RANSVESTIA

By now her clinical attitude to costuming a boy for a woman's part in a play had dispelled momentary flushes of embarrassment, so that I took the bloomers she handed me matter-of-factly, stepped into them and drew them up under my slip. The waist elastic snuggled into my skin above the waistband of the girdle and the leg elastics lightly but firmly encircled my thighs just below the garters. They were of pale blue rayon, like the slip. A very pleasant feeling was creeping over me. As I donned the voile dress and its jacket I realized that Mrs. Ellis must have chosen the underwear color as best to go under the dress, since its prevailing floral pattern was blue. The shoes, I found, slipped on much more easily now that I was wearing stockings, and as I stood poised on the unaccustommed heels and felt the comparative nakedness about my legs I knew I was getting more comfortable as the character I was supposed to represent.

"Turn around,” said Mrs. Ellis. I turned. "Now walk across to the door and back." I did so, stepping carefully but quite boldly. The skirt of my dress it was a fullish skirt and the smooth slip beneath seemed to give my limbs a freedom of movement my ordinary clothes did not allow.

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"O, you look fine." exclaimed Mrs. Ellis admiringly. "Now let me decorate you a bit," with which she selected a bracelet, pearl earrings and matching necklace and fixed them in place with efficient, knowing fingers, while I sat with my legs together and feet to one side, hands re- laxed in my lap and elbows in as I had been taught to do at rehearsals. Only now it felt so much more natural. She touched up the bangs over my forehead with a comb and tied the ends of the almost shoulder- length hair of the wig.

As two or three others came in from make-up, I was rather proud of the admiring whistles they gave when they saw me. I hung about ad- miring myself in a long mirror while Mrs. Ellis got them dressed, and I was even a little jealous of a younger and smaller boy (he would have been twelve or thirteen) playing the minor part of the maid; for he, when dressed in his black crepe frock, let-flattering black silk stockings, his frilly white apron and jaunty white hat, looked very sweet indeed. I noticed that Mrs. Ellis had black lingerie for him with, red roses em- broidered on the legs of the bloomers. I was jealous of this too, finally consoling myself with the fact that I was a lead character and that I had another outfit to put on for Art III.

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