Gorgeous documented her journey through social media and viral videos, and she was the subject of a documentary called This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous (2017).
Gorgeous has modeled for magazine covers and fashion spreads, in addition to partnering with beauty brands like Too Faced and Pantene.
She walked for designers such as Thierry Mugler, Guy Laroche, and Jean Paul Gaultier, and published an autobiography in 1998.
She signed with Click Models and walked for designers such as Chanel, Thierry Mugler, and Jean Paul Gaultier. In 1987, Toye disappeared from the New York modeling scene, only to resurface again in 2009 for the launch of Sprouse’s book.
Nonetheless, she was a force to be reckoned with and made waves for transgender models to come.
After a six-year tenure during the 1970s as the face of a new hair dye for Clairol, Norman changed her last name to Africa. She went on to model for major fashion magazines and beauty brands such as Avon and Ultra Sheen. In 1980, she was outed during a photoshoot, causing her career to hit a standstill. She has since made a resurgence in the drag ball industry and rejoined Clairol in 2016.
After moving to London, she began booking gigs left and right with notable photographers. She also did runway and editorial work, appearing in high-profile magazines. After being outed by tabloids in 1961, her career was cut short. She has since been honored in an exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool and released an autobiography.
Yesterday was time for my bi-weekly appointment with my long time therapist from the Veterans Administration.
 |
| Football is getting close! Go Buckeyes!!! |
Since it was a video appointment I did do my beauty routine, pulled my hair back and was ready. I chose a short sleeved tank top which happened to be a beige patterned fabric. I guess on my old lap top camera it looked as if I wasn't wearing anything at all because not too far into the session, she asked was I wearing any clothes?
After the laughter died down, I assured her it was warm in our house but not that warm.
We finished the session with me telling her maybe naked therapy was the wave of the future. She said I would be surprised all the things she sees since the VA started video visits.
Actually, from my experiences when I used to show up in person for my appointments, nothing would surprise me.
One of the few things I do like about summer is a change to wear my silky maxi dresses here is a picture on the left taken pre covid when my hair was much shorter and had not been allowed to return to it's natural shade.
Ironically, it's a surprise to me how many things do change and then again not.
One thing that never changes around here though in Cincinnati, Ohio USA is the summer heat will be with us well into September. We did have a brief break today with a cold front which brought life back to nearly normal
 |
| Transgender girl and two Moms. |
The next time you consider buying shampoo or other hair care products, you may want to look at using the Pantene line. Here is why:
"A new Pantene ad celebrates LGBTQ families by featuring a transgender girl with her two lesbian mothers, MetroWeekly reports.
The ad tells the story of Sawyer, her mothers, and their family motto, "Everybody loves everybody, no matter what path you follow."
Ashley, one of Sawyer's mothers, described the significance of her daughter's hair in the process of transitioning. "Once she told us that she identified as a girl, she immediately wanted to grow her hair out," she says in the ad.
"I remember the first time she was out in the community wearing the clothing she wanted and her hair," Ashley continues. "And she kind of was herself. And that was the first day where I saw her."
For Sawyer, growing her hair out made her "feel good and confident, and it made my insides match my outsides."
The ad is another recent example of corporate framings of the LGBTQ community in a positive light, which is especially significant given the spate of anti-transgender bills working their way through states such as Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, and South Dakota, among others.
Pantene posted a message about the ad to Twitter, writing, "Hair is a large part of our identity. And for LGBTQ+ youth like Sawyer, who choose to express themselves, their style, and their creativity through their hair style, it can help them feel seen."
Fortunately I already have a bottle of Pantene shampoo in my shower.
My partner Liz and I crossed another milestone recently when she secured a time for her first Covid vaccine. Her date is coming up Monday.
When she completes both of her vaccinations, it means we are a giant step closer to being able to venture out again in the public's eye. Most importantly to me, I will have the chance to see my daughter and three grandkids again.
 |
| Liz and I from Christmas party two years ago. I loved it when her heels made her taller than me! |
Also, I will have the opportunity to interact with the public as a transgender woman. Looking ahead, I wonder how many lessons I will have to relearn, if any. Interestingly, Liz has been indicating she wants to "experiment" with my hair and make up, which she has never dome in our past. In her past, she dabbled in being an Avon cosmetic person and I have settled into a real makeup routine which may need some updating. Truthfully, my "routine" has become wearing less and less makeup. I still rely on my nightly skin care routine and exfoliation when I shave to get me by. Of course now makeup is less important when a mask covers a significant part of your face anyhow.
My problem is too that in my quest to be a "natural" woman, I have a tendency to revert back to looking more like my old male self. Even though a feminized version due to the hormone replacement therapy I have been on.
As always I have set my expectations too high as far when we can begin to rejoin society again.
I am sure I will experience no major lifestyle changes. I just want to return to somewhat the same existence I enjoyed before. You notice I wrote "somewhat."
Recently Transgender model Munroe Bergdorf has taken on the giants of social media. This excerpt comes from "Reuters":
Recently, I have been reading the posts on Paula's Place and Femulate basically concerning wearing high heels and dressing up with no place to go during the pandemic shutdown.
