Dina’s Diner 8/29/16
L’INTERNATIONALE
Yoon Eun Hye as a boy.
I came across a few items that originated in Korea, India and Spain in recent travels across the appropriately named world wide web. We all know that transgenderism and crossdressing is dispersed around the globe. It’s as old as civilization itself. So let’s take a look at some interesting examples.
If you Google a term like “crossdressing in Korea” you come up with a lot of examples of cute boy band members crossdressed as even cuter girls. I happened across a page on the website www.hellokpop.com that listed some examples of cute Korean actresses who played boy parts in male drag on some popular South Korean TV shows. The funny thing is that the young male Korean celebrities are so fair-faced and pretty, you can hardly tell the girls are trying to look like boys.
Crossdresser character on Aida.
Sari
It’s always interesting to me to see that some Indian crossdressers are attracted to the traditional sari garment. You rarely — if ever — see American or European crossdressers in traditional dress or costumes. The Crossdressing Trends website has examples of a few Indian crossdressers in elaborate saris and other traditional forms of dress from that country.
The Spanish television show Aida ran for ten seasons, ending in 2014. It seems to have been a comedy/soap opera, perhaps like the old Soap series in U.S. television history. In season 9, one of the male characters did a turn as a sexy girl and looked pretty fine doing so. Unfortunately, almost all of the information I could find on the show was written in Spanish so I couldn’t tell what the backstory for the drag scenes were. Here is the crossdressing clip for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
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HITTING THE LINKS IN STYLE
Maria Verchenova of Russia .
In the last Diner, I wrote about some Olympic sports where the female form is on display. I wasn’t expecting that the most interesting crossdressing inspiration would come from a sport not known for skimpy outfits or even taut, toned bodies.
Golf returned to the Olympics this year and Russian women’s golfer Maria Verchenova captured my imagination as soon as I saw her giant sun bonnet shown here. While most women golfers favor the simple baseball cap or crown-less visor, Ms. Verchenova’s headdress was eye-catching. In fact, I was surprised it didn’t interfere with her swing mechanics. Maria also favored stylish golf dresses rather than the two piece blouse and shorts or skirt combos of the other ladies.
Maria modeling.
Maria was the sole Russian woman golfer (South Korea had four, the U.S. three) and it was only shortly before the Games began that she was cleared to play because of Russian doping sanctions in other sports. After a couple of lackluster opening rounds, Maria came into Saturday’s final at 5 over par after 54 holes. On the last day, though, she shot the Olympic record (including the men’s rounds) of 62 to go 9-under and finish 4-under overall to tie for 16th in a field of 60.
When I did more research, I discovered that Maria Verchenova has some racy modeling shots online. It seems unfortunate that female athletes must do sport-themed cheesecake photos but they do and, yeah, I look, so I’m part of the problem not the solution. Anyway, as you can see from this example, Maria Verchenova is definitely in shape for all sorts of strenuous activities.
MAGIC CRYSTALS
Simone Biles in her bejeweled leotard.
The New York Times had an Olympic-oriented piece in the Thursday Styles section on August 4, 2016. The article was headlined “The Bedazzled Gymnast” and told the story of how American gymnastics (and other teams) have fancied up their leotards over the past several Olympic meets.
According to The Times, each U.S. gymnast’s leotard had around 5,000 Swarovski crystals stitched on. That’s up from 184 in 2008 and 1,388 in 2012. You may have noticed the sparkling displays as the young ladies performed and (often enough) collected their medals. The modern day leotards cost about $1,200 apiece and each gymnast has multiple designs supplied by the team.
The article also pointed out how leotards themselves have evolved over the years. Did you know that the garment was popularized by none other than Jules Leotard, a French trapeze artist of the late 1800s? Before they assumed his famous name, the suits were known as “maillots” a term that is still used as descriptor for a certain type of stretchy bodysuit.
As recently as the 1970s (before the introduction of Lycra in the suits), leotards were not even all that stretchy and gymnasts complained of unsightly bagging in places. Mary Lou Retton’s seemingly sedate stars and stripes design in 1984 began the race for fancier and fancier leotards. Along with eye catching color combinations and the aforementioned crystals, the materials are designed with hologramic underlays that enrich the designs.
Almost every crossdresser has or certainly had a leotard in their secret closet. I can’t ever remember seeing a crossdresser trying to emulate a gymnast but I have seen a few who used their leotards in combination with tutus and pointe shoes as they made like the ballerina that lived within them.
The beauty of the leotard for crossdressers is the (almost) one-size-fits-all egalitarianism of its stretch material. But be careful not to pop your crystals the next time you pull yours on.
IN PRAISE OF OLDER WOMEN
Barbara Eden
Entertainment news outlets reported that Barbara Eden, the star of television’s I Dream of Jeannie, turned 85 years old on August 23. Prior to her most famous role as the magical Jeannie, Barbara was a starlet in the 1950s and did a lot of cheesecake modeling as young actresses were expected to in those days.
The Jeannie show ran between 1965 and 1970, so she was already 34 years old when it started and 39 when it ended. That’s sort of remarkable since the character was supposed to be a G-rated sex symbol and she was more than able to keep male attention during an era when Hollywood often wrote off women in their 30s.
She had a long career after Jeannie ended and always projected her good-girl sexpot image — even into her 60s. So belated Happy Birthday to a TV (no, not that kind of TV) icon from our youths.
Sally Field
Popular, double Oscar-winning actress Sally Field will turn 70 years old in November of this year. She just starred in a theatrical release (Hello My Name is Doris) in 2015-16. I mention Sally Field in this item because several years ago, she was doing Boniva osteoporosis medication commercials and that’s when I was surprised to find out she was over 60 years old at the time. She has maintained her cute, playful image into her Social Security years.
Sally starred in a 1987 film titled Surrender which is notable for two scenes. In one, she is disrobed to her bra and panties and tied up (!). The other scene involves Sally’s co-star Michael Caine who picks up a gender-bending prostitute played by female impersonator-actor Michael Andrews. So, you see, there is a tenuous crossdressing connection here.
The other thing I’ve noticed over the past several years is that crossdressers in their fifties and sixties no longer look like dowdy old ladies as they did in the not too distant past. The graying of the baby boomers, better fashion choices and improvements in health and fitness (at least for some) is making older folks and even older crossdressers more attractive specimens than ever before. Those of us firmly in that demographic know it’s true. (Hoping against hope, ha). But the younger girls should take heart that their mojo isn’t going to vaporize on their 50th or 60th birthday.
Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion
About the Author (Author Profile)
I started crossdressing and going out publicly in 1988. I joined the Renaissance group in the Philadelphia area that year and later became chapter leader for two years in the '90s. I always enjoyed writing and wrote for the Renaissance newsletter and magazine throughout my membership years. I've been writing for TGForum for several years now. I also contributed items to LadyLike magazine and other TG publications before the advent of the internet. My hobby-within-a-hobby is singing live as my alter-ego Dina Sinatra and I have had the opportunity to do that with several accommodating performers and in a number of venues over the years since the mid-1990s. In the Diner column items here, I try to relate crossdressing or transgender themes (and my own pet peeves and fetishes) to the larger world -- and vice versa.Subscribe
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