Transvestia

woman should make her complexion look as well as she can. For a good complexion the use of cold cream at night is imperative. Put it on thickly, leave it a few minutes and then remove it with a soft cloth. If a woman will do this and then use a little powder she will look ten years younger. And speaking of powder, I recommend it for I use five pounds each week on my face and arms.

Now you know how I change my physical appearance. The actual portrayal of women is merely a matter of study. To build up my characterization, incorporating all the feminine tricks and traits of movement or repose which are most easily recognized by both sexes, requires much close observation. I did not attempt to copy from any one woman but observed and studied from many, seeking to catch only what was beautiful and pleasing. I had to modulate my natural stride, to change the abrupt manual gestures of a man to the softer, more graceful postures of a woman, and to learn the proper manoeuvring of skirts both long and short.

Women are naturally my keenest critics. I never lose sight of their viewpoint, and as dress with them is a sort of second nature I try to mirror the fashions in a super- lative degree but not to the extreme. This demands that I keep in close touch with the latest modes but the result is worth the trouble. Also it is worth the expense which is close to $10,000 a year.

The whole thing is simply a business proposition with me. If the public is puzzled with problem of my "trans- formation", that is all I ask, for curiosity is the biggest paying factor in an audience. But believe me, I'm mighty glad at the end of the day's work to be a man again.

THE END

( Julian Eltinge seems to have been one of the most famous professional female impersonators of all time. C.J. Bulliet, in his con descending and often satirical book "Venus Castina" refers several times to him and gives the impression that Eltinge was sensitive and expert. This article appeared with the picture in the August 1913 issue of the publication "The Theatre" in New York. The details of Eltinge's "transformation" can be useful to a modern TV if the changes in styles and ideals are remem- bered. I find his denials of any pleasure in assuming his

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