Enhancing femininity

 Wishing my lovely friend Roz a good outcome for her breast augmentation today. 

Roz has significantly more confidence in surgery than I have. I visited her after her gender confirmation surgery (or GRS) back in May. She then had facial feminisation surgery (FFS) in the summer. She is pleased with the outcomes of both so I'm hoping this final item will go perfectly, too. After all, if you've had your chassis rebuilt and your bonnet smartened up, it seems only right to treat yourself to some nice new bumpers as well! 

All this in one year, though, is quite heavy going but these days you have to accept your surgery when it's offered or go back to the end of the queue and likely wait years.

I mention this in case others are contemplating it. The breast surgery is, surprisingly, the most awkward to recover from: no driving for at least six weeks and no lifting or stretching above the head. So Roz tells me that she has been practising acting as though she was a tyrannosaurus rex, trying to do housework and other tasks with just little arms stuck out in front!

Anyway, I think I'll send her some cherry buns to celebrate! Appropriate?

 

Walk in heels

Thank you for all the positive feedback on my new footwear. I'm happy with the choices I made. 

Obviously, I have an unusually small foot for a TGirl and I know how hard it can be to get nice shoes in larger sizes. Market forces rather than biology dictate what we can wear these days; once upon a time everything was hand-made and so fitted each individual. And who's going to make their own clothes these days? It's actually tempting to contemplate getting a sewing machine, knitting needles and so on but, realistically, it's a lot of work, and I've only ever done a bit of cross-stitch before, which is not as easy as it looks at first, and some crochet work. Women I have known who have looms, spinning wheels, sewing machinery and so on love what they do as it's creative. It's true that there is nothing like working with your hands; industrialisation seems to have removed satisfaction from a lot of work like this. One of my grandmothers did beautiful needlework, notably embroidering sheets, covers and cushions, and any holes that were irreparable often had her adding patterns and images round them, giving them a new lease of life as decorations. I keep insisting that being a trans women is not just about the clothes but the interests we have and activities we do, too.

Back to shoes. One topic that arose from my post was heel height. I learnt to walk in 3¼-inch (8.25 cm) tapered heels because that was the preferred style and height of heel in the late 1990s. That was when I stopped purging, accepted I was trans and bought a whole new female wardrobe, including lots of shoes and boots which all had that heel style because it was 'in' at the time. So that's what I feel most comfortable in even now. Maybe if the heels had been 5 inches or 1½, that would have been my preferred height to this day, who can say? 

Obviously, walking in heels for years on a carpet at home was one thing but actually walking out in the street was quite another and it took a while to get used to hard pavements and puddles. But that's how it went for me. 

So when I saw these new shoes, and they had the same heels as thirty years ago, I knew they were right. It's a bit like riding a bike: you never really forget. As with all things, walking in heels involves practising until you're perfect.

 

Sophie Kinsella

I am a voracious reader and I usually have some chick lit in the pile of books I have on the go. A personal tribute, therefore, to Sophie Kinsella who has passed away just shy of her 56th birthday after a struggle against cancer. Her books - "romantic comedy" as she preferred to call her brand of chick lit - are always quirky, funny, even zany, and certainly enjoyable, and she was undoubtedly one of the better - and perhaps best known - writers in this genre. I always enjoyed her anyway. 

I've some of her Shopaholic books here and I'll have a reread in her memory. Many thanks for the entertainment, Sophie. Rest in peace and free from pain.

 

Coming up on Sue's News & Views

It's a busy time of year but I am drafting my second Makoevers and Photoshoots post, which will be up shortly, and another one about the rather beautiful winter illuminations here on the riviera. I went to the switching-on ceremony in Sanremo, which was impressive. I've also been to Nice with its pretty illuminated Christmas sculpture park, Christmas market and illuminated main street, and I'm planning to go to Monaco and Monte Carlo shortly as it seems to have some beautiful decorations. There are funfairs and ice rinks and a lot of events going on here so it's going to be a nice month. 

