For as long as he could remember Ashley Stuart had always been obsessed with flying and aircraft. As a youngster his bedroom was festooned with self-assembly models made from kits, the walls were littered with posters of aircraft in flight and on the runway taking off. His ambition in life was to become a a commercial airline pilot for one of the major carriers. While he was at university studying aerodynamics and flight theory he joined the University Air Squadron, UAS, where he took flying lessons in preparation for his intended career and obtained his Private Pilot’s Licence, PPL. After graduation he applied for for a commercial pilots course, sponsored by a national carrier and sailed through the basic aptitude and theory tests.

However as part of the requirements for a Commercial Pilots Licence and further flight training he had to undergo an intensive medical which showed up that he had a significant degree of colour blindness which would preclude him from many roles including night flying, which would be a major stumbling block for long-haul operations.

He was totally shocked and depressed when he was told that although some roles would be available to him according to CAA (*1) rules, it was company policy to not employ pilots with his problem as it would restrict where and when he could be allocated a flight. He was offered a role doing short-haul delivery hops in light twin-prop aircraft, but had dreamt about travelling the world to visit all the exotic and exciting cities he had read about and so turned it down asking what other options would be available to him. Unfortunately the only role available to him was as a cabin-crew flight attendant, but he considered that was better than not flying at all, and signed up for the training course.

The training group he was in was mainly female and only included four other males: two quite camp and obviously gay who quickly teamed up together ignoring him as he made it plain that he was straight; two who were extremely macho woman-chasers who thought that they would have their pick of the female flight attendants and considered that the short slim slight Ashley at 5’7” and 125 lbs didn’t fit with their image. That left Ashley out on a limb, but he soon teamed up with a friendly group of the girls, Jo, Kathy, Sue and Sally who seemed willing to accept him into their group at coffee and lunch breaks and at the end of each day over a glass of wine in a local bistro in a.discussion group going over the things that they had been taught. Over the course of the training programme they all became close friends and spent a lot of time together.

As well as the technical issues of safety procedures. security issues, and company customer care approaches they were given lectures on personal grooming and company policies on uniform codes, hair care, and for the girls makeup styles.

At the end of the course, they were advised that the dress codes were being changed and that they were selected to be the first to be issued with the new style uniforms. Out went the formal suits, formal hairstyles and associated accessories replaced with a more casual and easier to maintain style, a unisex light cotton short-sleeved jumpsuit and loafers which the company considered would be much more practical and customer-friendly As they went to collect the boxes with their new uniforms and flight bags, ready for their first flight posting the following day, Ashley was called back by the course tutor.

“Ashley there has been a bit of a mix up with the uniforms and it appears that you have been allocated a female uniform and it will take a few days to sort it out, so your first flight will be delayed.”

“What do you mean by a female uniform? I thought you said that they were unisex to give a common corporate image.”

“Well, generally they are but the female style is slimmer and more fitted and the zip flap goes right over left rather than the other way, but otherwise they are virtually identical, and the loafers have a slightly raised wedge heel. It appears that with your name, your size, and the fact that your size chart was submitted grouped with the girls you have teamed up with, it was assumed at the uniform suppliers that you were female and they allocated you what they considered to be the appropriate uniform.”

“Are you sure that nothing can be done, I am so looking forward to my first flight tomorrow.”

“I’m afraid not, but if you are so desperate why not wear the uniform you have been issued with, I’m sure that no-one will notice the slight differences.”

“‘I’ll go and try it on and see what it looks and feels like, give me a few minutes before cancelling my flight allocation.”

When Ashley tried it on, other than feeling a bit snug, he didn’t feel the slight differences were worth worrying about and decided that it would do until something was sorted out.

Ashley and the girls went out for a group celebration meal where the main points of discussion were which flights they were on and what they thought of the uniforms. The girls were quite happy as they thought the jumpsuits were a lot more practical than the previous skirt and jacket sets, and the loafers would be a lot more comfortable on a long flight than the heels they were expecting to have to wear. When Ashley told them that his uniform would be the same as theirs the girls had a good laugh about it, the general reaction being ‘that’s what you get for hanging out with a group of girls’, but they didn’t think that it would be anything to worry about.

