I am probably jinxing it by posting this, but I’m just going to say it.  Kudos, L’eggs for the particularly sturdy pair of Jet Black, Silken Mist pantyhose you made this time around.  Not going to lie, I am incredibly impressed at the amount I have worn them in the past few weeks without having them decide they want my big toe to go right through them.  It’s almost like you heard me say out loud that I was considering switching to footless tights forever and decided to step up your game.   

Hello growing reader base.  Thanks to everyone who has followed the blog so far or liked my posts on Facebook!

One of the things I want to do with this blog is to actually post reviews and testimonials about the beauty products and clothing that I wear, in case readers female, male, or somewhere in between might be interested in some of them as well.  

Also I figured why not take the opportunity to post a double-picture of a scantily clad Kat Von D? I’m not objectifying her though, thisis the official promo pic to showcase the product that I’ve recent started using, the Tattoo Concealer from her exclusive to Sephora makeup collection.  

I do not have any ink, so I don’t have a pressing need for a tattoo concealer, but what I do have is a rather frustrating skin disease called Psoriasis.  It’s an immune system disorder that causes excess build up of skin, and in my case forms most brutally at the joints.  My knuckles often look like I’ve been throwing a few punches, and the worst of it is on my knees, as seen in this picture here. 

It’s extremely annoying, and is by far the thing I hate most about my body, which is ironic because my legs are otherwise one of the things I’m most proud of.  It’s something I get consistently complimented on by women when I wear skirts, but I almost always have to show them off while also wearing tights or pantyhose to cover or downplay the massive discoloration and dry skin buildup.  Moisturizers, skin scrubs and lotions tend to take care of the actual dry skin but the redness is an almost constant.  It also means I often don’t get to take advantage of one of the best parts of wearing a skirt, which is how immensely comfortable they can be on a nice warm day.  

Enter the concealer.  

I have been meaning to check this product out for a while.  I figure if it can cover up something as dark, multicolored and as prominent as KvD’s ink, then there was a real chance it could do wonders for my issue as well,  so I went into a Sephora store and tried just a little dab of it on my right hand knuckles to see how it worked.  I was pretty impressed by how well it erased the psoriasis with just a little dab.  But the irritation on my hand is nowhere near as pronounced as it is on my knees, and I still wasn’t convinced that it would really do the trick.  The salesgirl however, mixed me up two different sample size cups of the concealer one in a medium color and one in “sand” so that I could take them, try them out and see what worked best.  So, this week with it being so warm I decided to give it a real field sample.  

I think the photo here really speaks for itself.  I am extremely satisfied with just how well it really downplays it.  It doesn’t erase it completely, on close inspection you can still see the traces of psoriasis, because the concealer can cover the color just fine but not the texture.  However when combined with a pre-treatment of moisturizer, including just a little bit of tinted moisture from CoverGirl to help build in foundation before applying the concealer, It truly makes a night and day difference in how much better my legs look.  I’ve worn skirts every day this week and only worn tights at night for the warmth when the sun goes down and the air cools off.  The best part is this effect was achieved while using hardy any of the product, it was literally just a couple of dabs from the samples.  I will probably be able to get at least another several uses out just the little plastic containers that the girl at Sephora gave me before I actually have to spend the $25 on the real tube, which I’m absolutely going to do.  

For someone of my interests, it does seem strange even to me that I’ve not felt the need to really comment on the controversy surrounding ABCs “Work It!” sitcom.  Maybe it’s because as a wanna-be TV comedy writer myself I at least have some understanding of the difficulty in even getting a show on the air and that it’s possible that the end result of Work It! is nowhere near the original idea its creators had in mind. 

I was out doing a show on Tuesday night when the show premiered, so I didn’t watch it and I haven’t felt all that compelled to watch it on Hulu or other internet sources.  I feel like I got the gist of it from the previews and the marketing and I know it isn’t for me.  I never personally felt offended by the premise, I totally get that men dressing as women is a time honored comedic tradition, I think Tootsie is a brilliant movie and Some Like it Hot is of course a classic.  

While I think the general premise of most cross-dressing comedies can be misleading to the mainstream population, I think if anything they do more good than harm, at least speaking from the point of view of someone who identifies as a cross-dresser moreso than transsexual along the transgender spectrum (a whole other blog entry down the road I’m sure.)  By that I mean that even though it is usually played for laughs, I know that at least in my case seeing men in women’s stuff on TV and in the movies helped me as a kid not to feel so isolated in what I do.  