 

Sue x 

Fab footwear

 Yesterday I picked up the items I'd ordered from Pittarosso. It's been some years since I went on a shoe spree and I was a bit nervous as I prefer to try on in a shop rather than just hoping that what they depict online is what things are like in reality.

I'm pleased to say, I'm happy with my purchases.

I know I keep going on about my legwear and footwear way more than frocks and hair but this is because I am a petite girl. To explain: I am just 163 cm high (that's five foot four inches) in my stockinged feet and that's average height for a woman but quite a bit less than the typical height of a trans woman. Added to that, my shoe size is just 38 (that's 5½ in the UK and, I believe, 7½ in the US). I have rarely been able to buy men's shoes in a size that really fitted me from my late teens onwards. Either I have gone to the children's department at the shoe shop (embarrassing!) or I have had to buy women's shoes, even when I have had to present as male. Nowadays a lot of shoes can be unisex so trying to get a less obviously feminine pair for male presentation is less of a problem. 

The result is that my legs need to look longer and slimmer so that I appear taller. Hence the importance to me of high heels, good hosiery, leggings, skinny jeans and skirts that are shorter than maybe suits a women of my age (although that notion is changing). I tend to dress from the ground up, therefore.

I know that for many TGirls finding women's clothes and shoes to fit is a problem. Most things are too small. You can see that being petite has advantages when buying women's clothes but it brings it's own considerations, too. 

So I wanted some nice new ankle boots to replace a pair that I bought in an emergency when the only style I could find was chunky heeled. I've always hated them, although they get points for being soft and comfortable. This is that ugly pair. 

 

As narrated last week I finally found a pair that would suit well, plus another pair that really caught my eye, and quite unnecessarily - but why not? - a pair of three-tone patent leather shoes with a stunning heel.

The main replacement boots have a nice solid rounded 7.5 cm (3 inch) heel. They're quite rigid and they'll take some breaking in so I shall wear them round the house for a bit. But they seem stylish, versatile and sensible, which is what I want.

 

They'd go well with legging, jeans, etc. more than a skirt.

The delicious ruched patent black ankle boots with slim 9 cm (3½ inch heel) were irresisitible and they fit beautifully. I love these. The manufacturers, bless them, have included some spare heel tips in the box.

This is something to wear in the evening with some smart or skinny jeans, say, or funky tights.

And then the shoes. I couldn't resist the black and cappuccino body with pink straps all in patent leather and the same slim, tapering 9 cm heel.  

 

I've no idea when I'll wear these but Christmas Day could be an opportunity. Sometimes you just have to get things because they look fabulous not because they serve a definite purpose!

I made a bit of an effort with my makeup today so here's me relaxing with my new purchases. This is exactly the same pose as the photo at the top where the chunky heels make my legs look chunky, too. The  new boots with slim heels make my legs look slimmer.

 

What do you think? Honest reviews appreciated. 

I'd have liked to have worn different outfits with each item but time is a bit limited today. 

Have a good weekend. It's going to be fun here as the Christmas lights get switched on and the local council has spent a lot of money on decorating the place, so I think it should look good.

Sue x 

Boot quest and sights in the sky

There's all this talk of big discounts this week so I have been looking for bargains.

The shops themselves are a bit crazy and, frankly, as I mentioned before about sales, there seems to be little of interest. No matter, there's always online shopping, right? So, armed with my credit card, I set about looking at nail varnish, and also ankle boots that I definitely need. 

There are what look like nice sets of nail varnishes, some in Christmas boxes. But beware with the gift sets: most pots of nail varnish are around 10 ml. These gift pots are 3.75 ml, 2.5 ml, even 1 ml! The average teaspoon is 5 ml so unless you're a child or plan to use your gift varnish just once, forget it! I soon decided that the only proper way to buy makeup is to get your paws on it in a shop. 

The ankle boots, however, produced more interesting results. This week I have been relying on a cheap pair I bought as an emergency last year in Primark in Manchester, UK, after my much loved German-made pair from Tomcat Leather in London became too scuffed and lost a heel block. These cheap ones are comfortable and a nice enough shape but I hate the tapered chunky heel. 

