Working in fashion, and other good stuff

I've got a whole load of news and I normally do one blog post per item but this time I'm just going to put all the points in briefly.


Working in fashion

I'm delighted to say that from December I've been able to contribute to various fashion magazines and blogs. I have always wanted to work in some way in the fashion industry (well, what TGirl wouldn't?) and now it seems to be happening. It's all about the shows in Milan, Paris, London, New York and one or two other places. Frankly, everything's in: pastels, prints, leather, satchels, diamond watches with rubber straps, bracelets for dogs ...


Bracelets for dogs? Erm, yes, I'm sorry to say that they passed me that item. Now your pampered pedigree pooch can have a bracelet for her pretty paws to match the one on yours. They don't come cheap, mind: starting prices of over 200 euros! I've asked to be put back onto frock articles!

Health improving

I am also delighted to say that I decided I would check my face at New Year and see how my eczema was getting along. I have had barely an itch and there's very little sign of it. I have chosen an arbitrary six weeks to be eczema-free continuously before I consider going out again with makeup on, i.e. as female.

To celebrate this small hope I gave myself my first all-over epilation last weekend. It was delightful to be all smooth again after six months and I put on a pair of new stockings which felt wonderful.

This weekend I will paint my toenails again. It gives me real joy to see colour on them.

I hadn't let my body hair grow since 2008 and it was an experiment to remind myself of one of several reasons why full transition is unlikely for me. Here's a photo I took before the grand epilation (warning: full frontal nudity)

I have also lost 3 pounds (1.5kg) since the New Year. Good old Slimming World - healthy eating without the hunger that ruins the resolve on most diets. Let's see how we go.


Work

It was surprisingly quiet over the Christmas and New Year period compared to last year but the work hit me like an express train at 10am on Monday. It's nice to be wanted, but I'm certainly looking forward to a break this weekend. Still, the money pays for necessities of life, like new stockings.


Bigger blog, and help wanted

I've added a page here about me and there will shortly be a page of reviews of London restaurants, followed by cafes, bars and other venues.

I have been trying to update the blogroll to the right here, but I can't seem to get rid of the now defunct Jessica Who? (so sad, she was great fun) and I can't seem to add publicly Hana Gotta's really beautiful and true-to-life "Illustrated Biography of a Crossdresser". Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Any help gratefully received on deleting and adding publicly (it's odd as the other blogs work here when adding or subtracting).


So 2015 has got off to a good start. Hope it continues well, for you too.

Sue x


One final thought:

It is through expression in blogs like this and a free press that anyone may say what they feel is right, and people who are slightly off mainstream society are thus helped to be a more visible part of the world they were born in. As someone who was herself brutalised by religious fanatics, I condemn all actions that oppress and destroy others in the name of God. I stand with my fellow illustrators, writers and publishers in France, and fellow human beings. Soyons unis en solidarité pour la liberté et contre la haine.