The film Ladybugs, featuring Jonathan Brandis as a male soccer player convinced to play on a girls team coached by star Rodney Dangerfield, came out in 1992, when I was 11 years old. Even though I knew that Brandis’ character wasn’t wearing dressed for the same reasons I wanted to, the movie was a big deal to me as a kid because I really hadn’t been exposed to that much in the way of men crossdressing in pop culture, aside from the occasional bugs bunny cartoon that Garth Algar would be secretly aroused by.  

The thing is, the general premise of Work It! seems like it could actually make a fairly decent sitcom.  I actually do think a funny, smart show could be written that addresses both the current economic climate, with it’s desperation in regards to employment as well as addressing gender issues.  The tone of a show would have to be more in line with classics like “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” and as many critics have already pointed out in regards to “Work It!,” would need to cast actors who could more successfully pass as female.  

The ratings for the show were apparently not great and I assume it will be cancelled within a few weeks and “Work It!” will soon become a faded memory in the history of failed TV shows, which is good for me I suppose as it frees the market back up for *my* future crossdressing sitcom. 

Somewhat of an early post today, but I’ve got a little time before work to get something posted.  One thing I like to do is take pictures of outfits that I’m working on so that I can both track my progress and also determine what worked and didn’t, and why, when I look back at them not “in the moment.”   So I will also start posting them on here and try to deconstruct them a little bit.  

Today’s look is what I wore to brunch with a friend on New Year’s Day.  It was a nice warm day, even for LA in January, perfect for a light skirt and Bloody Marys.  

This one veers more towards what has become my more relaxed, comfortable style which is to present an otherwise fairly masculine image with just a skirt thrown in.  I did wear a little bit of eyeliner and shadow, but that’s because I’m becoming fairly addicted, and of course my legs are shaved. 

The skirt is from Urban Oufitters, I managed to find it on the sale rack there last week for $5.  My mother would be proud.  I think it works fairly well as a guy’s skirt because the plaid pattern and the way it hangs in an almost pleated quality makes it vaguely resemble a kilt even though it clearly isn’t by closer inspection by the Scottish Purist Brigade.  

The shirt is a men’s tee from Old Navy, size small.  I normally wear mediums when I wear men’s jeans, but I find that some small t-shirts, if they run big, will fit me ok and so when I’m doing a casual male skirted look I’ll often wear one of these because the more fitted nature of the smaller shirt compliments the skirt by not being too baggy. 

On the makeup front, I’m testing out a new product for me here.  Kat Von D’s Tattoo Concealer foundation from Sephora.  I’m using it on my knees where I have a somewhat severe case of plaque psoriasis that causes a lot of inflammation and irritation on my skin.  I got samples of Kat’s concealer from a Sephora store and am pretty happy with how well it covers the redness of my condition, allowing me to wear shorter skirts that expose my knees without the need for tights.  I’m a big fan of Kat Von D’s line for Sephora, I’m also wearing some of her eye shadow in this photo from her “True Romance” collection in the “Beethoven” palette. 

The shoes are men’s sneakers, the “O.S. Sneaker” from Simple Shoes. No real commentary there, I just like them.

It’s a look I was generally happy with, sometimes I prefer keeping it a bit restrained, with something easy and casual, allowing me to be comfortable in the clothes I like without being too in your face about it.  

I don’t deny it, I used to really suck at wearing women’s clothes.  It’s not really entirely my fault, I did spend the bulk of my life believing that I wasn’t actually allowed to wear them, so for the most part all of my dressing up occurred as part of a secret frenzy when I would get enough time to myself that I could lock my bedroom door and throw stuff on, in constant fear of that sound of the garage door opening, which would mean I had to get the stuff off even faster.  What I’m saying is, imagine you had a pretty significant sweet tooth but also belonged to a cult that believed baking was a sin, I’m guessing even if you eventually escaped you wouldn’t be able to just get handed a mixing bowl and some eggs and flour and just whip up a delicious cake.  

So that’s where looks like this came from, some of which are from before I “came out” and some are from those first couple of months where I was so excited to be able to wear skirts that I didn’t really consider, do I look good in them? I remember how proud of myself I was the day I went walking around in the Short North in Columbus in that grey shirt and blue skirt combo, having no idea that I was breaking one of the easiest to follow rules of fashion: don’t wear a full skirt with a baggy top.  

