and it's back to work tomorrow.

Looking back now even after the post I made yesterday, crossdressing doesn't seem as scary as it once was and I'm not sure what this means for me. Maybe I'm finally coming to terms with it.

Confession

Ok, so I was all set to write about my weekend and I got halfway through it but I had to leave for a bit. Anyway, something else came up that I wanted to write about.

 Tonight I was chatting to my housemate about my weekend. I've known the guy since school so that's around 20 years roughly and he's my best friend. He knows I've dressed up before but he didn't know what I was going to do this time and so asked me straight whether I did it for the attention (as I was speaking about the guy I met in Ibiza earlier) or whether it was something else. I said it was a bit of both which is the first time I've admitted something like that to him.

 We haven't talked about it much since, I later felt the need to assert the fact that I was not a transvestite. I keep turning it all over in my head and it's bothering me slightly. As I say though, we haven't talked about it much and although I have a burning desire to I think it may be better left alone for now. That said, I do know a couple of his fetishes and again we've never really discussed such things although I think sometimes he wishes we could as I've never enjoyed that much of a love life.

My Week #1

Well, it's been an interesting week and one that got me thinking about my fears. 

I had a task to do at work that I kept putting off and once I completed it, I wondered why I had put it off for so long. It got me thinking about a lot of stuff. Fear has always held me back when its come to romance and that fear ends up turning into self-loathing. Whenever I went to a club I always wanted to be a woman just sitting on a high stool, perhaps a long red dress, just waiting for someone to come up to her and talk. It's the starting point that I just need. 

Anyway, off to the convention tomorrow. I'm not back at work until Wednesday and I have 3 days of drinking and star spotting to look forward to. I know I'm going to be nervous about my costume but hopefully I'll get through it.     

Headband

Well, another day, another piece of feminine clothing.

I was re-watching The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone yesterday. I don't know why I din't before and I noticed a few things. First of all the red jumper is more of a hoodie but there's no time to sort that out really. Black socks go over the tights and Amy appears to be wearing a headband too. So, I stopped into a shop on the way home from work and bought one. It's a little tight but hopefully it will also keep the wig in place. I'm still dissatisfied with its colour. I did buy a headband before to go with a cheerleader costume; it was red with a large bow on the top and looks quite cute.

I have to wonder whether if doing something like this, managing to buy something feminine every day no matter how little or large it is would be good and get me used to buying stuff like that but I'm not really sure it's something I would want to do that regularly anyway. For all my paranoia, the people in the shops probably think  it's for my wife or girlfriend. I wonder if anyone's ever thought what a kind boyfriend I am by buying this stuff for my non-existent partner.

The Complete Amy

I bought some tights today and completed my outfit. They're not quite the same colour but look nice and shiny. I tried the whole thing on quickly and I have to admit it looks really good and gives me a bit of a thrill too.

The only downside is that my wig isn't quite the same colour red; it's more of a dark red than a ginger but it's the best I could do so we'll just have to see.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the outfit so far.  

Skirt

I've not really had the best day today.

Work has been manic recently so I've been a little down despite the 4 day holiday. So anyway, I went back to the shopping centre to get the black skirt but it was gone so I guess it must have been on the sale rail or something. This led to me traipsing round quite a few shops in search of a black skirt and for such a simple and ubiquitous item it proved hard to find.

Going round all those shops just depressed me and I couldn't help but get paranoid that all eyes were on me and wondering why a guy like me would be flipping through the skirts on the rails. I even had the perfect excuse, which was the truth anyway. The old lie: going to a fancy dress party. Women's clothing departments seem oddly arranged too. I guess with men it's simpler because there's less choice. however the placing is odd too, normally the mens department is upstairs or they place it next to the lingerie. I haven't had a problem buying female clothing in the past; on the rare times I have no-one has said anything but being paranoid I can't help but think that people are going to laugh at me behind my back or gossip that they served a man today.

This is the odd thing about it really, it sounds like I don't enjoy crossdressing at all but maybe I just haven't found the way in which it works for me. I've rarely hated my fetishes more than today and was quite relieved when I finally purchased a skirt. When I got home though and tried it on, I have to say I really liked it and felt an illicit thrill about trying it on or even thinking about it.

Finally, I've just read that Petra is leaving Rachel's Haven. A shame but she's found love and that can be a rare thing. I have to wonder whether a relationship would temper my urges or simply give me another channel for them. The Haven is the best outlet I've found so far.

Skirts Vs Shorts

Well, yesterday went pretty much as I had feared but it wasn't that bad in the end and the alcohol does seem to make my mood, whatever it may be, higher than it is.

So anyway, here's another little observation of mine. Now, I love the mini-skirt and in particular a nice pleated one.

However, if I was a girl I wonder if I would be the sort to wear one or just stick with trousers. I mean, it has to be really hot weather to get me to wear shorts so a mini skirt? But then if I was a girl I expect I would have worn plenty, especially as part of a school uniform so it's also a surprise that I like the combination of shorts and tights that seems to be in fashion these days. Needless to say I would also pick one of Mary Quant's creations over hotpants. 

Perhaps it's just the hipster chick in me trying to get out but I think it's a really classy look and the woman who made me fall in love with it was Becki Newton who played Amanda on Ugly Betty. If I had a choice of something to wear on a night out it would probably be this but then a skirt is more overtly feminine; shorts are at least still a bit masculine so again it comes from the fear. I was reading Eve's Rib's blog a while back, Jamie Vesta is so wonderfully talented, and it hit me that maybe men are more suited to skirts and women to trousers and shorts. The latter could be as tight as possible because there is noting to crush or embarrassing bulges to hold back but in a skirt it could all hang loose and free although the aforementioned man reaction would probably look a wee bit worse in a skirt. 

Hmm back to the drawing board maybe.