FRANZISKA OUT AND ABOUT

That evening in 2017, Franzi went to see a ballet performance. And it was a really great performance. Preceding the show, two huge live projections onto the curtain showed the two main protagonists, one male and one female, for around 10 minutes, during their warmup routine. Fascinating. Franzi had picked her favorite LBD and red blazer; incidentally, the very same combination as during her recent visit to the opera in Düsseldorf ( Link ). That dress must be one the oldest items in her cabinet and I remember buying it together with my wife, one for her and one for Franzi, more than 10 years ago. Unfortunately, we have yet to go out together  both  wearing them. Looking at these pictures, I am also reminded of those 8 cm black heels. They were perfect with the outfit, but I remember having difficulties balancing in them  and  people, mostly women, following me with their eyes. Nowadays, I am more of a pro wearing heels  and  more modest in choosing the heigh...

What else can you learn from looking back at your archives? You have aged! Ageing isn’t bad in and by itself, though. I am at peace with my age, fem or male, drag or drab. If there is one thing that crossdressing can do for you, it can make you look significantly younger. Franzi very recently had a conversation with a man at a hotel bar late in the evening and somehow the conversation lead to the question of age. When I told him that I am in my late 50s, his jaw dropped and he didn’t want to believe me. I was looking particularly cute and well made-up that evening, though, despite the fact that I had been out-and-about since 10 am. Portrait of the day. This is the same wig I still often wear today. However, it was before I started to regularly have it professionally groomed and styled. Obviously! Incidentally, I just picked it up at my hairdresser yesterday and it looks fantastic. And I was still a little chubby. But some cute legs, don’t you agree?

What can you learn from looking back at your archives? The key conclusions for me: I have since improved on putting together an outfit. I have since improved on my make-up skills. I have since improved my skills to crossdress (aka emulating a woman’s appearance and behavior). How wonderful! All these three skills need practice. Putting together an outfit and learning how to apply make-up is what cis girls learn when they are in their early teens. And doing it daily, builds these skills quickly. A crossdresser like me, who leaves the house en femme just once a month, however, will take years (if ever) to reach the same level. On the other hand, quite a few cis girls never seem to learn the skills of putting together a proper outfit. Or as my wife puts it: the fashion industry continues to miserably fail on its purpose. Another conclusion is: my photographic skills improved as well. The wig I am wearing in these 2017 pictures is synthetic. I bought it 10 years back in Shanghai for around...

Regular readers to my blog will know that I have covered several years of Franzi days out-and-about by now; to be precise: 2018 to 2024. I have also recently shared a picture from my very first day out-and-about in 2013. Hence, there are five more years of historic Franzi pictures and stories to be shared – as we go along. The year 2017 has seen 20 outings of Franzi, some of them as short as three to four hours during a weeknight. Let’s take a look at the first three of them, before we move to into 2025. Portrait of the evening A little odd, that red scarf, don’t you think? A somewhat adolescent look, I nowadays think. I still own that necklace, but nowadays find few occasions to wear it. Why is that? It looks like I am carrying a briefcase. What was I thinking? Or was I coming home from the office? Stay tuned for my next posting to find the answer to these three questions.