Wednesday, October 15, 2025

All In

October is nearly half over and I have not broached the H subject – until now. H, as in Halloween, is a day near and dear to the heart of femulators throughout Girly World

Early on, I used Halloween as an excuse to shop for my lady wardrobe. (Didn't you?)

“I'm going to a Halloween party dressed as a woman, so I need a...” (fill in the blank with whatever I needed at the time: wig, bra, girdle, dress, high heels, makeup, purse, etc., etc., etc.)

I used that excuse a lot when I was still closeted. I dunno if I fooled any of the store staff with my Halloween story. Not many guys are going to spend $100 or more on a wig for one night, so something else must be going on.

My first girdle purchase (actually an all-in-one) was memorable. I was working in Kingston, New York, and visited an old-school lingerie shop in boy mode to get fitted for an all-in-one.

I found the store in the Yellow Pages and I checked it out one evening after work. It was located in downtown Kingston, not in a strip mall or shopping plaza, and it looked tiny and inconspicuous… the antithesis of Victoria’s Secret.

For days, I thought about the store and finally gathered up the courage to visit it during a lunch hour. I drove to the store, parked on the street and sat in my car waiting for minimum pedestrian traffic to avoid anyone seeing me entering the store. When all was clear, I exited my car and entered the store as quickly as possible.

A middle-aged lady greeted me. She probably had seen it all, so when I mentioned I needed some foundation garments for my Halloween costume, I don't know if she believed me. And when I suggested that I might need an “all-in-one,” that probably tipped my hand immediately – how many guys knew what’s an "all-in-one?"

Nevertheless, she was very helpful and after measuring me up, she handed me two heavy-duty all-in-ones to try on and said, “Take these to the dressing room, try them on and call me so I can see if they fit properly.”

I did not expect such a hands-on sale, but was glad to have it. I went to the dressing room, quickly stripped down to my briefs and zipped myself into the first all-in-one, but it did nothing for me. However, the second one did wonders and I summoned the proprietor to examine me wearing the second all-in-one.

“Wow, that was quick,” she remarked. I assumed that her other male customers were not as fast as I when trying on their “first” foundation garment.

She checked me out and gushed about my girlish figure. I tipped my hand again when my face turned beet red in embarrassment. I could not pay for my purchase fast enough and get out Dodge.

By the way, I loved that all-in-one. It was constructed with spring-like metal stays and it gave me a figure like no other. It was my go-to foundation garment for years. I wish I could find one like it today!



Source: ShopBop
Wearing ShopBop


Martin Weiß in the 2004 German film Agnes and His Brothers.



4 comments:

  1. "Here comes another 'Halloween costume' customer."
    Good one, Stana! It's a good thing I was drinking anything as I would have snorted the beverage through my nose.
    Me? I don't need to wait for Halloween to wear dresses as I do it all the time.
    John

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  2. Raising my hand as another who used Halloween as an excuse to purchase feminine supplies: a French maid costume, multiple pairs of heels, a few skirts, countless pairs of pantyhose and panties...

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  3. I used to visit all the thrift stores this time of year to try on bridal gowns from the racks of “Halloween costumes “. Some stores had dozens of them although rarely were than more than two or three in my generous size. Nevertheless, I loved trying them on and getting to salespeople’s opinion on which ones were flattering.

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  4. I used the ruse of buying for a Halloween party many times in my early years. My first wig was purchased at a Kmart. I was a lot younger than now and I was assisted by a young saleswoman who was cheerful and helpful.Did I pull the ruse off? Maybe, I asked to try it on in a dressing room. Perhaps, my embarrassment helped. Another Halloween I needed heels. Payless was running buy one, get one half off. The male store manager tried to coax me into buying that second pair, but that surely would have been a tip-off. I spent the day traveling to different stores, buying single pairs of shoes. The one time I got the serious sneer that I was surely a cross dresser was when I used a ruse that I was buying a Vanity Fair foundation garment: a pull on half slip. In the days of newspaper advertising I cut out the ad and used in my ruse. The older saleswoman said in a condescending way, "She even wrote the size down for you on the ad!" I suspect, considering her age, she had encountered this ruse many times before. Ruses were not limited to Halloween. Christmas and Mother's Day were another holiday to buy lingerie (nighties, slips and bra & panty sets). I would always ask for a gift box. When on-line shopping came into existence, it was a blessing.

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