Two Great Ideas!

From Creative Loafing, Charlotte, a chance to really get out of the closet:
"Ready to pay forward those jeans you never wear? Donate them to the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte, which is in the middle of a week-long clothing drive for transgender people. The drive, called Trans Closet, collects clothes for transgender individuals who can't afford to buy a new wardrobe that reflects their true identity. Shoppers will also be able to try on and receive donated clothes on Saturday. Shopping starts at 1 p.m. The experience will hopefully allow them to enjoy shopping in an accepting environment. Organizer Constance Brooks says the most in-demand donation items are work clothes, including suits for men, and women's business separates, like blouses, skirts and jackets."

And:


The sign outside the restroom in Dr. Jeffrey M. Engel's New York office. No silly, this sign was not spotted in certain Arizona legislator offices!


 

Spring Fashion is Springing

Finally spring weather is ever so slowly pushing winter out of Cyrsti's Condo and it's time to start thinking about spring fashions. I'm not here to act like I'm the big fashionista but I think over the years I have developed a certain sense of my style and what wardrobe items fit in it.

This morning it occurred to me that a certain percentage of cross dressing and even transgender girls I hear from who say they "can never pass" may me missing a few tips.
Back in my fashion obsessive days, I managed to notice more than a few women had body shapes not too different from mine. The example to the right is called an "inverted triangle". As you can see the top of the triangle represents wide shoulders and narrow hips. Exactly my shape.

The picture below it is from two summers ago and not of the best quality but I was trying to down play my shoulders with a loose off the shoulder top and give the image of hips with a slightly flared denim skirt. The added benefit was the length of the top which covered the waist I didn't have.
No pun intended, but I was doing this with mirrors...the same as any fashion conscious woman and it's certainly no big secret.
Fashion tips for any body style are all over the place.  I always like to visit Fabulous after 40.  The site always give me age appropriate fashion ideas which are copied off the runways and adapted to "older girls" like me. Here's an example from Fab 40.


To the left the model is wearing an Asian patterned top. It appeals to me because of the soft overall look to it as well as the pattern. Just the right pattern can give you a great classy style...or look terrible!

Also, don't go running off thinking I'm a big budget shopper. I don't have the finances to shop retail so I shop the wonderful world of thrift stores. My latest find is a very light cream colored lacy top. I plan to pair it with one of my tank tops and the denim skirt. The most expensive part of the outfit will be the sandals I will have to buy.

My point is if I can do this fashion thing, so can the majority of you. Before you think you can't pass, you maybe just don't know the tricks of how to do it!

January Benefit

I love this story!

" Usually when a brand launches a new product, it's pretty easy to guess its motive: profits. But cruelty-free beauty line Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics has never been one to play by the rules, which is why this amazing, heartwarming endeavor makes such perfect sense. The brand has released a limited-edition Lip Tar with the sole purpose to raise funds to help one of its own complete her gender transition surgery. January Hunt, a long-time employee with OCC, was assigned male at birth, but identifies female. In 2010, she decided to begin her transition. "Without the language or the backbone of a community to support me," she says, "it was easy to be led astray by the narrow two-gender system presented by society. I decided the only way to move forward with my life was to stop ignoring the elephant in every space I set foot in, and begin my transition rites." Unfortunately, three years after she started hormone replacement therapy, Hunt has encountered a huge roadblock in the form of health insurance. "The medical industry insists on labelling gender confirming/affirming surgeries as cosmetic rather than medically necessary," she explains. "The ripple effect is that most private and public health insurance organizations do not cover surgeries for transgender people, even if deemed medically necessary by a physician or therapist." Left with few other options to help her complete her journey, Hunt started a fundraising campaign to help her raise the needed $30,000 for sex reassignment surgery and gender-affirming breast augmentation. Fortunately for her, she works with one of the most compassionate employers we've ever seen, who went above and beyond to not only support Hunt through her transition, but also to actively help her get there."

Go to January29 for more.

Candis is Back!

