Mean criticism or blunt truth?

“they ask me why I treat Victoria like this. But how else can I treat her? She doesn’t wear pantyhose, doesn’t put on nail polish, doesn’t wear lipstick. She only puts on some powder in the morning and goes straight to work.”

appearance, women, lookThis is a translated fragment from a Russian talk show doing a brand comparison on pantyhose. The host of the show, Sergei Stillavin, seemed to be joking around and criticized another member, Victoria, for not being like the rest of the women.

I haven’t uploaded this part of the show yet, only managed to get part 1 up on the blog. This show chooses a product or service to review and compare, anything from renovation materials to candy brands.

Maybe because the host was so blunt while on air this show no longer exists as there were some complaints.

After I read it, I thought it was a mean thing to say out loud, but right away thought that I am not too far away from how he describes Victoria. Yes, I was wearing pantyhose, but I had no nail polish and no lipstick. Only some powder, just like her.

I got a sense of discomfort deep inside, I don’t even know why. So after I took a nice bubble bath I put on some pink nail polish on my toes. Am I now closer to being like the rest of the women according to Sergei’s comment?

For past few weeks I’ve been quite stressed out. I jump out of bed and think of all the work I need to do. Sometimes I forget about nail polish. Sometimes I even forget that I have nails to begin with. It never gets to a point that I’ll show up in jeans and runners somewhere in the city, but for styling like hair and make up I may not have any time. While reading  Sergei’s comments I got a bit of wake up call.

In a strange way I agree that small touches like polished shoes, neat hair, make up, and properly sized and pressed clothing can make a big difference.  I can totally see some feminists say that it doesn’t count, but we do get judged and therefore treated based on our appearance.

Tights in Saskatoon

Saskatoon tights buyWith all my recent travels, I came to read a few articles in the in flight magazine that actually pointed out to Saskatoon (a city in Saskatchewan) being quite a trendy place.

Initially my only knowledge of Saskatoon was that they have moose roaming and peeking into your open windows.  However, now I see that there are some sexy vixens there flaunting all sorts of outfits including tights!

I saw this photo on the Planet S Magazine website, featuring a local girl with a sense of style. Yes, people wear fashion tights in Saskatoon!

LuvFemToes and Fiore Fabiana Tights

I’ve been chatting with LuvFemToes on twitter – they are a unique sites for people who like feet and post high quality studio photographs.  Here are some photos that they did of Fabiana style by Fiore.

I have some of those in the shop section, but I never actually wore this style myself.  This makes me want to try it out!  I love that ivy pattern on the side.  These are 40 den, microfiber.

luvfemtoes Fabiana style

 

luvfemtoes Fabiana style close up

*Dear friends, please keep in mind that the funding for this blog comes from the shop section. Please have a look at it.*

A Trip to Jordan

Helene, one of the ladies who helps with this blog, just recently came back from her vacation in Jordan. She was fascinated with the beauty of that country. But with the dress code there being so conservative, she could not even wear most of her fancy outfits that she packed.

 

by Helene, from Belarus, about her visit to Jordan

Ajloun in Jordan - ancient Roman castle ruins

Ajloun in Jordan – ancient Roman castle ruins famous for its columns and great acoustics.

 

All starts here, in the international airport of Amman, Jordan. The atmosphere of friendliness, people are tired after exhausting flight but still smiling and friendly. After the customs checkpoint Jordan begins. All is new for me and really amazing.

Arabic music from all corners, girls wearing shawls and jackets, though I noticed at once the beautiful manner of how those shawls are arranged on their heads. But I understand immediately that my dresses and skirts will be not fit in here. The same as a full bag of tights which I took with me in hope that the weather here will be like our summer. But I also understand that my tights, different colours and patterns, would be out of place here. In Jordan women wear either long trousers or long skirts.  Even though some locals have quite well fitted pants, for me to flaunt my tights among them would be considered rather rude than attractive.

Here, in Amman, is the start of my first encounter with Jordan. There will be days full of impressions, journeys to ancient places, and meetings with people who managed to become a part of my life during those several days which I stayed there. The only problem was language, since only younger generation could speak more or less English, so they suffered most and in the evening they ran away to sleep very early, completely exhausted because of the whole day of translating.

Maybe that was the main reason why one of the girls decided to teach me Arabic. Well, in vain of course, as I was more busy with visiting new places, taking photos rather than revising words, but my bad luck was that I was accommodated in her room, so every evening she checked what words I remember. Really hard work for a holiday. Maybe that is why this impression is the strongest one, and this teacher is one of best teachers I have ever met. But the holiday ends sooner or later, I am at home now – all as usual again, work, autumn.

