February 27, 2003

 

Salon Experience

by Carol Clark

 

Alice sat in the beauty salon chair as her friend and long-time hairdresser, Betty, combed out her hair as the finishing touch of her shampoo, haircut, and set.

"I'm just worried about how things will be by this time next year," lamented Betty as she explained to Alice how her beauty shop business was declining due to the state of the economy. Women who used to come in regularly were staying away.

"Have you considered luring men as new customers?" asked Alice, as she looked into the wall mirror to evaluate Betty's reaction.

"What do you mean, do you think men would want to visit a beauty salon which caters to women?"

Alice paused a moment, then said, "Well, you know, there are some men who like to pretend to be women. I know a guy who is like that, and he was telling me recently how he and some of his transvestite friends would love to find a beauty shop where they would feel welcome. Would you be interested?"

Betty stopped combing Alice's hair, then walked in front of her salon chair and asked, "Are you serious?"

Alice looked her in the eye, and said, "Sure. Would you be reluctant to add new customers, if they were men who wanted women's services?"

Betty paused again. "I don't know. What about this friend of yours. Is he gay?"

"No," replied Alice, "He is not. He is married and is heterosexual. I met him where I used to work and we have been friends for a few years. I was surprised when he took me into his confidence and told me he likes to dress as a woman. I have never seen him dressed up as a woman but he has shown me pictures, and it is surprising how well he looks as a woman. I mean, for a man, he looks quite good, and I'm sure he would blend in and pass as a woman in some situations. Anyway, it was just a thought."

"Let me consider this," said Betty with a careful reply. "How would my regular customers feel?"

"Maybe you could schedule the guys for days when no women were scheduled. You work by appointment, it would not be a problem, would it? How about if I call you with an appointment for Larry. He could come in, and you could see how it goes. It could be quite lucrative for you, he and his friends could bring you new business. Why not give it a try?"

Alice told her friend Larry about Betty's salon. Larry was a bit embarrassed, but he agreed and had her set an appointment.

The following Thursday, Betty was just cleaning up after her last scheduled female client had left. "Larry" was scheduled to come in for his first appointment, and she was a bit uneasy about how things would go. Then, at exactly the appointed time, a handsome man walked into her salon. He looked around momentarily, then looked at Betty and said, "I'm Larry; a friend of Alice."

Betty was surprised. This man was a transvestite? He looked so "normal"; but she really had no idea what he would be like. But she knew that if he was a friend of Alice, things would be fine.

"Hello, mister ..."

"You can just call me Larry, if you would like. I'm really glad that Alice set this up for me. Almost like asking a girl for a first date and being rejected, I was crushed when I made a simple request for a pedicure at another salon and they looked at me like I was from Mars before telling me they weren't interested.

Larry was trying to act relaxed but Betty could sense he was nervous.

"Alice told me you are interested in receiving a pedicure, and that you have a wig you would like to leave for styling?"

"Actually, I brought in two wigs. One is auburn like my real brown color, and the other is blonde, like the other girl I sometimes pretend to be. Does it bother you that I am a crossdresser? I can keep this chatter to a minimum if you prefer."

"No, this is fine. I'm just learning about this, and having more information will help me. When Alice told me about you, I assumed you were gay. I mean, isn't it true that most guys who dress as women are gay?"

"No, not really," replied Larry. Maybe most drag queen performers that people see are gay, but there is a huge group of "closeted" males who keep secret their desire to be like females, to dress as women and to pretend to be women. For many of us, it is not until we reach our thirties or older that we feel comfortable enough about ourselves to take a step such as going to a salon for services. This will be my first time at a salon. But I told Alice that if you were at all uneasy about this, we would not have to go through with this. Are we on?"

Betty was feeling at ease and was charmed by Larry's easy-going manner. She wondered how he might look as a woman.

