RANSVESTIA

called a few minutes earlier, and said I would like to choose perhaps a dress and a blouse and skirt. When they asked what size I wanted I replied that my waist measurement was 30, but that I ought to have a foundation before trying anything on. "Oh," they said, "we don't have bras or girdles or lingerie. You could go to any of the big stores down- town for a girdle and bra, then come back here and choose your other things."

Well, you can quite imagine that I could not go to the big stores and buy a girdle and bra just like that! I asked them if there were any smaller stores nearby where I might be able to summon up enough courage to go in and state my requirements. They directed me to one of the main streets not far away and said I would find plenty of suit- able places there, so off I went.

The reader is asked to keep one eye on the clock from this point onwards, for time itself can arrange peculiar experiences for a trans- vestite out all alone and driven by an irrepressible desire to get possession of a woman's outfit for himself.

It was just after ten o'clock when I went into the shop and about 10:15 a.m. when I left to look for a girdle and bra. I had to walk some distance, but I wasn't too concerned about the passing of time at this stage. I got to the street indicated and commenced to walk along looking at the shops, telling myself all the while to go int he first liekly-looking place and get the job done. At last I found what I was looking for and went in. There were no customers, but-horror of horrors!-a man in his sixties who looked as if his breakfast was con- spiring with his last night's dinner to do him dirt, came forward from the sanctum at the rear and said, "YEAH?" I said, "I am shopping for an outfit of women's clothes to fit myself and I need a foundation first. Can you supply me?" The way he reacted you would have thought my name was Oliver Twist and that I had just asked for more. He bellowed, "GAAHRRN! we dawn't do things like that 'ere." I took to my heels, but without the slightest intention of giving-up, and without thinking that time was marching on. I was driven by a demon, which told me to go and get a girdle and bra-period!

I went further along the street, the clock still ticking away, and found another place. When I went in—about 10:40-there were no customers, just a man and his wife, who were obviously the pro- prietors. They were both busy attending to the racks of garment, and

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