 

So I'm looking for something similar to my old favourite pair, which were these:

                

Ideally, I want quality, and that means spending money. So I spent some hours going through the sites of good shoe makers such as Geox, retailers in Italy such as Rinascente, and even foreign brands such as Clark's, and there were pairs that were high quality and not bad but, again, the style is all-important, especially if a pair costs €120 or more even after Black Friday and new customer discounts. Heel shape and heel height are paramount to me. The inverted kitten heel? - no. Flat heel? - what? no! seriously?! 6-inch stiletto? - sadly, not even when I was clubbing! I want a tapered or at least rounded 3-inch heel. Always.

In the end there was nothing that quite met my criteria. As I was giving up, I bimbled through a cheap retailer's site, Pittarosso, who have lots of stuff that possibly falls apart and pinches but they had perfect styles, perfect heels and also a pair of shoes that remind me of a favourite pair ... and since they do click and collect, which means no awkward moments if the neighbours notice fem shoes arriving, I got three items for the price I would have paid for one. OK, they won't last as long but that, I'm afraid, is shoe retailing in the 21st century. I'll let you know what I think when I've been to my nearest outlet to collect them, which should be within a week.

 

From looking down to looking up

The nights have been very clear this week and I have seen some amazing things in the sky. I even have a stargazing outfit, you know! I saw a fata morgana or mirage, and there's another planet to tick off my list. 

When I went to see the British cemetery at Bordighera I went home by train and the station is right by the beach so you can see the sunset over the sea. But what happened that evening is that far-distant  headlands and islands off the coast that are just on or even just below the horizon appeared stretched upwards and looked like jagged mountains rising from the waves. If you don't know this coast I guess you'll have to take my word for it and my photo, annoyingly, has station furniture in it but here it is. 

 

The evening colours are nice. Here's the Wiki explanation for a fata morgana like this. It's not the only time I've seen such here. In late May at sunset the conditions are such that you can often see the mountaintops of Corsica nearly 250 km away, and these are actually well below the horizon. 

I have also been gazing at Uranus (stop giggling at the back!) and I can say that this is the first time I have ever consciously seen the tiny bluish blob that is actually a massive planet, although people with decent eyesight in dark locations can see it with their naked eyes. 

Try as I might, I can't see it with my own eyes, but frankly I have trouble seeing anything! So these nights I have been lying out late at night on a sunbed with my binoculars in my warm stargazer outfit of ski pants, two fleeces and puffer jacket, those chunky ankle boots and my wig on to keep warm. Wigs are murder in hot weather but on winter nights they come into their own!

If you're interested, Uranus is currently a few degrees south of the famous Seven Sisters or Pleiades cluster in Taurus. In Western Europe it is just south of the zenith (overhead) at around midnight.

 

Image from Stellarium software

The other aerial phenomenon this week is mosquitoes! We've had next to none this summer and now that winter is almost on us I've been pestered every evening. I hate being woken by the whine in my ear and the pain of a new bite. One little beast ate half my face the other night and thrashing around at four in the morning dealing with an attack is no joke. I keep the wall at the head of my bed unadorned and painted a bare white. This is the killing zone, a bare landscape that no mozzie can hide on. Now do you see why I need better, more robust makeup for my face? It's to hide their little toothmarks!

Eh? What's that? Mosquitoes don't have teeth? Believe me, these ones do!

This species also have sausage-shaped bodies with rusty brown stripes, a bit like overweight prisoners in jail suits. The little whining deliquents!

 

Makeovers and photoshoots part 2

A year ago I posted about my makeovers and photoshoots at the Boudoir dressing service and was going to post about subsequent makeovers and photos this week but I'll do it next month. This is because I feel tribute needs to be paid to Charlotte Sparkle's bridal makeover and photoshoot on her blog, Still in the Pink Fog, and it's never appropriate to upstage a bride! 

