Dina’s Diner 7/22/24

SHE STARTED OUT BY FLIPPING WIGS

Working on the hairline.

The New York Times had an article about wigmaker Shani Lechan under the headline She Makes Wigs Good Enough For Naomi. It appeared on the Times’ website July 9, 2024.

Ms. Lechan is an Orthodox Jew and as a young woman knew that one day she would be required to wear a wig according to religious observance for married women. After visiting a wig store before marriage, she was unimpressed with the choices. “I thought, if this is going to happen to me, I don’t want to look like that,” Ms. Lechan said. “I wanted to learn how to make wigs.”

While in University in Israel, she began making wigs on the side. Shani recounted her start with a friend of hers. “I’m going to make you a wig, your wig is not good. Then my mom wanted a wig, and then her friend wanted a wig, and this whole thing started. As soon as I was in it, I had the vision and the ambition to really make it a business.”

The wigs are all custom-made with human hair for each client. This is an interesting note on making the wigs as realistic as possible: “When crafting her wigs, Ms. Lechan imitates the placement of natural baby hairs – the wispy hairs normally found at the hairline. During wig pickup, she places the wig on the client’s head and begins to place or pluck hairs at the front of the wig with tweezers or a needle. She then cuts the lace around the forehead of the wig to match the client’s natural hairline. Part of the magic of the unit is in its customization, something hard to find in a store-bought, one-size-fits-all wig.”

Her clients include non-Orthodox women who value a custom, undetectable wig. The Naomi referred to in the headline is model Naomi Campbell who once ordered a wig with 30 inches of straight black hair. A Hollywood stylist who works with celebrity ladies is a frequent client. He told the Times, “I never have to worry about it looking wiggy. The running theme is that everyone who I put them on is like, ‘Wow, it sort of doesn’t look like a wig.’” The wigs are not cheap and can run as high as $18,000 according to the article.

I don’t know if any crossdresser is prepared to shell out for a custom-made wig. But the sentiment expressed by Ms. Lechan and her clients who appreciate a realistic, natural-looking wig would certainly be a comforting feeling for us, too.

SUFFRAGETTE CITY

It’s election season here in the U.S. and Britain just had a big election as well. Besides selecting a new British Prime Minister, voters in one of the Parliamentary districts voted out a former Prime Minister: Liz Truss.

Liz Truss

Liz Truss has the dubious distinction of being the UK’s shortest tenured Prime Minister at a mere 49 days. It seems her brief term was filled with controversies and turmoil and she resigned her leadership post in October 2022. This election, her successor as PM was voted out and she lost her seat in the Commons. It was another embarrassing twist in her career.

As Prime Ministers of England go, though, she is kind of cute. Befitting her electoral unpopularity, she gives off Tracy Flick (of the movie Election) vibes. Photos of Liz often show her in skirts with fashionable pumps. She has good legs.

It made me think about other women in politics both here in the colonies and elsewhere. Women only got the right to vote in the US and other European countries during the post-WWI years. Although there have been some early women politicos, it’s really only been in the past twenty-thirty years that they have become commonplace.

In terms of female role models – whether for other women or we crossdressers – it usually depends on your political leaning. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Lauren Boebert are two examples of attractive young politicians who happen to be on polar extremes from each other. When Sarah Palin burst onto the scene in the early 2000s she enjoyed some universal popularity as a Milfy “Caribou Barbie” from the wilds of Alaska. When she was closer to the prime of her political career, Nancy Pelosi had an underground of admirers who noticed she had a magnificent bustline. Sen. Marsha Blackburn looks like she might have been a looker in her youth. I wrote about Sen. Krysten Sinema’s quirky fashion sense after she was elected back in 2018. There are also some attractive women in local or state offices in my neck of the woods.

I don’t know how any of this can aid our crossdressing efforts. Maybe you’ll be inclined to buy a power suit with sensible pumps instead of that skin tight bandage dress and stripper heels. Beauty and brains are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps we need more understated politicians than show horses — of either gender, in fashion or in other attributes.

HERE COMES THE SUNDRESS

Classic sundress.

The New York Times had an article about sundresses and some of the fashion debate about them headlined What Is A Sundress? It appeared in the Style section on or around July 1, 2024.

I didn’t know this but there is some controversy about what constitutes a sundress based on certain features that should or should not be a part of what some people think of a sundress. Here are a few of the key features the Times delved into: Is it colorful? Is it tight or loose-fitting? Does it have sleeves or straps? What skirt length is correct?

The Times interviewed and photographed a number of sundress wearers on the streets of Manhattan. Each represented a side of the various sundress controversies. Each of the interviewees expressed why they thought theirs was a sundress or admitted it might not be a true sundress. At the top of the article the Times listed a number of simple dress styles that could easily be confused or conflated with a classic sundress. There are shirtdresses, slip dresses, shifts, caftans, or tube dresses that could “crossdress” (ha) as sundresses.

As I write this, I have a pretty firm idea of what I would call a sundress. Those that I remember were colored cotton with flowery (but not busy) print. Definitely straps and not sleeves. The bodice was elasticized similar to a tube top. The skirt had a medium hemline and was flared rather than hip hugging. I haven’t given any thought to sundresses really before I saw this article. Some of the outfits shown in the Times would not be a sundress to me but there were definitely summery, warm-weather dresses included as possibilities.