Larry seemed to anticipated her question, as he asked her, "I thought that maybe you might like to see me as "Lorene," so I brought some pictures." Larry pulled out a small photo album which looked like a grandmother's brag-book. "Here I am wearing one of my usual outfits. I like to dress like a real woman, but maybe more flashy than things women wear everyday. Dressy looks, I guess. And here I am as a bridesmaid, imaginary, of course. Most of my cross-dressing friends have said they think of being a bride or bridesmaid. And here I am as a secretary. A lot of my typing on my computer is done while I am in "secretary mode." And look, here I am as a maid; you know, many of us crossdressers have a maid fantasy, I really don't know why. My wife likes it too, she likes having Lorene around to help with the housework. And there are times when she borrows a pair of knee-high stockings or a fresh pair of panties from me!"

Betty studied the pictures with amazement. These were not casual pictures of a guy just wearing a dress. Larry had painstakingly applied makeup, had chosen appropriate outfits, and overall had spent a lot of effort and time to look, well, like a woman."

"Very nice, mister ... I mean Larry; or ... Lorene? A pretty name."

"I'm glad you like them. I know that I will never be a real woman like you, but I do enjoy dressing up and being an imaginary woman. I'll put on a pair of walking shorts to make it easier for you to have access to my toenails. Could I change in that next stall?"

Betty continued to look through the album of Lorene's photos. Betty was quite impressed. She tried to see how Larry looked like Lorene and vice versa, but the changes were so dramatic.

"I'm ready," said Larry, as he walked to Betty's station and sat in the salon chair. Betty looked at his legs and saw that they were freshly-shaven and he was wearing pale pink polish on his toenails. Betty was thinking to herself, "I guess there are men who actually do this, but this is a first for me. Men who would want to be like women. Who would have thought so."

As Lorene's feet were soaking in a warm bath, Betty offered to work on Larry's fingernails. "I know you would not want to leave here with feminine nails - or maybe you would! - but let me buff and shape your fingernails a bit so they will look better even for Larry. I see that you take good care of your nails already."

"Yes, some women, who don't know about Lorene, have told me I have great nails for a guy. I keep them longer than most guys do. I like them sort of a "womanly length" without being too long. I want them to look good when they are wearing polish when I'm in female-mode."

The two women, one real, one pretend, had a fun, interesting conversation as Betty continued the pedicure; removing the old polish, cleaning up the nails, and applying several coats of fresh polish. Betty was thinking to herself; "Why is it that men cannot wear nail polish?" It is nothing inherently sexual. Men now commonly wear earrings, maybe someday men will be openly wearing nail polish?

As Betty finished applying the final coat of polish to Lorene's toenails, she was quite at ease with Lorene's easy-going manner. She was looking forward to Lorene's next visit, and she wondered if his crossdresser friends would be as pleasant as he was.

Larry gave Betty a $20 tip as he left, and he told her how much he appreciated her being so pleasant with him. He offered to refer some of his cross-dressing friends to her. "Sure," she said, as Larry walked out the front door, looking quite manly; how could anyone imagine that underneath he was wearing bright polish on his toenails and his legs were as hairless as any woman.

When Alice returned a few weeks later for her next haircut appointment, Betty gushed to her about how many nice men she had met as new customers, who had been referred by Larry. And all of them had been so nice! Betty still expressed amazement that there would be so many men who wanted to dress up and pretend to be women. "Can you believe it, these guys take this so seriously; they spend money on dresses nicer that I could afford; and really, it sounds like they wear dresses more often than any woman I know! And higher heels! This is all so fascinating. And my business has increased so much. I wish I had known about these guys before!"

"So, then, you don't mind providing your services to men?" asked Alice.

"Well, no," replied Betty, but some of them have asked to come in as their "femme" self as they call it, and at first it was strange for me to be face-to-face and to relate to a guy dressed as a woman. But really, it is ok; and they all leave me enormous tips. This has been greatly rewarding to me financially. I guess that many places that provide services to transvestites charge such high prices, these guys consider it a bargain even paying double my usual rates. I can't complain!"

Betty looked at Alice and said, "I purposely scheduled your appointment to be the last one today before Lorene comes in. I asked her if she would want me to schedule you so that you could see her if you wanted to. I know you have not seen Larry as Lorene, would you want to see her today?"