When Ashley dressed the following morning he noticed several other difficulties with the uniform he had been given which he had missed when he had first tried it on. As the jumpsuit was more fitted and made of a light material he could see what the girls later told him was a VPL, a visible panty line, where his boxers bunched up and he needed to change into snugger-fitted light briefs. It also highlighted the fact that the front zip only opened to just below waist height, rather than down to the crotch where the mens version would go, which meant that he would have to completely drop the whole jumpsuit to go for a pee, just like the girls would have to do, it was no longer a quick zip down, out and in, zip up that he was used to. When he opened the flight bag to put in his change of clothes, toiletries etc he found a shoulder bag inside and realised that the pockets in the jump suit and the associated fitted blouson jacket were quite shallow and gave no room for putting anything in. Again just like the girls he would have to use the shoulder bag for his wallet, passport and other bits and pieces. It was not a case of the simple differences that had been described to him.

However he was committed to his flight, so collected his case and bag and made his way to the airport, where he met Jo who would be on the flight with him.

“Hey, don’t you look cute this morning, you know with a bit of makeup you could pass as another one of the girl flight attendants.”

“Pack it in Jo, I feel embarrassed enough as it is, without comments like that, but I am prepared to grin and bear it, let’s sign in, meet up with the rest of the crew, and get the aircraft ready for our passengers.”

They met up with the captain, co-pilot, and the four other flight attendants who were all female, and were soon welcoming their passengers aboard seeing them to their seats and carrying out all the safety checks. As had been suggested nobody made any fuss of the way Ashley was dressed ,most of the passengers seeing and treating him as another of the female attendants, which frustrated him, but he just smiled and bit his tongue. It was only a short hop over to Munich, with a 45 minute turnaround for refuelling and restocking, which gave Jo and Ashley an opportunity for a quick coffee and sit down.

“What do you reckon then Ashley, did you enjoy your first flight?”

“It wasn’t too bad except for all the passengers addressing me as Miss or Dear, I should have waited for the mens’ uniform, although this one is mostly quite comfortable and practical. I don’t know about you but these new shoes are rubbing a little bit and my heel is getting sore.”

Jo giggled as she fished in her shoulder bag. “Here you are, you should wear socks, but these should do, I’m wearing tights but these knee-highs will do the same job, and you can put them on your feet without stripping out of the jumpsuit. Go to the loo, and I suggest that you use the ladies after all the comments you have been getting, sit down in a cubicle and put them on, and don’t forget your bag, I’ll come with you, I need to go anyway.”

“First time for you in the Ladies Ashley, it’s a pain having to unzip and drop the jumpsuit to have a wee, isn’t it? Us girls are used to having to fiddle about with things in there, dropping our trousers and tights or hitching up our skirts to sit to wee, but it must be bit of a change for you rather than just unzipping your flies.” Jo jokingly said as they left the cubicles.

“To be honest, with this jumpsuit I had to do the same as you, drop the suit to my hips and it was just as easy to sit down to pee to make sure that I didn’t splash onto the suit.”

“All that palaver is why we girls take so long in the cubicles and why there are always queues at peak times.”

“I never thought that I would be comparing toilet habits and associated clothing problems with a female colleague Jo, it’s a different world. Anyway we need to get back and get ready, the passenger gate will be open soon.”

The flight back was much the same, quiet and well organised. It was mainly a business flight so there was none of the rowdiness that Ashley had seen on holiday tourist flights. After the passengers had left the aircraft Ashley and Jo collected their belongings and went for a coffee to unwind.

“How are your feet Ashley did those knee-highs work for you.”

“They were brilliant, thanks Jo. I did put some socks on this morning but that made the shoes too tight, so I just went barefoot. I’ll get some more of the knee-highs on the way home.”

“I’ll come with you, I’m going your way, we’ll stop off somewhere. You need to make sure that you get the right ones, there are so many options, too fine and they won’t last out the day, too heavy and your feet will sweat. That’s another thing, I’ve found that the jumpsuit rubs a bit and tomorrow I’ll wear a light Camisole underneath. If you only have the normal men’s coarse cotton t-shirts or vests which will maybe be too warm, perhaps we should get some for you too, nobody will be able to see them and you will feel a lot more comfortable.”