Seriously, Lotte planned her makeover and photoshoot thoroughly and the results were stunning. Girls, this is how it should be done. Lotte's wonderful story and gorgeous photos are here: Bridal Makeover and Photoshoot. Many congratulations to her for a well prepared and well executed session.

 

Blogroll update

I've added Michelle's interesting site Between Genders to the blogrooll on the right. More than just a blog, she has a lot of useful thoughts, experiences and knowledge to share there. Thanks for your thoughtful comments here too, Michelle. 

I'll see if I can get the awkward software on Blogger to place this site in position whenever it's updated. It's always a pest to do.

Sadly, I've now taken down the links the Mandy's blogs, From "Me" to "Mandy" on Blogger and Mandy's Miscellany on Wordpress as she was having too much difficulty with both platforms that she hasn't been able to post for a couple of years. Mandy has moved from Maryland to Tennessee to be closer to "the grands" and seems to be well. You can still find her and her amazing painted nails on Flickr.

 

A dip in the archives

I haven't dipped in the archives for ages. I mentioned going to Tomcat Leather in London and buying boots on the day I also bought shoes from Geox. That was in 2014 and there was a lot of meeting up with other girls and restaurants to visit: Two Days of What I Do Best.

 

Comfortable Geox low wedge shoes in cream by the Somerset House fountains, London

Sue x

Broken heels

 No politics, just practical feminine dressing today.

The bottoms of my heels keep disintegrating on my floor.

It's a very hard floor indeed, made of ceramic stoneware (grès) but not much harder than a pavement, and I have pounded pavements and all that's ever happened to my heels is that they have worn down and needed re-heeling by the cobbler. One favourite pair of boots I had re-heeled four times I used them that much.

Here my heels have literally crumbled away suddenly, disintegrating in a matter of minutes into small lumps of plastic/rubber. This has happened three times now, the latest time being a pair of black pumps. Prior to that it was a pair of pink open-toed shoes and before that a hard-wearing, quite pricey and much-loved pair of ankle boots. The latter two had their original hard plastic heel tips but this latest crumble is on what I think is a rubber replacement heel and you can see its partner is just about to go, too.

 

I'm holding the pink ones on the floor and you can see that it's porcelain moulded to resemble maple boards.

I wondered if storage over the years might be the issue but it's not as though any of them have been subject to extremes of cold, heat, humidity or anything unusual and they were all bought at different times. The pumps were cheap, the others less so. I can understand that plastic, not leather or rubber, might have a certain shelf life.

So I'm puzzled as to why this issue has arisen only in my latest home. My previous homes had carpets not rock-hard floors so that's why I assume it's the floor. Though it does seem excessive.

Any ideas? Anyone else experienced the same?

 

Another delivery

News just in, about an hour after I posted. My lovely and beloved friend Roz had her GRS today and has just texted me to say she's awake and fed and waiting her all-important coffee. I'm teary now but they're happy tears for her. 

Happy re-birthday, dear Roz. 

Sue x

Underwear on the line, or the girl who kept goldfish in her shoes

 So it's been much more like spring this week ... apart from short, sharp showers that the weather men have not predicted. One evening I had to rush out to gather in my washing in as a heavy shower hit and, although I succeeded in keeping the washing reasonably dry, my shoes got quite wet. Ballet flats have low gunwales! They weren't properly dry by next morning so I left them outside in the sun. A dry day was promised and so I went out shopping for a couple of hours ... and another shower hit. When I got home my shoes were full of water! I could've kept small fish in them! These weather men have a lot to answer for!

They're dry now and don't seem any the worse for the experience. The goldfish order has been cancelled.

I'm also able to dry my - ahem - more feminine garments outdoors now because of the improved weather and the fact that the partition between me and mini-Trump next door has been fully mended and filled at last. Before that, my outdoor washing was pretty much visible to anyone next door and you don't want anything too obviously feminine being seen if they think you're a guy. Avoid awkward questions is my policy.

I'm afraid my slimming drive has been a bit of a failure recently. Ongoing poor weather over the month has resulted in a need for large quantities of chocolate to keep up the spirits. It's the only remedy!

