The Library Lady

by Wendy K. Smith

When I was a young would-be girl, I looked all over for books on how to do female impersonations. After all, I couldn't ask my mother. And one day, to my surprise, I found one. Since then, dragit yourself books have proliferated, and I think the time has come to review some of them.
The first one that I ever got was Michael Salem's How To Impersonate A Woman. Of course, I got my copy in 1974 when it cost $5 and was worth it. I gather that Salem's Exotica Boutique still sells it, but the price is up to near $50 and it's not worth it. Salem did not take himself too seriously and the book has a readable, rather humorous style, marred only by Salem's attempt to push his own line of custom cosmetics. It is a good basic makeup text and that's all it is, with nothing on deportment, and next to nothing on fashion.
The next one out was Virginia Prince's How To Be a Woman Though Male, which was almost the opposite. It had excellent chapters on feminine deportment, hormones and making the transition to full time, but the sections on makeup and clothing simply defined the basic terms with no instruction on how to do it. Virginia herself had been living full time for three years when she wrote it, but she does have a tendency to shoot for the matronly stereotype.
There was also the Female Impersonator's Handbook by Pudgy Roberts, a profession impersonator. Pudgy's book is definitely oriented towards the theatrical impersonator, rather than the girl on the street. On the other hand, if you happen to be getting ready for the next Miss Bar Pageant, this may be exactly what you're looking for. It also has explicit directions for taping your genitals to simulate a female vulva, but unless you're planning an intimate nude evening with that special man or butch, why bother?
From Masculine To Feminine by Jennifer Ann Stevens is more in the mold of How To Be A Woman Though Male. There are sections on hormones, living full time and surgery, plus a chapter on handling coming out to relatives and significant others. There is a chapter on deportment. I don't think it's as good as Virginia Prince's, but it's not bad and has good advice on handling being read. The fashion chapter has a lot of practical advice on how to shop and some good advice on styles. The make-up chapter is limited and there are no illustrations.
However, you will still need to add a good woman's "how to dress" book. I'll go on a limb and suggest Flatter Your Figure by Jan Larkin. It covers how to camouflage every figure flaw I can think of, is clear and understandable, has literally everything illustrated and at least one of my born-women friends swears by it.
Speaking As A Woman by Alison Laing is a specialty item. It covers only feminine voice and speech. There are also chapters on this in From Masculine To Feminine and How To Be A Woman Though Male. Alison's book really is better.
Actually, I feel that the best transvestite guidebook has yet to be written and will probably be multi-volume. Most of the ones I have seen concentrate on make-up and/or fashion. I've yet to see a really good text on deportment, not just walking and model pivots, but how you open a coke can without breaking your nails, how much to tip the hairstylist, what to do at a baby shower, or how to handle the drunken redneck who insists on making a pass in a straight bar. There is also room for a good volume on how to apply and style wigs, plus real hairstyling for the complete novice.
I haven't dealt with manuals for females-to-males. Mea culpa, but at the moment there is only one, which I will try to cover in a future column on F-t-M literature.

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