Petra's Tuesday Traipse - Online Makeovers

Its not all a bed of roses ladies is it this whole presenting feminine thing. Do you ever feel while shopping, or dressing, or applying makeup or really while doing anything that expresses your femme self that you are the slightly awkward kid who moved to a new school halfway through the year?

Everybody in the room sounds just a little different. What you learned at your old school does not sync up with the curricula at the new place. There is some code in the social order and you don’t have the decoder ring. You are way behind everyone, standing out like a sore thumb and hopeless of ever catching up.

When I transform, I am that kid. And I am sure that I am not alone. The 40-something genetic girl has decades of feminine apprenticeship that this 40-something cross dresser just did not get. What shapes flatter me? Does that high waistband lengthen me or fatten me? How about makeup. Does the mascara go on after the eye shadow? And the eye shadow … do I make the lids lighter or darker than just under the brow line? Consider your own experiences --- just how often have you had to really puzzle through questions that are just second nature for the GG?

For me, this not knowing, this delicious confusion and uncertainty is a part of the appeal and the tip of the hook that tugs at me. Being lost in the labyrinths of the feminine world is an adventure. But dammit it would be nice if we all looked just a little more … fabulous, just a little more …. effortlessly, wouldn’t it? I am not asking .... too much, am I?

So for today’s Tuesday Traipse I want to encourage you ceaselessly self-improving and ever hopeful friends to spend some time on a couple of sites I have enjoyed recently.

MyShape. Set aside a good hour, grab a tape measure and keep your femme online persona handy – you will be setting up an account with my new friends. What MyShape does really very well is recommend styles, lengths, shapes, silhouettes, fabrics and etc that are going to work with your shape. MyShape takes a questionnaire approach to getting all the vital dimensions into their system, and to determining what your style comfort zone is.

With this information they are able to make ensemble suggestions from their affiliated vendors that suit you, that should fit you, and that in all likelihood will flatter you. Take notes, commit to memory, and then go shopping. You are not obliged to buy anything directly from MyShape ( I would not of course try to stop you, you shopping fool you), but you are almost certain to learn something new and avoid a couple of fashion potholes. I have. I really feel as though I will shop smarter next time out.

And I will look smarter too. Not just wardrobe, but on the hair front too. Our next stop explains just how. Staci over at Femulate posted this piece about the Hollywood Virtual Hair Makeover on her blog last week. For those of you who missed out, take a little personal time at Instyle and get a better grip on your hair. You will want to have a nice mug shot of yourself with as much of your face exposed as possible and your best makeup coloring. Simply place it in the style finder and start to play with the hair of the stars. This is a low cost / no cost way to picture a new look, a new length, a new shade that better suits your face shape and complexion. Or at the very least, it’s a few minutes worth of fun if its just too damn cold to step outside.

Naturally, nothing beats trying on the real thing. But when you don’t have either the time or the purse power to do exactly that, this easy service tempts, educates and again, should help you make some better choices the next time you are contemplating a change.

These sites are just a couple that stood out from a really short and if I am to be fully honest, not overly diligent search. I will find more time to seek out other helpful how-to and what-not-to sites for future posts. I am sure that many of you already have favorites. Don’t be greedy, share them out with us all here. After all, if we are not helping to make the world a prettier place, just who is?

Happy dressing and happy everything else!