 

So I'm looking forward to the clocks going forward on Sunday as that officially endorses the lighter, longer days that are necessary for good health.

Also, I decided to eat lunch out one day at my favourite restaurant and they were hosting a party that evening with live music and had produced canapés for it and they used me as their official taste testing guinea pig. That was before I ordered lunch! So kind of a fail there. But given that the lunch was super delicious and they gave me a discount, I'll accept the expanded waist without too much complaint. By the way, fresh salmon marinaded with tangerine sounds weird but is amazing.

They often do live music there, in fact, and have photos of lots of music stars who've graced the Sanremo Festival and local music clubs over the decades. I daren't reveal my ignorance of who they all are. For instance, I just call this photo of theirs, "the guy who trod on a Lego". 

As mentioned last time, I've been going through this blog to save it in case of any need to migrate. At the same time, I've been continuing to go through it methodically adding labels to posts and mending broken links where possible. There are over 700 posts so this takes time!

 

Looking ahead

This weekend I shall be observing the partial solar eclipse (safely - never look directly at the sun), planting chillis, lavender and more herbs, and maybe I'll do my face and hair properly. 

I've just booked a trip to San Marino for the week after next, another location on my planned tour of microstates. 

 

A dip in the archives 

Going through my blog reminds me that I haven't posted a dip into the archives for a while. Here's a post from November 2012 describing meet-ups with other girls in the bars and Indian restaurants of Brick Lane, London, with recent updates on venues and websites. 

Link: The Brick Lane Set

It's partly a tribute to my fun friend Ann Drogyny (in red) who passed away last year. Gone but not forgotten.

Have a good weekend.

Sue x

Learning to walk in heels again

 It's been five years since I walked out in high heels. Yes, that long. Having my leg mashed by a cyclist was the main cause and Covid lockdowns protracted that time out.

I've brought some heels home with me from storage. You might rightly ask why on earth I didn't buy any recently, especially as I now live in Italy, the home of classy clothes; but the reason is just that: the classy clothes. Italian shoes are super chic but they are meant to look good in, not for actually walking about in. If you must move around, buy a Ferrari! is the attitude. Seriously, those Italian shoes, chic and expensive, are not for pounding the streets doing shopping in all weathers. The leather is beautiful but delicate, the fit too tight. British or German made shoes work better for that, uglier, cheaper and chunkier though they may be.

Of course, I've had heels to wear all this time (I'm a trans girl for goodness' sake!) but I am very unused to wearing them now, so I am getting accustomed to that again by donning my 4-inch heels each day. Ouchie! I'm definitely out of practice.

Bravaganza!

I was quite upset by my most costly brassière exploding in my hands the other week so I brought a lot of other bras with me from England, forgetting how many I already had in my drawer. I even bought some more of my everyday favourites (M&S full-cup underwired T-shirt bras with a satin look in various colours). Having survived lockdown with just three bras, now my drawer is bursting with them. They say you needn't put a bra in the wash every day, though I prefer to (yes, I like to make a clean breast of things!) so now I can wear something different every day for weeks! 

Having grown my own boobies (no hormones taken), I'd still like them a bit bigger. On the other hand, there's always the Fertility Goddess Look to aspire to that should see me using my entire bra collection all at once ...

Artemis of Ephesus

 

Storms II

It's storm season but there's been an unusual amount of destruction this year. We've just had our third storm in a fortnight, with torrential rain yesterday and a severe gale today. I've never seen waves so high here. 

A few days ago there was flooding in Milan, which remains my official place of residence, when the Seveso River burst. I remember the river as a kid when it was just that, and then they put it in a pipe and built roads over it but didn't do a proper job and every storm sees the pipe overflow, only this time it flooded several city districts. 

I had hoped to go and see the Jean Cocteau Museum in Menton this weekend that I mentioned a couple of months ago but it is shut because of damage from last week's storm. 

Fingers crossed that that's it for 2023's rough weather season. Stay safe and dry.

