3 Lessons in Womanhood

Carol made me change into a formal black skirt and cream blouse. “The outfit you have on was fine for the supermarket, but you are going be looking for more professional business wear, so you need to look the part. It’s not like throwing on a sweatshirt, sweater and trousers to last you all day as a man, you have to learn that as a woman you need to change outfits to suit what you are doing. Let’s get ready, we need to get there in time to find you some outfits before closing time.

Although I had been to the mall many times, I walked in with Carol feeling really nervous, convinced that people would be looking at me questioning whether or not I was a real woman, but before going into any of the shops we just walked around a bit, window shopping, until I was a bit more relaxed.

Pulling me into a jewellers, she insisted that I needed to get my ears pierced, “ No girl over the age of ten does not wear studs or rings nowadays. lets get them done, buy a few sets of casual studs and some fancier drop styles, nothing too fancy but appropriate for work as a professional businesswoman.” It was all a lot easier and less painful than I had expected. I soon left, another step on the way to womanhood, wearing small diamond studs and carrying a bag with another two sets of studs, sleepers, wedding rings, and two teardrop sets. two chain necklaces and two gold pendants.

The beauty counter was next, Carol insisted that her skin tone and mine were completely different and that I needed a complete makeup set of my own. The beauty consultant checked my skin and selected appropriate foundation and blusher along with an eye shadow tray, black and brown mascara, eyeliner, and several shades of lipstick and lipliner, nail polish, moisturiser, night cream, cleansers, cologne and some other products which I did not even recognise. Why I needed so much for what may only be a few weeks was beyond me, but Carol insisted that it was all necessary and that she and Helen would over the weekend take me through how and when to use it all.

“ It looks a lot but you need to find the style and colours that suit you, a lot of the stuff you will not use, but you need to experiment to find which are best in reflecting who you are.”

“ I really think that my style would be to not need any of this.”

‘Don’t talk nonsense, I keep telling you, as far as the world is concerned you are a woman now, get used to it and start thinking like one. We will now start from the inside out, let’s go into M&S and pick out a few bras and pantie sets.”

“ I got some in the supermarket, why do I need more.”

“ Two reasons, firstly you need to have a change for every day, secondly the ones you got are pretty basic and functional, but you need something a bit fancier and more feminine. Believe me, a set of sexy underwear will really keep you in the zone for being a woman.”

I was a bit more comfortable leafing through the underwear racks than I had been in the supermarket, but I still had the feeling of being in forbidden territory and quickly selected a few matching sets that looked ok to me, but Carol was not going to let me get away that easily, we spent almost a half-hour looking at different styles and materials, holding them up to me and asking whether I thought they would suit me. “ Dani, you are now a woman, start acting like one, you have every right to be here inspecting the bras, imagine you have been wearing one all your adult life and are just stocking up with new ones, just relax and immerse yourself in femininity.

Next, while we are here, you need some sleepwear, let’s have a look for the nightdresses and nightshirts.”

“ What do I need them for, nobody will see me when I am in bed, I usually just wear boxers and a tee-shirt.”

“ You will be staying with me until my flatmate gets back, I am not having you wandering around half-undressed, and besides, as I keep saying, you need to be constantly reminded that you are now a woman.”

“ Please can’t I just wear a t-shirt and shorts like I normally do?”

“No you can’t, either take this seriously or it will not work, then we will all be in trouble. I will compromise with you though, get a fancy nightdress, a couple of shortie nightshirts and a top & shorts pyjama set, but that will just be held in reserve in case it all gets too much.”

After leaving M&S laden down with more bags, as we were on the way to look for some suits and dresses for work, Carol noticed a shop with a sign for specialist party wear and dragged me in while she went up to the counter, and came back smiling.

“ You are in luck, i have heard about this shop, it specialises in over-the-top clothes for transvestites and drag queens as well as ordinary fancy dress costumes, and along with all the party costumes it also sells breast forms, those bags of rice are not good enough, you need realistic breasts before you start trying on clothes in the stores. I was soon stripped to the waist, measured and fitted with B-cup forms, which matched the bras that Carol had previously selected for me. She insisted that they were stuck on, so that “they will jiggle about when you are moving, just like natural ones.” Although they were not over big, Carol suggested that Sir Charles had met me with no obvious breasts and suddenly sprouting up to anything bigger would just not seem possible. I was shocked when I saw the price, but she insisted that as I would be working as a woman I needed the most realistic ones they had, and after all, it was all going to be charged to Cunninghams.

