
By Angela Gardner
Happy June my little lovelies. Spring, or
summer... or fall is in the air. It must be El Nino. I haven't been
able to figure out which wardrobe to take out of storage and air out.
Short sleeve dresses, sleeveless tops paired with short shorts or
skirtsor sweaters, jackets and leggings? Fortunately I didn't
put all my sweaters in storage. After a few weather flip flops I've
developed a policy of keeping a selection of attire available to
cover any season.
A case in point:
May twenty ninth, normally a date when you would
expect spring breezes, temperatures in the seventies and pleasant
sunny skies, turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so
far. It was somewhere near ninety degrees and also around the high
nineties in humidity. Just the kind of day on which you want to wear
a giant wig and heavy makeup.
It all started because of one of my other jobs. (Yes kittens, The
Diva has other things to occupy her idle hours. And no, I'm not a waitress in a donut shop!) I happen to be the
Editor of LadyLike
magazine. As Editor I'm proud to say it's the premier print
publication for crossdressers. (TGForum is the online leader.)
My Publisher, a woman you may have heard of called JoAnn Roberts,
phoned me at my mountain retreat and said we simply must do a story
on a hot young makeup artist and fabulous Cher impersonator named
Devon Cass. Devon has a book out called Double Take,
(Regan Books/Harper Collins
Publishers, $24.00) a how-to tome on celebrity impersonation.
(That's not RuPaul, Rosy O'Donnell and Oprah on the cover.) The book
features transformations on several people who, thru Devon's makeup
enhancement, become dead ringers for well known celebs. Among the
most impressive are the trio of Marilyn Monroes. Of course the guy
makes the best looking Marilyn. Devon also transforms a white guy
into RuPaul, and shows us how he turns himself into Cher. It's pretty
amazing and well illustrated with over 160 photos. After looking it
over I said, yes, we simply must!
I had my staff make a few phone calls... oh all right, I called
myself, and in a matter of hours we had Devon lined up for not only
an interview, but a makeover on Jo and I. That's why we had to head
into steamy Manhattan at the end of May.
My friend, female Cher impersonator Melodee, came along to take
pictures and get makeup tips, of which there were plenty. As far as
pics go, we took a demure before picture and thenthe
transformations began. As Mel snapped away Devon, who's a sweet guy
as well as a major talent, worked his magic. Happily Devon's studio
was air conditioned. I was cool as the proverbial cuc as I sat in the
hot seat for my makeover. Slowly, but surely, the humble Diva of Dish
disappeared to be replaced by the haughty and imperious Cher. Yeah,
yeah, so The Diva is sort of haughty and imperious too. I guess
that's why Devon thought he could turn me into Cher in the first
place. Then, he took JoAnn and made her into Lizawith a Z. Talk
about impressed. The lashes alone where enough to impress. With the
right wardrobe and hair (two wigs stacked together in my case) Cher
and Liza were ready for their closeups, Mister Cass.
Not only a Cher impersonator and makeup maven, Devon is a world
class photographer. He made us into famous women and then documented
the change with his camera. Near the end of the color roll, I guess
when the poses got too hot, the air conditioner that had valiantly
striven to hold out the Big Apple heat for the whole session, quit.
It was an overload and the breaker was in the closet behind a whole
pile of stuff. We finished the shoot in full wardrobe and makeup with
no air conditioner. I swear that for the last few shots we didn't
sweat. The moment Devon said he was done, oye, did we start to dew!
Devon toned down our makeup a touch, peeled off our false
eyelashes (the kind that cause windstorms when fluttered too
vigorously) and we dashed off, already late for our dinner
reservation at Lips, the faboo drag restaurant at 2 Bank
Street in the Village. Now that the shoot was done we felt we
deserved a cocktail and some food. (I didn't eat for a week to get
ready for the shoot. Honest.) We dined and enjoyed the show,
featuring our waitress Jennifer Michaels, and the lovely Paulina, the
white trash queen, as MC. Great meal, great show.