Ashley came away from the shops with 2 packs of 20 denier knee-highs, one pack natural and one pack black, along with 5 cami tops in beige and white, with Jo insisting that he would be more comfortable wearing them under the suit, enough to last a week with them all being washed over the weekend. In the morning Ashley put on a cami top under the jumpsuit and although it was styled for a woman with thin shoulder straps and a scooped neckline it felt comfortable, taking away the roughness of the cotton.

As it was to be another short-haul flight, just down to Bordeaux, he didn’t bother with the overnight case, just putting his necessities along with a spare pair of knee-highs, into his shoulder bag, met Jo at the airport and helped to prepare the aircraft ready for the passengers. Again during the flight he was often mistaken for another of the female flight attendants, but just accepted that it didn’t really matter, the passengers were only on the plane for a couple of hours.”

“I feel much better wearing the cami this morning, how about you Ash?”

“Much better, it was a good idea of yours, and with my knee-highs I hardly noticed the shoes.”

“I’m off to the Ladies, are you coming. Apart from everything else the air-conditioning on the plane is drying out my skin and I need to put some moisturiser on my face which means redoing my makeup. It might be a good idea if you use some too, your skin looks awfully dry. I usually use a tinted moisturiser which acts as a base for my makeup, but this one has no colouring, give it a try. If you rub it in well, it will get rid of the moisture sheen and will be unnoticeable.”

When we arrived back to base, I realised that the moisturiser had done its job, my face felt softer than normal and still had a bit of a glow about it. “Jo, will you help me pick some moisturiser, there seems to be so much choice? I think I’ll continue to use some,”

“No problem Ash, you can spend a fortune on ones that make all sorts of claims about rejuvenation, removing wrinkles and rehydration, quoting all sorts of medical mumbo-jumbo, but a good basic one applied liberally overnight and again lightly in the morning will freshen up your skin. When I first started using makeup, my mum gave me all sorts of warnings about cleaning everything properly before going to bed, but like most teenagers I ignored her, and now have to work harder to keep my complexion clear. You men have it easy, but a bit of moisturising won’t do any harm.”

Ashley had got used to wearing the jumpsuit by the end of the week, and thought that as the uniform one was so light and comfortable he would get one or two similar things for wearing around the house on his days off, along with some extra casual loafers. He thought “Ok, they might be for women but they will all be comfortable and practical, look unisex not too feminine, it’s not as if I would be wearing dresses and skirts.”

He picked out a pair of his skinny jeans and a a long cardigan, which he thought made him look sufficiently androgynous if not feminine, picked up his shoulder bag, which had now become a habit for him and set off to browse the shops. He soon found two really nice jumpsuits, one in soft denim and one in in pale cream linen and was having a good look at them when he was approached by a sales assistant. “Why not try them on dear, I think they will both suit you, and they are on sale at the moment, 50% off.

She led him over to the changing rooms where two women got in just before him but he managed to get the last curtained-off cubicle. He tried out the linen one first and went out to look in the mirror to see how it looked. “ That really suits you dear,” said one of the women who had come out to see how her dress sat on her. “I wish I was slim enough to wear something like that, but unfortunately those days are gone.”, obviously assuming that Ashley was another woman.

“Thank you for that, I’l get this one and the other one too, I’m treating myself to some new outfits today.”

It was the same in the shoe shop, he had a quick look at the racks of men’s casual shoes but there was nothing he fancied, and was looking through the women’s section considering a pair of brown leather slip-ons, but was a bit put off by the deep wedge heel. “I like those myself, said the saleswoman, what size are you, I’ll get you some to try on.” He ended up leaving with two pairs, the leather ones and some cornflower canvas loafers, again with a bit of a raised heel to them.

He made his way home, having enjoyed visiting the shops, desperate to get out of his tight jeans and into the denim jumpsuit and new loafers, amazed at how it had been assumed that he was female, nobody questioning him or treating him any different to any other woman. He had always been short and slim but nobody had ever before questioned the fact that he was male. Sunday morning he needed some groceries to top up the cupboards, but felt comfortable going out in his new outfit. Draping his bag over his shoulder he walked down to the local supermarket and quickly found everything he needed. Rather than going straight back home, he decided to have a stop for a coffee. He was watching the world through the café picture window when he noticed someone stop at his table and sit down.

