Check-Up #30

So what have I been up to recently then? Not much really but life still continues and I'm still doing much the same as I always did.  

I've bought some new cosplay outfits most of which fit but there are a couple I've been trying to return for a couple of months which sadly don't so I'm hoping to either get a refund or a larger size. Always seems to be the Harley Quinn ones too which is a shame. I do have some more Doctor Who stuff too. Coincidentally the only convention I've been to recently I didn't feel like dressing for although I did earlier in the year. I also bought a new Hell Bunny dress and a couple of yellow summery ones as well as a lovely velvety green one with long sleeves and a pleated skirt. Part of the reason for this may or may not be a slight split that happened when I tried it on. I also bought a pink jacket earlier in the year (bonus content - one screwed up tissue and one pencil) which makes three pink jackets of various sizes but this time I've actually worn it. Usually I wear a normal overcoat when I go out dressed because more often than not it's cold and/or wet plus it also gives me the opportunity to hide my outfit. On one occasion though I wore this jacket and it made me stupidly happy to see myself in a complete femme outfit. 

One night a few weeks ago I was asked by a friend at a social evening how I decide what to wear when I come out. Now often these evenings are after work so I come in my usual office wear of shirt and trousers but every so often I do bring clothes to change into with me and when I do this, much like travelling with The Doctor, you have to factor in time and space. I've got changing time down quite well over the years and it's usually the place I have an issue with so most times I end up in a public toilet struggling to put tights on. There is a nice unisex toilet at work though which I can literally walk out of, round a corner and out into the street...which I never use. It's a big building so of course I'm not going to run into anyone from my office - apart from all the close shaves I've had over the years. So now it's normally a train station somewhere. For an easy life I could just decide not to do it but this sort of life is seldom easy and you need to work at it if you want to achieve any sense of feeling euphoria or even that it's worth doing. Sometimes I feel it's the only thing keeping me going. It's constantly on my mind and on some occasions feels like denying it hurts so much. I have noticed I become almost a different person when I do though. My body language changes too and I'm not afraid to leaning into femininity a bit more. 

So my more condensed answer to the question was that it depended on my mood that day and sometimes the event as I usually decide on the outfit and pack a bag the night before so I know what I'm doing. I still feel nervous about it but most times I tell myself that I'll feel worse if I don't do it.   

To Hell Bunny and Back

So I realise I may be coming on a bit like a broken record these past few weeks but again I've been tempted into spending money on another new dress. To be fair though it was a Hell Bunny for under £10.00 and was another charity shop find. Not some kind of demonic rabbit you understand but if you haven't heard of Hell Bunny (and I'm sure I've mentioned them before) they make lovely vintage look clothes and I already have one of their dresses; a lovely purple one covered with birds. Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to the dress itself so I assume it's not on sale anymore but it's dark blue with a lace collar and some white buttons. I do quite like it although I'm not fan of the lace collar so much and it's a little tight but otherwise fine and looks a bit secretarial which is always quite nice.

Elsewhere this week I went to some birthday drinks and chose to wear a grey dress with a black collar and big black dots all over it couple with some purple tights, black cardigan and trainers. As usual I shaved my legs but I also did my arms as well. I don't always do it but sometimes it just feels better and even though I was wearing my cardie all the time, the dress did have fairly short sleeves. I always seem to have trouble choosing my shoes now and normally just plump for my trusty trainers but I've started to think more about what matches with what (it was just as well I had already decided on the dress otherwise that would have been another decision).

Coats are also an interesting choice at this time of year when the weather is quite cold here. I only have one girly coat and it's short, pink and has a fluffy collar and sleeves. I've worn it only once but that may be due to it's length, instead I prefer to hide behind a long black coat as I feel I can cover my clothes up a bit more wheras in a bright pink, short jacket it makes you stand out (more so than being a guy in a dress). Perhaps if I had a longer pink coat it would be different. Brighter colours would probably work as these days I always seem to have a mixture of blue and black.

While at the party I was also given a tip by a friend who said that wearing a hair slide can make you look a bit more feminine so I think I will give that a try and see how it looks. Hair slides have also come back into fashion during the last year especially really big rectangular ones.

Resolutions

I'm not normally one for New Years resolutions these days. For a long time, certainly over the last couple of decades, my resolutions remained much the same. I wanted a new job, wanted to move out of my parents' house and to have a relationship and for one brief point during 2010s I achieved all three. You may be surprised, especially considering this blog, but crossdressing never featured that highly on it as it was something that lived in the back of my head and for a while I thought it was something I would explore with a sexual partner. While I came close, it was ultimately something that never happened.