From the Cyrsti's Condo entertainment desk, Advocate.com reports:



"Transgender actress Cadis Cayne will be joining Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, and the rest of the Elementary cast for an upcoming episode of the modern Sherlock Holmes series according to the Internet Movie Database. The episode, titled “Snow Angels,” will be a reunion for Cayne and Liu, as the both appeared on Dirty Sexy Money – the same television show that made entertainment history by making Cayne the first transgender actress to have a recurring role on a prime-time series. Since then, Cayne has become one of the most popular transgender actresses in the United States starring in several TV series including Nip/Tuck, Drop Dead Diva, and Here TV’s She’s Living for This."

Girls Night Out

On the Cyrsti's Condo big screen a YouTube video which is admittedly out of my generational reach. None the less interesting:

 

Get Involved

Fighting for our right to PEE!

Most certainly you have heard of the insane right to pee bill in Arizona.  Basically, if this bill passes it would require a transgender woman or transgender man posses a new birth certificate or face arrest.
I am passing along a link to the Dyssonance blog. Blog author Toni D'orsay is basically at ground zero of the fight against this ridiculous bill. She has all the info including email and other social media links to contact legislators in Arizona:

Action Needed! Call or Write NOW: #noloo4u on twitter Contact these representatives in order to let them know that SB1045 seeks to make it impossible for women with pants and short haircuts, men with long hair and kilts, and anyone who doesn't meet the standards for what someone else thinks a man or woman should like or act like, including loving someone of the same sex, to use the restroom. This law seeks to make being transgender in public a wrong thing, and says that trans people are wrong, dangerous, and bad.

As I said, follow the link above for the actual connections.  I have sent my first email and plan to do more!

Erica Andrews Tribute

On the Cyrsti's Condo big screen, a tribute to the recently passed Erica Andrews from YouTube:

Helen and Betty

Perhaps if you are a regular here in Cyrsti's Condo, you have heard me mention Helen Boyd and blog         en Gender. Her most recent post certainly struck a personal chord with me as I am nearly in the same situation.  Here's an excerpt:

"It’s been a while since I’ve griped about the petty bullshit involved in being the partner of a trans person, hasn’t it? I recently posted a photo of me and my wife at the GLAAD awards, and many, many people have said lovely things about how we both look, which we’ve both appreciated. But I did notice – how could I not? – a pretty common refrain that goes something like this: “Your wife looks amazing and of course you do too” or, alternately, “your wife looks great and it goes without saying that you do too.” And you know what? Actually, it doesn’t. I understand the need for people to validate a trans woman’s attractiveness. I really do. But when (1) you married a man who is no longer a man, and/or (2) you’re in your 40s, and/or (3) you’re not a size 4, and/or (4) people consistently think that trans bodies are somehow publicly owned and so can and should be regularly commented on, it gets a little tiring to hear how remarkably gorgeous my wife is. I mean, I know that. I live with her and see her every day. I’m the one she shares makeup with, and hair products, and pajamas, so yes, I’m aware she’s a hottie, and a gender normative hottie at that."

And another:

Helen and Betty

"I mean, again, I get it. I’m the one who married her, right? I’m pretty clear that I married someone who was a hottie in one gender presentation who is now a hottie in another. I have no problem with anyone telling her that she’s attractive – none whatsoever. I married an actor, after all, and so have always been used to people finding my spouse attractive. What I don’t understand is why people tell ME she’s attractive, and she doesn’t understand it either. To be honest, it feels a little like “my best friend’s gay” or “I have a black friend” – as in, it sometimes comes off as a knee-jerk liberal reaction, laced with “isn’t it amazing your wife who was born a man is attractive as a woman?” And you know what? It’s not. So many beautiful women I’ve met are trans. In a crankier mood, I might even call this kind of compliment a micro aggression, because it others her, calls out her transness, and reminds me, too, that my partner is trans."

As you can tell Helen is a very outspoken, visible and intelligent spokesperson for a certain layer of the transgender community.  Go here to read more.

A Natural Comes Home

Many are born in the wrong body...very few have an easy time changing the problem.  On the Cyrsti's Condo big screen here is one who didn't: