OK, I admit I really have wanted to do this for a long time, but finally did it in January of 1999.
I had stopped by our local mall during the Christmas shopping season and happened upon an unbusy Glamour Shots store. I just kind of marched up to the counter and asked if I could make an appointment for a sitting. The young lady working asked "will that be for you and your wife...I don't think we can have the pictures in before Christmas," and I said "...no, just me. By the way, I'd like to dress as a woman for my pictures...is that OK?" She said "why not...we've had many cross dressers here...in fact, see that picture on the wall...yup...I can hardly believe it!" I certainly wouldn't have picked out any of the ladies in the pictures as one of us. She asked me if I would be wearing my own clothes, which she recommended since their outfits were sized a bit small. She told me not to wear any makeup.
My appointment was scheduled for the next Tuesday. I'd decided that I would wear three different dresses, and pose in some classic settings. I'd been growing my own nails out and planned to have a professional manicure the day of the photo shoot at a Vietnamese place near the mall. I just made the appointment as Andee. I hoped they wouldn't have a problem with that.
I was really excited about the outing. I barely slept the night before, and had all my outfits packed and ready. My only constraint was to be finished before the kids came home from school. It was just like a normal day as I dropped them at school. Only I knew that I had a full day's "work" ahead of me.
I dressed at home since my wife was at work and the kids were at school. Taking the advice provided by Glamour Shots [GS] (wear "little or no makeup") I only used powder, lipstick, and a hint of mascara. I felt 'naked' because when I _normally_ get dressed up I use Max Factor Panstick as a beard cover before foundation and then powder for an even finish, and then blush, mascara and lipstick. I've seen "the outfit" on other women many times (black sleeveless dress, black jacket, dark hose, and the "DC woman-commuter look" white Reeboks and white anklet socks). I had made an appointment at a nail place directly adjacent to the mall for 10:30 and I arrived there right on time. Two young Vietnamese ladies run the place and it must have taken them 6 nanoseconds to read me, but as I would find out over the next hour it didn't make any difference to them (and in fact was more "fun" than a regular day). There was another lady there having a pedicure in the back and I don't think she read me and the girls never said anything out loud while she was there to give me away. My manicurist (named Snow-White in Vietnamese) complimented me on how well I keep my nails and I told here I wanted a professional look for the GS session. I've had manicures before and it is a very "feminine" experience even when dressed as a male...pampering to the extreme. After the 'trim,shape,buff' we picked out a nail color and I began the long process of waiting for the polish to dry. I can't count the number of times I've ruined a nail job by not waiting long enough and so that day I had plenty of time and so I just sat with my hands under the fans and let them really dry. Most of this time we were by ourselves in the shop and Mae (the other girl) told me of another TG who came to their store...and then showed me 'her' pictures (very pretty). She said '...oh, Terri come in every month before her meeting...she very nice." Chalk up one for our side! As we talked I explained that I would need to "remove" the wonderful polish job after my photo shoot and the girls said 'no problem come back here'...later on my return I even changed back into my boy clothes there!
Glamour Shots was just across the parking lot from the nail place and so I grabbed my bag with my other outfits and headed into the mall. I didn't even get second glances in the 100 yard walk in, but then it wasn't high noon on Saturday, and I saw other women dressed like me (working style) as well as in the "casual stay at home mom" weekday style. I arrived at my scheduled appointment time of noon. The lady who made my appointment (Teke-who turned out to be the photographer) greeted me and told me how nice I looked, and that it would be a few minutes because there was someone ahead of me. So I sat down and grabbed a magazine to read.
To orient you this store is really small, and you are literally right out front and only two steps from the mall when you are in the waiting area. The makeup area is "right there" and so you are on display to both passerby and patrons as the makeup artist does her magic. The makeup girl asked me if I had brought my own clothes and if I had done my own makeup. When I said yes to the clothes and no to the makeup she said that I passed very well...even without makeup she didn't realize I was cross dressed until she came over and started to talk to me. When it was my turn to be made over she explained what she was doing and what she was using...theatrical makeup that was more powder than oil based. She used an overall pancake base and then added color with powder, and did my eyes and lips. She combed out my wig a little (to make it more full) and then I was ready to wait for my turn. During this time other patrons were arriving and even sitting next to me without reading me...what an ego boost!
Before long Teke came for me and I went into the studio...aka the broom closet. I literally have a walk-in closet almost as big. And it was filled with props and backdrops...you barely had enough room to either sit or stand, but obviously it was enough for her to do picture magic. We did my first four poses in the outfit I wore, and then I changed into another dress. She said it was OK to change in front of her but I felt more than a little self conscious and she pointed me to a stall with a curtain in the hall. Along the hall was all of the other outfits you see folks wearing in GS portraits...I was glad I brought my own clothes because it didn't seem that there was much selection in my size. Then it was back in for four more poses, and back out to change. I was doing so much changing that I felt like a model in a fashion show. I changed into my last outfit and after the photos Teke said "pick one of the hall-way outfits for your last four poses" and so I picked out a long-ish dress with a stand up collar. Interestingly, it had no back, only velcro'ed strips to hold it in place. Before I knew it I was finished and changing back into my "work" clothes.
We went out front and reviewed the "proofs" on the video monitor and I selected what images I wanted printed and what sizes. Then the bill...all together $180 for 16 printed pictures and a 3 x 5 color proof of all the poses - 32 pics in all. I guess not so bad on a cost-per-image basis, but I wasn't worried about doing the math...I had really _done_ what I set out to do. Teke told me the final prints would arrive in a week, and I was off through the mall again. This time (almost 2 hours later) there were more patrons but I still don't think I was read. In fact an older gentleman (probably my age) smiled and held the door for me. I was soon off across the parking lot to return to Mae and Snow. They greeted me enthusiastically and wanted to know all about my session. But I needed to go potty (really bad!!) and asked if I could change in the bathroom. When they agreed I set about undoing what had been so carefully done before and returning to my male self.
When I came out the look on their faces was that of shock...they had no idea that "I" looked like the man before them. Snow set to work removing my polish and saying how pretty I was when dressed and that I should spend my life that way. I told her my boss wouldn't understand, and neither would my wife and kids, and we all laughed. They made me promise to come back to show them the final GS pictures. What a full day, but the results were worth it.
Along with the picture accompanying this article I've selected what I think are the best other pictures from the session. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did having them taken.
[use the back button in your browser to come back here]
last updated 12-29-1999
Copyright 1999 by Andee W return to my home page