She was right though, when we left the shop and headed for the clothes stores the weight and movement were a constant reminder to me to remember all the guidance and instructions she had given me.

We soon had selected several outfits, business suits, day dresses and skirts and Carol dragged me over to the changing rooms. “ Get in there, try on the outfits, and come out wearing each one to let me have a look to see how they fit and hang on you.”

Another threshold for me to cross over, I just hoped that there was not many other people in there, but it was bustling. Many of the people trying stuff on didn’t bother with closing the curtains to the cubicles and I tried not to stare too much. In tune with the others, I just turned my back to the curtain, dropped the skirt I had on, put on the first business suit, and went out to show Carol.

“ That does not suit you, change into the next one and when you come out again bring that with you to go back on the racks.” This went on six or seven times before we eventually found a couple of outfits and skirts that she thought suited me. I was getting a bit embarrassed at all the stuff she was giving back to the sales assistant, but she did not seem to be bothered.

“ Shopping as a women is not just about selecting the first thing that fits you, it is an experience to be enjoyed, you could even leave the shop now without buying anything, say you are going to look elsewhere and may come back, and that will be seen as nothing out of the ordinary. Not much left to do now, just a few business blouses and tops, and some casual stuff for around the house and then it’s off home.”

We arrived back at the house laden down with parcels and bags, and I just flopped into a chair, physically and emotionally exhausted, kicked off my shoes and relaxed.

“ You can’t sit there all night, go and hang your new clothes up, just push Gemma’s clothes to the back of the wardrobe, and move some of her stuff around so that you have a drawer for your undies and things. While you are there, get changed into something casual;, that peasant top you had on earlier, some leggings, and the slippers you got. Take off your tights while you are at it, you’ll soon realise that you don’t want to be wearing them for the rest of the evening. Although you need to make a special effort when you are out, around the flat it’s fine to just be casual.”

“I don’t know what you normally do for meals, probably like most single men you will live on takeaways, but not here, we try to eat home-cooked healthy meals.”

“ That’s a bit sexist, most men can cook nowadays, mainly because you young women have never been properly taught by your mothers who have been too busy with going out to work, I’ll have you know that I can turn out some really quality meals.”

“ You fell into that trap easily, if you are so good, there is the kitchen, you helped me put away the groceries so you know where everything is, surprise me, it’s time you started to pay me back for running around with you all day,”

As I didn’t know her likes and dislikes, I made something fairly universally popular, a fish and seafood lasagne, but not having time to make my normal fresh rosemary and cheese topped focaccia to go with it, i just quickly made and griddled Irish soda farls, with the rosemary mixed in . It was all pretty routine for me, once I got used to my breasts jiggling when I was kneading the dough and binding together the fish prawns and sauce for the filling, and worrying about what it was all doing to my painted fingernails.

To say Carol was amazed and delighted when I served it up and she tasted it is an understatement, her eyes lit up and she burst into a big smile. “That is absolutely delicious, I think that you have found a new role as long as you are living here, I could get used to this, I think this pays for all my attention to you.” We enjoyed the meal which was too much really for just the two of us, so half of it ended up in the freezer for another night.

The same could not be said for the bottle of red wine which we enjoyed with it, so after clearing up and cleaning the kitchen we opened another bottle to keep us going while we sat and watched ‘Sleepless in Seattle’. “Try and understand the Meg Ryan character, watch how she reacts to things, try to see and relate to things from her point of view, I know you are finding this difficult but imagine that you are a woman watching this.”

“ I enjoyed that and I see what you mean about watching it from a female perspective, it was a totally different film from what I remembered last time I watched it. After everything that has gone on today, I am so tired, I think that I am off to my bed now.”

“Hold on a minute Dani, it is not that easy, you cannot just go to your room, throw your clothes off and climb into bed, you have some work to do yet, you have to clean off your makeup. brush out and tie up your hair , it can be hard work being a girl. Go and get changed into one of your nightdresses, keep on the panties as you will be changing into fresh ones in the morning anyway, and come back out so that I can lead you through what is to become your nightly ritual.”

After changing into one of my short nighties, she led me through the stages of makeup removal, cleansing and moisturising and tying up my hair so that it would just brush out into style in the morning without having to go to the bother of rollers or styling wand, and eventually I was allowed to go to bed. I tossed and turned for a long while, my head buzzing with at the things that had happened to me and all the lessons I had been given by Carol today, and trying to find a sleeping position that was comfortable with the new breasts on my chest, but eventually I dropped off to sleep dreaming about my new life as a girl.

To be Continued