Keep your eyes open for the next issue of LadyLike for the
pictorial of Liza and I, and the interview with Devon. It's amazing.
(The next issue of LadyLike -- An exclusive interview with Devon
Cass author of Double Take - The Art of The Celebrity Makeover -
hits the stands in late July. LadyLike -- exploring & expressing
femininity!)
The New Frontier
San Francisco has been a city on the cutting edge for a long time.
After all, that's where they film that cutting edge show, Nash
Bridges. (Don Johnson promised transvestites on the show when he
pitched it to the network, and by golly he's delivered in a few
episodes.) With a large gay community presence, a reputation as a
haven for crossdressers and drag queens, and its status as the home
of the famous female impersonator club Finochio's, it's no
wonder SF has got some good press from the transgendered.
The May 7th issue of San Francisco Frontiers News Magazine
was subtitled Gender-Bender and featured a heavy TG theme.
Transformations, The Ins and Outs of Transgenderism by
Gretchen Lee told the stories of several TG people in San Francisco
(including James Green of FtM International) and included a
sidebar titled Translations, which gave a good list of TG
definitions. Transcendent, by Alec C. Wagner asked the
question, "Where is drag now, and where is it going?" Queens in the
know, from Lypsinka to Lois Commondenominator, answer
the question for your enlightenment and entertainment. All in all
it's a well done issue and if you have the opportunity to read a
copy, take it. You'll recognize the issue by the sexy blonde on the
cover. From her smoldering eyes to her luscious red lips she's quite
a babe... till you notice that her shoulders are pretty wide and that
flat chest is pretty muscular. I have to admit, when Ms Bob
handed me the magazine (thanks Bob!) I thought they had used computer
graphics technology to put a woman's head on a man's body but... I
was wrong. The model (I'd say male model, but with the whole gender
identity thing I'd better not commit. Who know's how the model
identifies?) was Rani Gallardo. Rani made such a hot babe thanks to
great bone structure and the work of another makeup artist, Maria
Haro. You can read
Letters
To The Editor about the issue at their website. Unfortunately
they don't have the May 7th issue there.
If you go to SF to pick up a back issue, time your visit for the
weekend of June 27th and pack your nicest outfit for the San
Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration. For
more info on the event call 415-864-3733,
Email them or visit their
Website. Ain't it about time we
came up with a better way to say all that?
Kudos (what the hell are kudos, anyway?) to Inside Edition.
It's not often you hear a transgendered writer say that about I.E.,
is it? Just today (6/9/98) the show featured a story about the
transsexual school bus driver in Selinsgrove, PA. Trish is one brave
woman who lives in Central Pennsylvania, an area (except for a few
square blocks in State College, PA) that's not known for it's
enlightened attitudes. (San Francisco it ain't.) She was living as a
biker kind of dude with a beard and knew that she had to make a
change. So, she became Trish and is now in the process of transition.
She and another area TS, Valerie, were both shown and interviewed on
the program, and while a slight edge of exploitation was there (hey
it's television ya know) the presentation came off pretty good for
the transsexuals. They said that Trish is still driving her bus and
the school board has decided to let her. When they said that the
parents who objected have pulled their kids off the bus and drive
them to school themselves they made the parents sound pretty
intolerant and dumb. I tried to find the Inside Edition website (they
gotta have one) but I couldn't find them. If you do send them a note
thanking them for the positive coverage.
And, that's it for another month my little gender variants. I must slip
away for my beauty sleep. I hardly get a minute lately. Living in the
woods, on a mountain, one is sometimes visited by small furry
creatures. I have had an absolute horror of a time lately with the
local rodentia. They're not raiding my larder, but I have a difficult
time keeping them out of my makeup. The trap in the lipstick drawer
went off not long ago, and the poor little thing had only gotten its
little mousy lips half-done when it was caught. How sad. But at least
the little fellas have good fashion sense. He had picked the right
color to compliment his fur. EEK! There goes another one! Get out you
rascal! Gotta go until next month... Ta-Ta!
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