RANSVESTIA

about the hips, and showed through at the leg only in slim-fitting outer clothes of fine material. Raggedy-Ann type lace frills were absent; sometimes there was some delicate embroidery on the front of one leg. Claire's were quite plain. And the fact that they were hers made wear- ing them so much more thrilling. I only wished my slip matched. One day, perhaps, I thought . . . The slip, by the way, was also tailored, and the top of the bodice went straight across — the "princess" slip, with its V-top accentuating the breasts, was not yet universal. Shoulder straps were rather wider than todays.

I thoroughly enjoyed the remaining performances of School for Scan- dal, which turned out to be one of the most popular of the school's productions. I looked forward to the dressing up and to the subtle defi- nition my clothes gave my characterization. Being dressed as a woman then was for me a very special kind of fun since I knew nothing of trans- vestism. I did, however, enjoy seeing and reading about other men and boys in women's clothes. I became friendly with the boy playing Mrs. Candor. Though quite masculine in every other way he did have a somewhat androgynous figure, with narrow shoulders, large and soft thighs and little hands and feet. His shoes were several sizes smaller than mine, and I don't think his clothing needed any alterations. Several photographs were taken, on stage and backstage, and by me now is a copy of the school annual with four pages devoted to text and pictures of the 1938 production.

I look like a tall and slim English girl in the dress, older and more sophisticated in the suit. English girls tend to have smaller hips than their European and American sisters. In one group shot of the female characters only, Mrs. Candor looks positively stunning in a large black straw hat, black gloves and dainty handbag; he is seated, legs crossed femininely, confident, smiling softly at the camera. People who have looked at these pictures have often asked if he was a boy, and not a recruit from a nearby girls' private school. Even when he removed his wig in the dressing-room he still looked girlish, for some girls still wore their hair very short then. Claire did, I remember. The boys playing the male parts were generally older, but still, in the main, looked like boys than men out of boys. And in an all-boys situation there is usually no alternative: boys must be girls.

In our school it was such a privilege to get into the cast of a play that no one really minded if he was cast in a female part. Some of the finest scholars and athletes had donned frills and furbelows and learned to

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