I wasn’t entirely hopeless, I managed to luck into a few good looks, like the one above, which was actually the first “guy in skirt” outfit I ever went out in public wearing, before I was officially “out,” I should add.  It isn’t too bad actually, in fact it is pretty close to how I dress now, except I try not to scowl so much.  But this wasn’t because I had any idea what I was doing, it was because I just managed to put together a look that kind-of, sort-of worked.  When I did start wearing stuff on a regular basis, and the initial newness and wonder started to wear off and I began to look more closely at my wardrobe, I quickly began noticing that some looks were much better than others, and I started to examine them, to see what was working about them and what wasn’t.  

This grey and black combo was the first truly deliberate look I put together.  The boots I had from a previous halloween costume and the skirt and top both came from Forever 21, the shirt was men’s and the skirt was women’s, obviously.  I’d seen the skirt on a previous visit and hadn’t purchased it because I was concerned it looked too much like a schoolgirl uniform skirt. But the next day I was back at the mall and found myself back in the store, and I told myself I would only buy the skirt if I could find a shirt to go with it.  I tried on both of these together, I already had on the tights and boots, and I stepped out of the fitting room, and looked myself over in the multi-directional mirror.  I really liked how the clothes looked and I turned to the girl working the fitting room and said “Hey, does this look too schoolgirl-y?” and without hesitation she said “No, actually it looks pretty hot.”  

Now, I know sales associates at retail clothing stores are paid to say stuff like that, but I didn’t care.  It was exactly what I needed to hear, so I immediately went and bought the clothes, and was so excited about them that I actually went *back* to the fitting room and asked if I could change into them and wear them home, like a little kid buying new sneakers.  Maybe it was a combination of the look and the confidence that the compliment had given me, but I continued to get compliments on the outfit the rest of the afternoon.  I still own that skirt, it has somehow miraculously survived despite being from a store notorious for their shoddily made, disposable clothes, and it remains one of my favorite things to wear.  

It was on that day that I really started to feel confident that I could wear the clothes I wanted, but also, that day was when I resolved to really make an active effort to crafting my own personal sense of style and building a wardrobe that I was proud of.  The amount of compliments I receive when I make a look that works encourages me, and renews my commitment to it.  The fact is, I know that how I dress will always be considered “weird” or unusual to most, but the best way that I can combat that is to make sure that I am doing everything I can to ensure that I look my absolute best when I do it.  

Just started the blog and already I’m getting questions and requests.  Here’s another quick entry for today, because I posted one of the pictures I was less happy with, I was told I should post one of the looks I’ve put together since then.  So, here is a side by side comparison of a look I’m not happy with, and something I wore last week that I felt awesome in. (It also helps that I’ve lost a significant amount of weight in between the two photos being taken.) 

Hello and welcome to Chick Like Me.  Allow me to introduce myself and in the process, what I expect to do with this blog. 

My name is Rye, I’m a stand up comic and writer living in the Los Angeles area.  I’ve been performing stand up comedy since I was 18 years old.  I have also been wearing women’s clothing since before I can even remember.  For a long time this was my deep dark secret, even though I was extremely bad at hiding it because I seemed to continually write jokes about wearing women’s clothing.  But when I was 28 I decided it was time to stop being scared of what people might think and start just being myself.  So with a few key strokes and mouse clicks, I had posted photos of myself in skirts onto facebook and have become a proud and public member of the transgendered community.  

The only thing I’m embarrassed about, looking back, is how fairly awful some of those first outfits were.  What I quickly discovered was that I had been so focused on whether or not I could wear the clothes I wanted that I hadn’t ever really figured out how to make them look good.  One of those first looks:

It quickly dawned on me that having not really had the freedom to explore and experiment with my looks for the previous 28 years had left me on the end of a very steep learning curve that I would need to work my way through.  So I began experimenting with my looks, learning what did or didn’t go together, what worked best for my body type, and what, when I looked at myself in the mirror, made me say, “Yes.” 

For the past couple of years I have tried to continually improve my sense of style, and expand my knowledge of women’s fashions and beauty products.  So, that’s sort of the main point of this blog.  Exploring the world of women’s beauty trough the eyes of a male crossdresser who never experienced the boot camp that is teenage girlhood.  Because I also love talking about myself it will also include details of my day to day adventures in crossdressing, and also news stories and issues that come up in regards to the transgendered community when I feel I have something to say about them.  

So, there it is.  Welcome, and enjoy.