I literally have not had to worry about wearing heels for years because my feet and ankles are in such bad shape from pounding concrete floors during my thirty plus years as a restaurant manager. The last time I can remember wearing heels was six or so years ago when Liz and I went to one of the witches' balls which used to be a regular date for us. It turned out to be agony until I could slip out of my shoes into my nylon covered feet. Also I have a pair of two inch high heeled boots I wore one night...again years ago. The whole experience was ill advised as it was a wet evening and I ended up being seated with Liz at a big table in a winery with several wires from the band I had to negotiate when I got up and went to the restroom. To add insult to injury (almost) my heels took my height to well over six feet, so it seemed the whole room was staring as I walked through. I did make it without bodily injury and decided since everyone was seemingly noticing me, I would stand up as straight and proud as I could. To this day, I am surprised I didn't slip and embarrass myself.
Not surprisingly, both Paula and Stana (of Femulate) have written in depth on the effects of how their Mothers' fashions influenced their own. Age has dimmed my thoughts on the subject considerably but I do remember my Mom being in dresses most of the time since she was a high school teacher. Plus, of course, I must have been fascinated at some point by her makeup, since I couldn't wait to try it on me too.
Speaking of makeup and getting dressed up, I must be slipping in Liz's eyes. In fact she has even volunteered to do my makeup and hair someday when we can go out again.
I guess the "Covid Slippage" may actually be getting to me more than I thought.
At least I am looking forward to receiving my second vaccine the second week of March. While I am not naïve enough to think life will return to some sort of normalcy, anything coming close will be appreciated!
Fashion designer Saisha Shinde has announced she is transgender. She shared the news in a statement on Instagram writing,
While transgender woman Hunter Schafer's only acting credit to date is on the HBO series Euphoria, it's an important one. The character has been praised for being one of the few transgender actors on television to not be depicted as struggling with their identity. Her role showed that a trans person can be seen simply as a person on a show – being trans doesn't have to define them.
Schafer has modeled as well for a number of top brands, from Dior to Calvin Klein and Vera Wang, and continues her work as an activist for the LGBTQ+ community,
Fashion designer Shaine Soni (below) was crowned Miss Transqueen India, the country's beauty pageant for transgender women, on Saturday. She will represent India at next year's Miss International Queen, the world's biggest pageant for transgender women.
Munroe Bergdorf is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L'Oréal, but was dropped within weeks after a racial row. Wikipedia
Check out her picture below:
Isis King, the first transgender woman to compete on “America’s Next Top Model,” has been making inroads since her groundbreaking appearance on the show, most recently appearing in an episode of HBO’s “Equal.” Her picture is below:
Talackova entered the history books in 2012 when, after securing entry to Miss Universe Canada, she was outed by someone who recognized her from a 2010 Thai beauty pageant for transgender women. The Miss Universe pageant disqualified Talackova, who contacted famed feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, who took on the case and challenged the pageant. The organization reversed its stance under the pressure, and Talackova made it into the top 12 contestants before losing out, though she was one of the pageant’s Miss Congeniality winners that year. A picture below:
Emma Ellingsen is a 19 year old Norwegian model and You Tuber. She is referred to as an "influencer" because people don't believe she is transgender because of her looks. She is currently going out of her way to tell people all transgender people don't have to look alike.
FYI...Emma was able to get a head start on her feminine life by taking puberty blockers at the age of thirteen and HRT at sixteen. And of course, here is her picture:
From Wikipedia:
"Geena Rocero (below) (born 1983)[1] is a Filipino American supermodel, TED speaker, and transgender advocate[2] based in New York City.[3] Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that tells stories of the transgender community worldwide to elevate justice and equality. Rocero has spoken about transgender rights at the United Nations Headquarters, the World Economic Forum, and the White House."
Over the past week or so we have been featuring a few of the gorgeous transgender models who have been successes in the fashion industry. Regarding the posts, Paula from the UK sent in this comment:
"It's great seeing these girls do so well, in an industry that is hard enough for anyone to break into. I just hope that their high profiles don't give people unreal expectations of the great majority of us ~ especially the fat old ones like me!"
I agree with your comment and I am sure it resonates with many other transgender women. In fact, I am sure it also does with cis women too. After all, society puts too much pressure on women (transgender or not) to look a certain way. Imagine the multi billion dollar appearance industry without the pressure.
As far as the trans fashion models go, you have to take into consideration what they had to go through to take a magical picture. Plastic surgeries, breast augmentations, plus not to mention having access to highly skilled makeup artists and photographers all add up to a real success story. As close as I have ever been able to come was a photo shoot I was invited to years ago. They were doing a presentation book on the diversity of women. Even there, I was on my own as far as makeup and hair were concerned. As far as the results went, I wasn't satisfied of course.
Look, I know I will never be another Andreja Pejic (below), the best I will ever be able to do is try to present the best feminine presentation I can on a daily basis. I have had no surgeries including facial hair removal, so basically I am what you see is what you get. The one powerful help in my feminization process I have used is the hormone replacement therapy I have been on for years. I have felt the results have been amazing.
Even though, as I said, I agree with Paula, I am one of the old fat trans girls too!
Before we go though here is another beautiful transgender model to be envious of:
Image from Engin Akyurt on UnSplash. It took me awhile before I finally came to the point in my gender transition when I gave up and thoug...