This year though I was having some thoughts about things I might want to do and writing more is one of them so hopefully I can update this a lot more (can't be worse than last year) but another one is having a full MTF makeover one day. As I've said before, I'm not really one for a lot of make-up, wigs, breast forms, bras, hip pads etc. I mainly just like the clothes. Recently however I've been thinking about it a lot, just getting the full makeover just once to see what it would be like. Some services also offer photoshoots as well and they have some lovely outfits to choose from. So anyway, that's what I hope to do at some point the year. You may see me go full girl.

One thing I was determined to do those was to continue dressing and try not to be too scared of doing it around my home town. On New Year's Day I went to have breakfast in a nearly restaurant dressed in a t-shirt, tights, skirt and cardigan. Pleased to say everything went alright and I've even started going up to do my weekly shopping wearing a skirt and leggings. Oh I haven't even mentioned the gorgeous pink coat I bought last year (which I'm still a little nervous of wearing for some reason.I guess it's a bit more striking than my usual long black coat to try and hide in).

Anyway, just to end up I just thought I would put a picture up of a lovely 2 in 1 black dogtooth dress I saw in New Look today. Not in my size at the moment unfortunately but you never know.

Photo Credit: Newlook.com

Cor Blimey Mary Poppins!

I saw the below picture in the Metro newspaper today and was very taken with it.

The picture shows actress Emily Blunt in a photoshoot for the January 2019 edition of Harper's Bazaar UK in celebration of her new role as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns. I just adore her outfit in this picture and it feels like the perfect blend of the masculine and feminine. A very male shirt, jacket and tie (love a woman in a tie) coupled with a long, flowing skirt and boots. The colours all blend so well together especially the red of the umbrella providing a drop of colour.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/

Photograph by Richard Phibbs for Harper's Bazaar

Fashionista #6

Ok, so...

Here are some cool winter coat styles and stuff I've been noticing.

Leather Clad Coat

Photo: shelikes.com 

First of all, leather (or pleather) sleeves on a coat, normally a green parka. This has been a growing trend over the past couple of years and looks quite nice, something a bit different. Normally I see coats a lot longer than the one in the picture. Love those shiny high leggings too! High waisted shorts and leggings are quite big at the moment or at least were in summer. 

A Case of the Pink Furries

Photo: Oasap.com 

Faux fur coats are coming back. I'm seeing a lot of pink ones out there too. They always look soooo warm and snuggly too like wearing a whole fur blanket. 

Animal Magic

Photo: ASOS.com

Fur gilets are also quite popular in various styles and colours most looking a bit odd and mottled like various cats have been skinned. I think Game of Thrones is probably to blame for this look. It's very caveperson, like you've just killed an animal and are wearing its fur. I guess many styles do come round again even if they are thousands of years old. 

Gorgeous Gilet

Photo: Houghtoncounty.co.uk

Quilted bodywarmers and gilets are also a handy way to keep warm in the winter, many wearing them under clothes or going for a full quilted jacket. I remember bodywarmers from the 1980s, I used to wear one too I think. 

That's A Wrap!

Photo: Elleryland.com

Clara Oswald wore a wrap skirt in The Time of the Doctor and now I've been seeing them quite frequently. It's an interesting style although it looks uncomfortable and like it might come undone at any moment. They have been getting shorter though and start looking more weird as they do, like a couple of shirt tails.

Anyway, that's all for now

Ciao!

Scarlet Witch

I've never been a big comics guy especially not the big two: Marvel and DC.

Well, perhaps more Marvel since I used to read Transformers comics when I was younger. Most of the stuff I read was TV tie-ins or The Beano. In recent years though I have become a big follower of the Marvel cinematic universe. Such a great series of movies, fun and action packed. The Avengers was one of the best and most enjoyable movies of recent times and this year Guardians of the Galaxy proved to have the same mix of action and humour. It's been my favourite film of the last year.

While DC may be floundering a bit when it comes to getting their films up and going, they are killing it when it comes to television. I've been enjoying Gotham, Arrow and Constantine recently and hope to catch The Flash at some point.

Anyway, all this waffle just provides a bit of a back drop. I'm really looking forward to Avengers 2: Age of Ultron next year and I've seen a few on-set photographs. A friend of mine was even able to take some footage of them filming over here.

I've been loving the shots of Elizabeth Olsen in her costume as the Scarlet Witch. She has a great grungy, gothy look especially the red jacket. I remember wanting a red jacket back in the late 1990s. Bulls blood leather jackets were in fashion for a while and I think it was down to Victoria Beckham. I think I wanted a longer one though in either red or green.

This is definitely another cosplay idea I would consider.

Elizabeth Olsen on set as the Scarlet Witch

Photograph: MTV.com