Sunset over the Dead Sea in Jordan

Sunset over the Dead Sea in Jordan.  Helene didn’t swim since she was not up to wearing a swimsuit among conservative locals.

Have you ever been to Jordan?  Both me and Helene would love to hear your comments and stories.  We love to travel and exchange experiences with others.

*Dear friends, please keep in mind that the funding for this blog comes from the shop section. Please have a look at it.*

Women Oriented Taxi in Ukraine offers Pantyhose

krasotka taxi 2 pantyhose exchange

Translation: “In Krasotka (Beauty) cab you can read a magazine and change your pantyhose”

Did you get a run in your pantyhose, but don’t have a spare pair on you?  Even worse, are you running short on time and can’t afford to go look for a public washroom to change in?

pantyhose-runIn Odessa, Ukraine, a new taxi service for women called Krasotka (means Beauty) caters to women and has basic items available for their comfort and needs.  If your pantyhose ripped accidentally, they will give you a new one.

On their website they even say that they offer a service to transport goods and give an example – if a woman is busy, but her girlfriend is in desperate need of a spare pair of pantyhose, she can ask Krasotka taxi to urgently deliver the item.   They have everything from tampons, umbrellas, to children toys.

Even though the owner of the company is a man, Krasotka’s clients and drivers are only female.  Men are rarely allowed only if they are being accompanied by a woman (as part of her baggage, I suppose).  Once they made an exception for a male gay couple who wanted a ride and gave a bold statement that they are “girls too”.

 

Women Oriented Hotel in Calgary Offers Pantyhose to Visitors

Hyatt women oriented hotel in Calgary decided to offer women-friendly service with rooms equipped with curling irons, hairspray, deodorant, and even pantyhose!  For a travelling woman these are essential items that she just can’t do without.

Business woman sitting in airport lounge, feet on suit case

Hyatt Women Oriented Hotel in Calgary Offers Pantyhose to Visitors

I really hope that when I visit Calgary, I’ll stay at that pantyhose hotel.  Looks like I may need to go there soon anyway, after they recover from the flood.  It is a very developed city and I only managed to see it for about an hour before when I drove through it.  Many people come there for business.

Isn’t this a progress that a hotel finally decides to recognize pantyhose as a basic need for a business woman?  It’s just as important as groomed hair and clean clothes.

A big hosiery fan like me for sure won’t forget to pack pantyhose, but I still would be excited to dig through some pantyhose provided in my hotel room.  Do you have any thoughts on this new marketing technique for hotels?  With the growing number of female entrepreneurs, this could be a very smart strategy.

Tom Boxer & Morena feat. J Warner – Deep In Love

tomboxer-morena deep in love

Morena is a beautiful Maltese singer who is known for wearing lots of stockings that look so delicious on her super slim legs.  She represented Malta in Eurovision in 2008.

mock suspender tights Tom Boxer Morena feat J Warner-Deep In Love

For the stockings lovers out there, there is plenty of stockings, fishnets, and suspender tights in the video below by Morena and Tom Boxer.  Good music, beautiful hosiery!

Bravo to the stylist of this Tom Boxer video!

Vera Wylde and Her Tips for Crossdressers

Vera Wylde

Vera Wylde is one of my most favourite crossdressers to watch on Youtube.  Even though I am a genetic woman myself, I always had that question of “How do they do it?” when looking at a beautiful drag queen on stage.

One time in Toronto I saw a feminine apparition like that at the Pride Parade and I was amazed by her grace to the point that I asked her if I could kiss her hand.  She let me!  Really don’t know if she expected a gesture of this sort from a woman, especially a straight woman, who knows.

Vera in her Youtube show reveals many secrets of how dressers can pull it off so well.  Here are some that I find especially entertaining.

Breast Inserts

The general rule of thumb is that if it has breasts, it’s a woman!  It’s like a badge of femininity.  Actually not only dressers have the challenge of creating breasts.  There are women who are flat chested, but don’t look like that because of all the padding and silicone breast forms that they insert in their bra.

Vera mentions breast forms as a more feasible option to fill the bra, create a cleavage without looking like a caricature.  But she warns you that it may be expensive!  You can see some examples at this breast form store that sells them so realistic that they even have a nipple.  Vera recommends to acquire a pair because otherwise the clothes just doesn’t fit properly – she already owns two sets herself.

You can watch the video below where she talks about some tips and points out technical details that she discovered for herself, like why an insert that was supposed to be cup D ended up fitting like cup C.  For most of us it’s probably a surprise that such inserts even exist.