Sue x

Procrastination in heels

 I'm writing my blog twice a week now, Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons. I'll confess that the Monday morning slot is to ease me into the week gently. Yes, there are more important things to do but that's the point. Since stopping working for other people I've wanted to emphasise not having that Monday morning feeling most of us get when at school or employed and we have to bolt down breakfast and rush, bleary-eyed, into the cold, damp murk to go somewhere we'd prefer not to be. Maybe this pandemic has opened the eyes of many to the benefits of home working, not every day, perhaps, but at least some of the week. You get more done, have your comforts round you rather than the questionable décor the boss chose and can raid the fridge whenever you want. Hey, you can always exercise those pounds off later, right?

So this week's procrastination regards my tax return, and preparing a trip which aims to get a health card, maybe a voting card, and a full ID card. My accountants keep messing up my tax return. They're supposed to be the experts; I'm perfectly capable of messing it up myself without paying some clown to do it for me. And the abusive staff at the council are something I am steeling myself for. At some point I have to get a passport and go to the courthouse to have a proper birth certificate made. Some advice - don't get born in a revolution so your mother has to flee with incomplete paperwork on you.

I've never been sure if tackling a grim 'To Do' list is best done in one masochistic sweep of health-straining misery or poisoning each day with an hour or two of Nasty Time. Ideas welcome.

Last week I took a whole day out for my girl birthday; this week my procrastination exercise, I have decided, involves getting back into high heels. My right leg was badly damaged when I was hit by a bicycle three years ago and it wasn't really till this year that I could walk properly again. Anything other than flats has been out of the question for any length of time. My highest heels are on a pair of boots so I shall be clumping around in those this week just to get used to the idea again. 

 

A dip in the archives

On the subject of high-heeled boots, here's a link to my winter boots lookbook as the weather gets colder: Winter Boots Lookbook

Sue x

Cobblers! ...no need to be down at heel!

 Today I have shoes on my mind. One heel of my ankle boots disintegrated. Literally crumbled to dust. They're good-quality and I've been pounding the streets in them in all weathers for some years without trouble. So why this should happen when sitting around at home puzzles me.

 

I dare say the cobbler can fix them. Cobblers have repaired my girly shoes so many times, including a favourite pair of boots that I wore so much they were reheeled four times altogether. It's a joy to be out in your own beautiful shoes.

Originally, when still only presenting as male, I used to wait till a pair of my men's shoes also needed work and then take all "his and hers" items to the cobbler and pretend the feminine ones were for some partner. But as I grew more confident in my femininity, I just took whatever shoes wanted mending as and when they needed it. The cobbler is there to make money, why should he care who wears the shoes?

 

Positive thoughts

I confess that bad world news and a sprained ankle have been upsetting me. So I am trying to concentrate on those good things I have right now: where I am living has only the lightest Covid restrictions; the weather has been so mild and sunny this past weekend that I have been able to eat outdoors; I have time to read good books; I have lost over 1kg (2 1/2 pounds) weight this week; my aged parents have just been vaccinated against Covid... 

I hope all will be well where you are and that enough things in your life are so good as to make a positive difference in these awkward times.

Oranges ripening outside the front door

  

It's LGBT History Month

It is. Be historic!

A dip in the archives

Talk of shoes and positive things brought me to this photo from 2013, trying on shoes in a lovely shoe shop (Kurt Geiger in London).

Cari amici italiani

Meno male che la maggior parte dell'Italia è entrata in zona gialla questa settimana. Stiamo all'erta però perché senza precauzioni si torna nei guai. 

Oggi parlo di scarpe e come possono promuovere gioia, anche se  devono essere riparate di tanto in tanto!

Sue x

Winter boots lookbook

 I ought to do more in the way of fashion blogging - it's always been more popular here than my posts on the state of society!

Winter is coming and, although I chose to move to somewhere mild, we had snow on the nearby mountaintops the other day. So I will talk about my favourite winter accessory, which is knee-length boots.

 

Not only stylish, they also keep me warm and dry, which I confess has always been essential to me.

When I visited a dressing service before stepping out into the real world, my dresser advised me that a short girl like me would do better to stick to shoes and a shorter skirt. Emphasising more leg would make me seem taller, which is a fair point. And this is one of her suggested looks, which is pretty great if I say so myself.

 

The one problem is a practical one: this is fine for mild, dry weather but come winter I cannot get away with short skirts and sheer tights. I feel the cold intensely and miserably and - even at the risk of Snow White here being mistaken for one of her dwarf friends - I will not hesitate to lengthen the skirt, thicken the tights and pull my warm boots on. Besides, I've always preferred boots to shoes as a style statement ... so that's a clincher.

Over the years I've owned many pairs, some cheap and some pricey. Cheap ones are made to last a season or two but some have gone on for years. Generally, I find black matt leather the most versatile, but suede or patent leather have their place, and grey and tan can be very stylish if matched with the right outfit. I've never owned bright colours as they tend to work only when clubbing, whereas I am very much a women about town and prefer to blend in. But if Michelle Obama's Balenciaga sequinned overknees astound you, or Daphne's lilac go-go boots in Scooby Doo are your thing, or you're aching to be a Space Vixen in glitter boots, then by all means go for it. They might save your life, after all. *

I prefer boots to reach just below the knee. I have had several over-the-knee boots which, on the whole, are for the party scene although they come and go out of fashion and can work well with skinny blue jeans if you're out and about.

Here's my latest pair. Mid-price real leather in black, with a half zip and three-and-a-half inch tapered heel, which is my favourite heel style). My only small complaint is that the pointed toe pinches just a little, especially with tights.

Teamed with ribbed cashmere tights for winter

 

Tapered heel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These replace a much-loved, cheap but very long-lived pair in fake leather with a full zip that I had to have reheeled many times since I wore them so often. Here those are with a short skirt, diamond winter tights and winter coat, and then with black leggings and light coat. As you can see, they work well with both formal and informal styles.

In black leather I have also had some three-quarter length pairs that somehow don't work so well. This pair have insufficient lining on the heel so it gets painful after you've walked for a few hours. That's the cheapness showing, but a very pricy pair I have are painful as they pinch. It's a difficult balance sometimes between comfort, style and price.

My favourite suede boots were this style below. They were cheap so I got them in grey, that lasted well, and black, that didn't! Why one and not the other, I cannot say.

They worked well with the same blue dress as in the last photo and especially well with a heather-toned tarten miniskirt I had, here with ribbed tights.

I have some faux-crocodile boots in black but, sadly, have no photos of what are actually a very stylish pair, and they are currently in storage. I have, however, been sufficiently photographed in my stretch patent leather boots that are really comfortable and were very fashionable in the mid to late Noughties as office wear. They are not a little sexy, too, and I've often worn them on party nights.

With neon tights and leather mini in the New Foresters, Nottingham

Girls' Big Night Out at Pink Punters nightclub, with red tartan mini and sheer black gloss tights

 

Ah, well... nice legs, shame about the face (I heard that somewhere). 

The ankle boots I so frequently wear are a subject for another post as they are a very different style and serve in all seasons.

I suspect a lot of TGirls secretly prefer winter to summer as the choice and style of clothes is wider-ranging. Do let me know about your favourite things, and any constructive criticism of my style is welcome.

I hope winter is not too cold for you and you avoid colds, flus and, above all, the dreaded coronavirus. 

* Readers who are unsure of the cultural references above may like to follow the links below:

Balenciaga sequin overknee boots 

Daphne and the Scooby gang 

Glitter boots saved my life 

 

A dip in the archives

Here's a link to a post about a little holiday I took en femme late in the autumn nine years ago. I stayed with a much-loved friend on the Isle of Wight and there was no male time at all. There's a photo of me in my favourite black boots again, with jeans this time, a winning combination. And the leather mini in the Nottingham party photo above was borrowed from my kind hostess.