Another aspect that the Times covered: “As the warmer months approach, many men seem compelled to post about the allure of a woman in a sundress. What is it that makes “men go crazy for ‘the sundress,’” as a user on X recently put it? Kyle Brown, a writer who lives in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn offered some insight into the contemporary male gaze. ‘It’s all about this pastoral American fantasy,” Mr. Brown said, describing a passionate scene involving a man who has come in from doing yard work to find his sundress-clad wife in the kitchen baking bread. “Men are confused.’”

Perhaps as crossdressers we can benefit both as the sundress-obsessed male and the sundress-clad traditional wife. Don’t forget the indispensable accessory for that scene: oven mitts for the bread baking.

EXACTLY AS DRAWN

The New York Times carried an obituary for Diane Noomin who was a pioneer in the development of feminist comic books in the 1970s. She was 75.

The Times reported, “Ms. Noomin’s best-known creation was DiDi Glitz — a curvy, big-haired, leopard-print-loving, fishnet-stocking-and-miniskirt-wearing and hard-drinking single mother. DiDi, whose world was filled with bad sex, sleazy men, cocktails and extravagant decorating, was a sendup of a certain kind of suburban stock character, but she was rendered with both affection and compassion.”

Diane Noomin as Didi Glitz.

As shown in the accompanying photo, Diane sometimes dressed up as her alter-ego DiDI Glitz. Having never heard of Diane, or knowing anything about feminist comic books, I was attracted by the character of DiDi when I saw the obit. Her friend told the Times, “Diane treated her comics as a kind of exorcism. There were things inside her that had to get out. DiDi was an amalgam of all the parents, all the housewives in Canarsie when she was growing up, the person she was afraid she might become, so in order to deal with that she took control. It became very complex,” he continued. “Not only did she exorcise this character, she also inhabited her. That’s why DiDi is such a powerful character. Diane wasn’t interested in making fun of her; she wanted to deeply explore who she was.”

The dressing up was only part of Diane’s experience with DiDi but it seems very akin to how some crossdressers approach our favorite hobby. An expression of something inside us. Using external triggers of femininity that are deeply personal. Perhaps with serious motivations but most often just for fun.

Diane teamed up with another comic artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb to publish Twisted Sisters, a “retort to what Ms. Noomin called the rigid feminism of Wimmen’s Comix (another feminist publication).” The Times wrote, “They decided to do their own comic, she said, because ‘basically we felt that our type of humor was self-deprecating and ironic, and that what they were pushing for in the name of feminism and political correctness was a sort of self-aggrandizing and idealistic view of women as a super-race. We preferred to have our flaws and show them.’”

That’s perhaps another good point for crossdressers to remember. It’s impossible to be perfect in our efforts. Don’t be afraid to show your flaws.

CODES AND MESSAGES

I saw a couple of articles about dress codes recently. They both appeared on the same online site, YourTango.com. The first article was headlined Girl Who Didn’t Have A Dress Code In High School Shows Off The Scandalous Outfits She Got Away With. It was published March 30, 2024. The other article was headlined Woman Gets Pulled Aside At New Job Because Her Looks And Wardrobe Make The Wives Of Her Co-Workers Uncomfortable. That article just appeared on July 8, 2024.

I’ve written about dress codes before and last month I had an item about ‘appropriate’ dressing. These two YourTango articles feature two women who are engaged in humblebragging about their “scandalous” clothing choices in the one case and how beautiful she is in the other case. You know: I’m so daring in my skimpy dress choices but somehow I got away with it in my high school. Or: I’m so attractive other women don’t want me around their husbands at work. So, I’m taking these articles with a generous handful of salt.

Leilani Olivia

Still, the dress code thing and people’s reactions to how women (almost exclusively) dress in public is more commonplace these days. The high schooler (who may have already graduated, no age being given) is a TikTok creator named Keilani Olivia. The article reported, “In the two videos, Olivia showed pictures of her high school self in crop tops, cleavage-baring tops, and sleeveless shirts — all things that are not allowed by most schools. Pointing out a corset-style crop top without sleeves, Olivia said, “I know this is a going-out top for a lot of people, not, like, a math class top.”” You can follow the link and see some of the outfits she supposedly wore to her high school.

The other article reported on a woman working at a luxury car dealership. In a linked video the woman named Ferjaneth said, “I got pulled aside today and told that people’s spouses were calling and saying that they are uncomfortable with me working there because of the way I dress and the way I look.” Some commenters suggested that perhaps it was the male coworkers who were complaining if she was “stealing” potential clients because of her sex appeal. How would a spouse know what she was wearing at work to the point they would call and complain? It all sounds slightly made-up or exaggerated.

What – if anything – can we crossdressers learn from these dress code callouts? Most of the everyday examples of inappropriate dress could have been solved if the subject had just ‘read the room’ before choosing to wear too-revealing clothing. If a crossdresser feels confident enough to go out in public, unsuitable attire can draw unwanted attention, making it likely to be ‘read.’ It goes beyond sexy or suggestive clothing. Being ‘overdressed’ even in conservative outfits can be counterproductive for ‘passing.’

A dress code sends one message to prospective employees, students, customers, or visitors. What we wear and how we wear it also sends a message – like it or not – that will be judged by others. But it’s more fun to imagine being the sexy secretary who has all the bosses’ wives in an uproar because we’re so-o-o sexy. Or walking through a crowd of people who just can’t believe what she’s (we’re) wearing! Dress codes, shmess codes!

Tags: crossdressing, featured

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment