Julie's Day Out

Julie Elliott is a Scottish girl who recently had such a wonderful day out that she wanted to share her story with me and I asked her for permission to share her story with you. And here it is. 

Thanks so much for your blog, I am a regular reader and gotten many tips. I thought my latest adventure may be of interest and provide some amusement.

I have crossdressed all my life. My wife knows, but she has never met nor desires to meet Julie, so Julie is only goes out to play when travelling or when my wife is away. We have children and I have no desire to burden them with the consequences of having a crossdressing Dad while they are still in school.

My wife was away for two weeks visiting family and as I am semi-retired, I had some Julie time while the children were at school.

A very good crossdressing friend suggested that I go for a makeup lesson because I don't have much of an idea about what to buy and there seems to be so many products to choose from. So I phoned the beauty department of a local department store (Debenhams) and asked for an appointment.

The girl asked if it was for my wife, but I said no, it's for me as I'm transgender. She said that would be fine and I could report to the Urban Decay counter at 10 AM on Thursday. She took a £10 deposit. Us pensioners can't afford to throw £10 away, so I was definitely committed to going no matter how apprehensive I might have felt.

On the Wednesday evening, I selected my outfit, coat, wig and jewelry and shaved before bed.

Thursday morning, up, shower and second shave, which didn't go as well as I hoped and I managed to nick myself several times. Took the kids to school and noticed that next door, the car gone which means they are out for the day. I got into my stockings, girdle, longline bra, necklace, earrings, beige calf-length skirt, pink blouse and boots. Check my face — it's a mess, so I dabbed on some concealer, but no other makeup and finished with two generous squirts of Charlie behind the ears.

I was more or less ready, so I loaded up my handbag with wipes, tissues, money, camera, hair brush, etc. Put on my trench coat, checked myself in the mirror and took a couple of "before" photos. I got into my car and got away with no one around.

I arrived at Debenhams, took a deep breath and was off to the makeup department. Two assistants were chatting at the desk, so I said hello with a smile. They were expecting me and sat me right down and began the sales pitch.

They squirted a bit of this and bit of that. I'm already totally confused at the array of stuff they said was necessary. They picked out three foundations and painted my chin to get the color match. I was smiling to myself because the girls were wearing trousers and I was wearing a skirt. Then more of this and more of that and I'm thinking to myself, "How the hell am I going to remember all this?" While the girl doing my makeup was picking up the next thing, the other girl noticed that I was looking in the mirror and she said, "You look really lovely" — all part of the sales patter I guess, but it did make me feel good.

After the foundation came the blusher. She did one side and I had to do the other. Next, eyebrows and again she did one, I did the other. Then the eyes. I knew this was going to be difficult because I can't stand things near my eyes, however, we got there. Then mascara; again she did one and I did the other. Finally, the lipstick and then she sprayed something that fixed it all so that it lasts all day. I said I didn't need that as it would all have to come off before I see my children. She must have genuinely thought I was transgender because she said I can show the children how I looked now!

Now the hard sell! There's a whole array of things that she used on me on the counter top, so out with the calculator and she says if you buy everything, it's £450. Wow — I nearly fell off the stool.

She obviously noticed my reaction, so the counter top chess match began and pieces were removed and downsized and then we got down to what products I liked and what I could do without. It still ended up at at £190 and I caved in.

I asked her to take some photos with my camera, but the camera started acting up and the only half decent photo is not good because I look concerned about what is happening. Then she made a list of instructions and said if I want more advise, just give her a call. It was a bit steep, but an enjoyable experience anyway.

I went to the womenswear department to give a round. I now believe that I can appreciate this confidence thing that women are always going on about. I did feel more confident, but don't know whether it was the makeup or whether it was because I had been interacting with women as a woman — probably both.

I left Debenhams and went across the road to another shopping mall where I did quite a bit of browsing, trying on shoes and holding dresses up against me, etc. Funny how I was really enjoying my shopping experience, something I generally hate it when in male mode.

It was lunch time, so I went into a cafe and bought a sandwich and a pot of tea. A quick trip to the ladies' room and then back to the car.

Drove on to grocery store and bought more provisions. The check-out lady scanned everything, so I found my card and asked her if I could scan it rather than enter my PIN and she said, "Yes, certainly sweetheart." That made me smile.

Still only 13:30 and I wanted the experience to last as long as possible, so I headed out of town to another shopping center. I did a tour of the shops there, then I decided I had better get back. Next door neighbor would probably be home and yes, she was, but I cast caution to the wind and kept my wig on for the short walk from car to the back door. I went to turn into the driveway, but a car was coming down the hill, so I had to give way. A lady waved to me — don't know if she knows my wife or not. I hope she was concentrating on driving rather than looking at me!

In the house, I took another load of photos. I wanted to keep everything on until the last minute. Took off the clothes and used wipes to take off makeup, but the mascara and eyeliner wouldn't come off! I took a shower with plenty of soap and water without luck. I tried again with the wipes and managed to remove most of the makeup, but the wipes stung my eyes and have perfume on them — what to do?

The kids were due home and I was smelling of perfume! I opened the front door for the kids and I disappeared into the office as quick as I could. I got the idea to go out on the bicycle to see if my sweat will cancel out the perfume. I got into my cycling kit and cycled away, but it was so cold that there was not much chance of any sweat!

Back home, I took another shower. The smell of the wipes was not as strong. My eyes were red from the chemicals on the wipes.

I really enjoyed my day out with a bit of a panic at the end. I have since returned some of the cosmetics to get the price down to £115, but those that I have kept I really like. I use the moisturizer and lip balm every day when in boy mode and it feels good.

Wearing Ali Rio (Source: Belle and Clive)

Matteo Cetinski femulates Jelena Rozga on Croatian television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.