A little holiday

Sue x

The Princess and the Shopper, or How to Get Noticed

It’s been a very busy month indeed and I’ve been working flat out, as well as dealing with roofers, dentists and other people with noisy equipment. But there came a point where I decided I’d had enough and needed a break. Fortunately, my friend Pippa was in town and wanted to brave public transport for the first time and going shopping. It’s almost exactly three years since I first left my own front door dressed as a woman and I know how nerve-wracking and difficult it is to build up confidence to present to the world as you feel is right for you. Many girls such as Andrea Huntingdon and Emma Walkey helped me in my early days and it’s now my pleasure to accompany girls on their first attempts at new feats.

So I went over to Pippa’s hotel in Paddington. “Dress down,” I said, “we’re only going shopping not partying.” I had on almost exactly the outfit you see in my wallpaper image on this blog, that summer skirt and white T-shirt. Pippa, dressed in a beautiful soft coral dress, five inch nude heels, long blonde wig with a flower and lots of sparkles and perfume sprayed all over, obediently eschewed her favourite spotty stockings for delicate lacy tights and wore less sparkly eye makeup than usual. Let’s face it, Pippa is never going to be Dowdy Shopper Woman but will always be a princess. Thus qualified for public duty, we headed to Paddington tube station for Pippa’s first ride on the Underground. It was mid-afternoon and quite quiet so the journey to Leicester Square was uneventful and not too hot for a June day below ground. I did warn her of the wind up the tunnels that has a habit of blowing your skirt up if you’re not careful but we had no mishaps, apart from the bloke trying hard to pretend he wasn’t eyeing Pippa’s legs on the Piccadilly Line.

We strolled through Chinatown a bit and a nice family of tourists took this snap of us. 

By this time we were starving, not helped by all the cooking smells in the area, so we had a very late lunch at Melanie’s which was pleasant as ever, especially at a table by the open window. It was slightly spoilt by two silly men at another table shouting “bye, gents” as we left. I guess it helps to show my companion that it’s pretty much the worst sort of abuse one can occasionally get in these parts and generally people are polite and friendly. We popped into the Cambridge round the corner to say hi to Joanne behind the bar and then went shopping in earnest.

It's just water, honest

I thought Pippa would like to see the Kurt Geiger shoe store in Covent Garden, always a hit with TGirls and, well, anyone who likes shoes, which is at least half the population. I was instantly attracted to a pair of kitten heels in candy pink and I just had to wear them for the rest of the day.

We went hunting for coffee. Belushi’s is supposed to be a café bar, but we found that their coffee machine was bust so, tragically, we just had to settle for a jug of cocktail instead! They had a live blues singer but he was actually a bit distracting so we took a turn round Covent Garden market, blaming the cobbles for our being a bit wobbly, and had our coffee at Pain Quotidien in the square. Pippa was full of confidence by now and we happily made friends with a policewoman and her horse ...

... and generally found other ways to get noticed, like going up and down the tube just for kicks, you might say.

Hey, enough of this drivel, you just want pics. The words are just to show how you may pass as you please in this world if you really want to.

Thanks to Pippa for being such a fabulously bubbly companion. No thanks for making me look like a frump! And for honouring me with being her mentor on the tube and the mean streets. Honey, you graduated with honours. You don’t need my help any more because you’ve seen for yourself how straightforward it is. And you went and did it all again on your own the next day!

Ladies, please curtsey to Princess Pippa.

Sue x

Cobblers

Well, my liking for heels is costing me dear. I've just collected two pairs of boots from the cobblers which were reheeled at £6.50 a pair. It's the third set of heel tips they've each had, and they're not that old. In fact, I had also considered taking him a cheap pair of shoes but decided it was better to buy a new pair than keep on with the old ones at that price.

It seems a lot for a cubic centimetre of rubber but, of course, shoe care is much more than that and my cobbler also repaired and smartened up all the scuffs and scrapes on the heels as well, bless him (I keep slipping down drain covers, etc).

But at this rate of attrition I'm going to have to go with flats. Even at the risk of losing my TGirl credentials. Tough choices!

Sue x