Engineering, Airline Tights, Shanghai Dresses

This is an unusual posting, as you will have to admit. It does not provide any pictures of Franzi or stories of a day out-and-about, or descriptions of culinary highlights, but it does provide a perhaps different view on femininity and CD/TG in China.

Being an engineer sure has advantages. If you make it through the program, you have good chances at securing a good job with a decent pay. Depending on the job, you get to travel the world and to discover new places. I have by now seen close to 70 different counties – both from private and business travel. Travelling broadens your mind, no question, for which reason I recommend it heartily.

For over 25 years, I have used ultra-tight knee-high socks on my long-haul flights that are meant to prevent clogging in your veins, which can lead to all kinds of problems, including death. While I do like the tightness they create over my calf, I dislike that they tend to cut in beneath my knee. Only recently, the thought crossed my mind to look for some ultra-tight tights, which should serve the same purpose.

Research brought up that there is a specific pair of tights available from one of my two favorite hose brands, which seems to be the preferred choice of German flight attendants. That specific pair of tights is even branded after Germany’s top airline. Hence, I now wear Lufthansa air hostess tights on my long-haul flights and it puts a smile on my face when I am being served by one of these charming ladies, knowing that I likely wear the same tights, at that very moment, as she does.

A few weeks ago, I went on a business trip to Shanghai. I do that regularly, and occasionally, I get to enjoy a weekend to myself in Shanghai, which was the case during my most recent trip. For the last 20 years, I have stayed at the same hotel when I visited Shanghai. I have my favorite pubs, restaurants, and wine bars in proximity to the hotel, a wonderful park, a mall, a fantastic grocery store, and a food court.

As the weather was poor, I visited the “Shanghai Museum” in “The People’s Square.” The building itself is nice, but the standard exhibition is anything but spectacular.

However, they were running a temporary exhibition called “Qipao: Glamour and Modernity beyond Shanghai” about the history, cultural meaning, and evolution of the Shanghai-style qipao – the iconic fitted dress associated with modern Chinese fashion. It explored how the qipao changed over more than a century and what those changes reveal about modernity, women’s lives, and cultural exchange between China and the West.

A large screen in the lobby, where you could select dresses to read about them.

It was a femme inspiration, I have to say, which I greatly enjoyed. Let me share some of that inspiration with you.

Some other moving exhibition pieces on screens

"Portrait of Eight Beauties" by Hang Zhiying (1940)

Advertisement Poster by Hang Zhiying for The Central Agency, Ltd. (1930)

And I, actually, saw two CD/TG during that weekend in Shanghai. The first one was a crossdresser, dressed very nicely and convincingly in a traditional female Chinese outfit. What gave him away was his large larynx. The second one was an obese gay guy, together with his partner, with long hair, cute curls, a little make-up, skirt or dress, sneakers, and a tent-like black coat. His larynx was hidden by both his coat and the sheer volume of his neck.

I also looked for a new wig at one of the countless malls, but they didn’t seem to go with Franzi’s style. Agree?