Hosiery

Vera also touched on the topic of hosiery: knee highs, stockings, stay ups, pantyhose.  For most of you this is pretty basic information, however I must admit I’ve never seen anyone roll on stockings before.  I bunch mine up in my hands and slowly release it as I pull it on.

Her preference is stockings over pantyhose because she doesn’t like the constricting feeling on the top.  She would rather wear a garter belt to hold up her stocking.  In one of her stage performances she even dances around in a corset and stockings held up by a 6 strap garter belt.

High Heels

Walking on high heels is a challenge that not only cross dressers experience.  When I lived in Toronto, I remember laughing every time I’d go to a club.  Young women there would get a tipsy and begin to wobble off the dance floor, grabbing on walls and bystanders, trying not to fall off those stiletto heels or lose a shoe all together.

Vera mentions that it is better to buy a shoe that has a thicker heel and a strap on the top.  That type of shoe looks like a tango shoe and that strap makes it so much more comfortable to wear.  This is a perfect shoe for women like described above who don’t want to end up walking around barefoot by the end of the party.  A sky high heel shoe just will look comical on a person who can’t walk on it.

Vera Wylde recently started a form of Q & A called “Dear Vera”.  So if you have a question for her, feel free to ask her.  She is a very unique individual with a lot of insight on the subject and she also runs a blog.  Maybe some day I’ll get lucky and have a chance to watch her perform on stage or even meet in person.

What My Grandpa Thinks about Bare Legs in Winter

woman walking in sheer pantyhose in the snow

Freezing my feet off in cold weather is a dangerous thing for me.  I know, if I prance around in some fancy summer heels and light pantyhose in winter, next day I’ll be down with some serious health problems in the private sector that may linger for a long time afterwards.

How do I know this if I never tried it?  Well, that’s what I’ve been told over and over when I was growing up by my Grandma.  As a child, I would come back from a walk outdoors in winter, she would take off my shoes and feel my feet.  If my feet were cold, she would panic.  She passed away last year and I miss her dearly, we were very close.

I called up my grandfather and decided to ask him about this.

 

Me: Grandpa, women here go with bare legs in winter. 

Grandpa: When I was little, we had neighbours who went practically barefoot.  They had a large family and no money to buy clothing.

Me: Well, the women here simply don’t want to bother to wear pantyhose.  I see them in dresses and bare legs on the subway.

Grandpa: I also recently saw a homeless guy in the subway with pants that had holes in them.  Really, these days people throw clothes in the dumpster.  Can’t he find pants without holes there? 

Me: Look, the women here just don’t want to wear anything on their legs.  They don’t think that it can affect their health.

Grandpa: Oh, common, they have plenty of clothes in North America!  Why would they go bare-legged if there is plenty of clothing?

 ***

No matter how I tried to explain that these women are making a conscious choice to go with bare legs, my grandpa couldn’t grasp this bizarre idea.  To him poverty was the only explanation to bare legs in cold weather.

 ***

Me: Grandpa, I remember Grandma used to tell me to keep my legs warm, especially everything below the knee.  She told me that if the feet get chilled, it will lead to gynaecological problems.

Grandpa: Not only!  It’s bad for both men and women.  Grandma knew everything about that.

Me: How do you know this?  Did you read this somewhere or is this some kind of wisdom passed down from the ancestors? 

Grandpa: It’s common knowledge that areas on your feet correspond to your other bodyparts like liver, kidneys, and so on.  Don’t you have Vietnamese people there in Vancouver?  Ask them, their Eastern Medicine is progressive.

 

There is a notion in some parts of Europe and some parts of Asia about the concept of feet being connected to other forms in a person’s body.  I guess that what you consider this to be depends on where you reside.

If you are North American, you may think of this as nonsense.  If you are in a place like Hungary, let’s say, you may think of this as common truth that everyone knows.

Thus, if you are from the States or Canada, just forget everything you read above.

Go ahead, start your day, but please wear your pantyhose anyway!

sheer pantyhose on the street with high heels

Special Event at Dolce Amore Lingerie in Vancouver

Sale – 20% OFF!

Saturday: February 2, 2013

 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

People keep on asking me where I buy my lingerie.  Well, either in Europe or in places that import it from Europe.  I would like to recommend one of my favourite lingerie stores in Vancouver that has a broad collection of swimwear, lingerie, hosiery, and accessories.  The owner is a very sweet Polish lady.  LGTB- friendly, in case some of you are wondering.  Recently they added a whole vintage section there.

vintage lingerie photo

Dolce Amore Lingerie and Swimwear

772 Thurlow Street (in the courtyard behind the Starbucks on Robson)

Dolce Amore Facebook

www.dolceamoreboutique.com

 

Can you come?  Please let me know.