Alice paused, then said, "Sure. Sounds like fun."

Betty and Alice were in the middle of catching up on each others' stories as Lorene walked into the salon. Neither woman had met Lorene before but they recognized her from her pictures. Lorene walked over to them, and said, "Hello, ladies," in the most feminine voice she could muster without sounding falsetto.

Both women tried not to stare, but they could not help but admire how good Larry looked as Lorene. It was obvious that his years of experience with makeup and cross-dressing had enabled him to perfect his look. Lorene was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a pale yellow sweater set. Her shoes were 2-inch pumps with straps across the instep. Her stylish handbag was draped over her shoulder. Her auburn wig looked as freshly styled as when she took it home from Betty's shop at her last visit.

The three women exchanged hugs, then engaged in friendly girl-talk. It was difficult for the two "genetic girls" to keep in mind that this attractive woman was really a guy.

"Betty, dear," said Lorene, "There are a bunch of other girls in our group who would love to make appointments to see you. I told them I would ask you, but that I was not sure about how many you could accommodate."

"Well," replied Betty, "I could always hire an extra stylist, but of course she would have to be someone crossdresser-friendly. Lorene, that is an especially nice fragrance you're wearing," asked Betty, with a curious tone of voice.

"Yes, it is called 'Dazzling.' I bought it for my wife, and she lets me wear it when I am Lorene. I'm really fortunate to have such a tolerant, understanding wife," said Lorene.

After a while of lighthearted conversation, Lorene turned to the two women and, looking alternately at them, said, "Betty, Alice, would you consider coming to one of our group meetings? You could see how we are together. We meet twice each month in a church meeting room. The meetings are open to the public, but we rarely have visitors who are not crossdressers themselves or "CD-curious." Many guys take months or years to muster the courage to attend one of the meetings. I was that way at first. I attended my first few meetings in "drab" as we call it, meaning I was in male-mode. Some of the guys change after they get there, but I am able to dress at home. And driving in female mode has never been a problem for me."

"What do you think, Alice?" said Betty. "Would you mind going with me?"

The next Friday night, Alice and Betty arrived at the church. There was a separate building across the parking lot, where a side door was open and people were inside. Betty parked the car, then they walked over to the open doorway. Inside was a group of tall, mostly fashionably-dressed women. Some of the women were distinctly shorter; it turned out that they were the wives and girlfriends of the other "girls." Alice and Betty were among the "GG's" or genetic girls there.

"It is so nice to see you!" gushed Lorene as she hurried over to greet them, walking as fast as she could in her very-tall high heels. "Tonight's theme is Prom Night!" said Lorene. We have a theme for most meetings and tonight everyone gets to wear their nicest outfit, or a prom dress if they have one. Most of us did not get to go to our proms as girls, but now we can be "prom girls" here!"

As the evening went on, Betty and Alice mingled with the crowd of about fifty. It was difficult in many cases to know for sure who the real girls were. Everyone was dressed to the nines and there were so many beautiful gowns. Mostly in tall plus-sizes.

One of the tall girls opened her purse to get her lipstick out. Alice noticed a small familiar packet in the purse and said, "I guess you're prepared!" referring to the wrapped tampon in the purse. "Yes, it makes me feel so womanly to look for things in my purse and find things you would see in any woman's purse!" said the tall girl with a laugh.

Driving home together, Betty and Alice were still in awe over their evening. "I still can't believe it." said Betty. "All these guys who want to be girls. And they want to be girls more than a lot of real woman do. But they get to play dress-up when they want to and they don't have to face womanhood every day. Surely there would be a lot of dropouts in the school of femininity they joked about."

"And the outfits," replied Alice. "Can you imagine, guys paying a couple hundred dollars for a dress they can only wear at home or places like that? Many of those guys were wearing top-label gowns, along with expensive shoes, makeup, everything. I wonder how many of them would actually want to be women if they could make the change.

Betty dropped Alice off at her home. Betty had a full schedule for the next day; all her appointments were with tall girls!

 

- Carol

  

 

 

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© 2003 by Carol Clark. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.