Comments on: Happy Halloween 2009 from Vampiress Gabrielle

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:39:23 +0000

Thanks for the imagery and costume compliments, Stacy. :) Sorry your Halloween wasn’t very festive, but I hope you enjoyed a good visit with your folks.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:11:08 +0000

Well, unfortunately my Halloween costume was… Me flaked out on the sofa after spending the day trying to get the spare room available for my folks arriving the next day :)

Great work on the photo, and truely awesome work on the freddy costume. You were very definately robbed!

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:46:42 +0000

I bet you made a cool looking “zombie bride”, Sally. :) I wonder if you didn’t feel the right connection because the costume, as a whole, was simply not your preferred feminine style. Just a guess, anyway. It sounds like you still had fun through, and that’s all that really matters.

The getting older thing is a problem for me as well – on many fronts (cd-related and non). I understand your sentiments on that aspect. I take it you did eventually happen across a good party and enjoyed the festivities. :)

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:36:37 +0000

I’m with you. The halloween costume has to be in addition to the female form. I’m not sure why it is, for me, I think it started out as a way to avoid coming out or presenting an image that might be recognized later… When I went out for halloween this year, I did not feel much connection to my CDing. I wore a wedding dress and zombie makeup, but it felt like a costume. It was actually fun… I was not concerned about passing as female even though there were a couple incidents, but it wasn’t my goal.

The most frustrating part about this year…I’m getting older, alcohol is not such an enjoyable thing anymore and the party atmosphere has faded big time… people don’t know how to enjoy life anymore. It was hard to find a good party.

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:22:59 +0000

No worries about chiming in “late”, Dayita. :) I’ve never been on time for anything in my life. lol I’m very sorry to hear about the terrible reaction you received for such a subtle and barely noticeable hint of self-expression. I understand that your relationship with your SO and kids is important to you and that certain aspects of your life don’t fit very well within that.

In answer to “why do we have to play these kind of games”, the answer is no news to you. Just as a black person would get flack for venturing into a white neighborhood in the 1950′s SIMPLY for being the wrong race, so today do most of us (tg) face the same discrimination and hatred from those who are not like us. It really stinks, but it will be something that future generations look back on with surprise – the very thought of treating people poorly for their gender expression will be just as absurd as treating someone poorly because of race today.

As I do with everyone, I encourage you to be yourself; to allow yourself to be yourself. We must all wear masks at times in our lives. Do not forget who you are, though. Until society changes, find ways to be who you are and as you would choose to be. Better yet, find ways to help bring about the change in society. We’re not exactly sparse in numbers. ;)

Vampiress Gabrielle wishes you a MUCH better experience for next Halloween, and a much happier life in the meantime. :)

By: Dayita Angelis

Dayita Angelis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:49:18 +0000

Well I’m late to the post. And as it turns out, my Halloween plans went all pear-shaped, although in retrospect it was not very surprising. SOther & myself (& kids) had an invitation to a “not-really-halloween” party. Well for various reasons herself and I traveled separately to the event and once I arrived, she took major exception to my mode of dress. It ended with me being on the receiving end of some of the nastiest name-calling I have received since grade school.

Now I was not in drag. In fact I only had one femme detail in a dark purple satin tunic that I wore as my skin layer with a black long-sleeved shirt on top. I’ve worn this same combination to work and out for drinks in a professional setting enough to know that it is barely noticeable – the only looks I ever get are from people who seem especially observant, and I’ve never encountered an adverse reaction. But it appears to have enraged her. *sigh*

Why do we have to play these kind of games? Of course the real problem is that it is still rattling around in my head. Personally, I would be happy enough to find a middle ground that honors the body I was born with and the semantics with which I would approach the world, but it seems that is simply not allowed in western society.

Good to see you back in business, though :)

- dayita

By: Erin K

Erin K — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:05:52 +0000

Gabrielle…you are very welcome. The work was really good and you deserve the credit for it (and SHOULD have won too). As to time for things like that, I understand. I do some of it for a living so I see it frequently, what I don’t have is time for things like that at home. My GF and I went to a “sort of” party the night before Halloween and I spent two late evenings beforehand working on a mask…I think I wore it for a total of 30 seconds. There’s hindsight for you.

Erin P…thank you for the links, I have them bookmarked now and will definitely check them out. I’ve been planning it for sometime and like Gabrielle, I’ll have mine at some point. Now that I know where to find the patterns, it might be sooner than I thought.

By: Gabrielle

Gabrielle — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:28:40 +0000

@ Erin K – I’m glad you also see your femme-self as not a costume. :) I think the Star Trek TOS female uniform is a popular choice among t-girls… who also happen to be T-Trekkies. :) Thanks for your compliment on the Freddy makeup. :) I miss the days when I had time for things like that.

@ Erin P – Cool find on the Star Trek patterns! :) I’ll have my ST female dress uniform before my days are through. I prefer an actual dress even though the TOS costumes were really scants (what a strange word!). Glad you were able to give the kids a good scare with your evil sorcerer costume! :)

By: Erin P

Erin P — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:06:07 +0000

Erin... and Gabi. I found a couple of sites that sell patterns. You might be able to order some from local fabric stores as well. But it might be a lot of leafing through catalogs. http://www.roddenberry.com/wardrobe/patterns?p=1 http://www.xscapesprops.com/Star_Trek_Props_Page3.htm Both sites have there strengths from browsing them quickly. From one crossdressing Trekkie to others I wish you good fortune with your endeavors if you choose to take on the task. BTW I freaked out all sorts of children and adults with my evil sorcerer.

By: Erin K

Erin K — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:50:36 +0000

I agree on the costume issue and would not use myself as a costume…Erin is not a costume, but Erin wearing a costume is quite OK and that’s exactly what I did last night. I went as a witch with green and black striped tights and a matching “witchy” hat, both borrowed from my wonderful GF.

As to the Star Trek uniform, I too have been planning that for some time and even thought of trying it this year (time didn’t work out for me either). I go to the occasional SciFi convention in the hopes of finding a pattern. I don’t think I could use an “off the shelf” item, without heavily modifying it and if I’m going to that much trouble, I might as well make it myself (need to learn to sew well first). I will let you know if I find something though.

By the way, part of my work involves things such as what you did for your Freddy costume…you did a GREAT job and I agree that you were robbed.

Thanks,

Erin K.