“Hi Ash, I didn’t expect to see you here.” He was stunned to see Jo smiling at him. “I wasn’t sure that it was you, you look a lot different this morning, I really like that jumpsuit, you’ll have to tel me where you got it.”

“This may sound weird, but I found the uniform and shoes quite comfortable during the week, and yesterday decided to get something similar for casual wear around the house. At the shops I expected to be seen as a man buying women’s clothes and be really embarrassed but I was just treated as a woman. I didn’t expect to meet anyone I knew today so just put this on to come to get a few bits and pieces.”

“Don’t worry about it, it looks good on you, and with your collar-length wavy hair you look quite feminine, there’s no reason for anyone to think differently, although a bit of lipstick would be the icing on the cake.”

“Jo, can we please keep this between the two of us.”

“Of course Ash, I promise, we girls tell each other our innermost secrets and usually manage to keep them. Let’s finish our coffees, then I need to to get a few things and afterwards we can go back to your flat, where you can show me the other things you bought. After she picked up a few grocery items he led Ashley over to the makeup racks and picked out a few bits and pieces, before leaving the shop. “Ash, please don’t take this the wrong way, but the suit is not sitting quite right and is stretched at the waist. It will sit a lot better if we get you a cincher to push in the lumps of your love-handles, It will help with your uniform too, I noticed that was also a bit stretched. What do you think, are you willing to give it a try.”

Back home Ashley squeezed into the cincher before putting on the linen jumpsuit and leather shoes to show Jo. “That’s much better Ash, you have a definite waistline now. If you wear the cincher most of the time, including in bed, your body fat will gradually redistribute itself. I’m glad you decided to give it a try. It’s time I was going, but you should change back into the denim outfit it is much more durable for doing odd jobs around the house, that cream linen will soon get dirty.”

As Jo was leaving Ash called her back “Hey Jo, you’ve forgotten one of your shopping bags.”

That’s ok, it’s all for you anyway, just a few things a girl needs, a tub of slightly tinted foundation, some lipsticks and mascara, nail polish. Have a play with it and see how you get on, if you are going to go out wearing women’s clothes, you need a bit of warpaint to seal the image. There are some remover pads in there too, make sure you clean everything off, I don’t want to see any traces when you turn up for work tomorrow.

For the rest of the afternoon and evening Ashley stayed in the jumpsuit and loafers, cooked dinner and tidied up, not really giving a lot of thought to how he was dressed, but decided to leave the makeup that Jo had bought for him.

When he put on the uniform in the morning to get ready for work, Ashley had to agree with what Jo had said, the cincher really pulled in his waist and the suit sat a lot better.

“Hi Ash,” Jo greeted him, “no trace of makeup, no tell-tale signs, that’s good.”

“To tell the truth, I didn’t bother giving it a try. I find the clothes comfortable and will continue to wear them, but I am not a woman and don’t wish to pretend to be one.”

“Ok grumpy, whatever you wish, Let’s go and get ready for the hordes.”

When we returned later they were told that the following day would be a flight to New York and would involve an hotel stay, mainly for the cockpit crew so as not to exceed their flying hours. This meant the overnight bag with a change of clothes and Ashley carefully packed a shirt, trousers, jacket, underwear, and socks along with the usual toiletries.

However things did not go according to plan. When they arrived at JFK Ashley’s case was nowhere to be found, and the best on offer was the usual staff lost-luggage package with emergency overnight kit.

After they had checked in at the hotel, with a cheery ‘welcome Ladies, enjoy your stay.’ from the concierge, they went up to their rooms which was actually a double suite with an interlinking door. When Ashley opened the emergency pack he found it to be the female version, a cotton nightdress, a pack of panties, some tights, a pair of leggings and a cotton top along with a collection of basic toiletries and cosmetics. He needed to get out of the uniform so just put on the clothes he had been given before knocking on the interconnecting door to go in to see Jo.

“Please do me a favour Jo. I need something better than this to go down for dinner tonight, can you ask at reception if there is anywhere nearby where you can get me something. Don’t go mad and spend a fortune, it’s just for one night.”

To be continued.