Stuff: Lady Fingers

By J.J. Atwell

Today I’d like to cover a fairly small detail of presenting as a woman: Lady Fingers.

Lady Fingers?

Yes, Lady Fingers! No, not the cookie that is a major component of tiramisu. I mean what you do about your fingernails. I’ve observed that nearly all the genetic girls I see out and about have nice nails. They also seem to cover a range of color, styles and lengths. Whatever they choose, it has the effect of making their hand more ladylike. That can work for us crossdressers, too. 

Let me preface my comments by saying that I’m assuming that for most of us it’s not possible to wear polish on our own nails for the non-femme part of our life, so we resort to press-on nails. 

For those that do use color on their own nails, I understand from my friend Gigi that some polishes are harder to remove than others. Be sure to experiment with your favorite color and polish remover to see how well it works.

I go to a local nail salon with my significant other for a manicure every two weeks and every fourth week, I add a pedicure. I do this in guy mode and settle for clear polish on my nails. While there I have a great opportunity to observe the many choices women have when getting a manicure. Just picking out a color can take a while as there are so many to choose from. My genetic girl friend Alicia generally goes for pink. For me, I alternate between pink and red press-ons depending on the outfit.

Then there is the question of just how long fingernails should be. When picking out a length the answer seems to be dependent on what a person does and how practical longer nails are in everyday life. I use press-on nails when I present en femme and I like the longer length of nails. But I often find my femme self wrestling with ordinary tasks when I wear those longer nails. Simple things like tapping on the screen of an iPhone, picking up a pill from a table, putting on earrings. Stuff like that. 

Obviously, women who have longer nails all the time have learned to live with them. Those of us who don’t live with long nails everyday need to learn new behaviors though. It’s another thing that is part of the fun we have learning about life for women. It also reminds us that dressing like women doesn’t make us women.

What about shape?

Yes, there are different nail shapes. Which will look better on your hands? There really aren’t any good guidelines I can give you for this. I’m of the opinion that a tapered nail looks nicer than the more squared off coffin style. I think the almond shaped nail does wonders for making fingers look longer and slimmer. So if I can find that shape in a press-on nail, that’s what I go for. But you really need to try a few shapes and colors yourself to see how they look and how you function wearing them. 

I’ll be back

I’ll be back with more Stuff in the next installment. Comments are welcome either here on the blog or by email to Jenn6nov at-sign gmail dot com. JJ is always looking for more stuff, so let me know what you would like to read about.

Wearing Pleats dress and Rag & Co. shoes

World War II British prisoners-of-war femulating in their stage production appropriately titled Girls, Girls, Girls.