Rants And Raves!

Hello!

I’d like to talk about fashion and make up, my favorite subjects!! I'm going to turn you on to some of my favorite magazines, TV shows and web sites and more. If anyone has anything to add to my list, please e-mail me at jenelle@jenellerose.com. 

As you know, GG’s (that’s genetic girls) have all of their lives to develop their  fashion sense, style and practice applying their makeup. For cross dressers and especially those getting a very late start, we can use all the help we can get!

Here is the scoop on how to get yourself up to speed quickly. Soon, you too will have the "look" -and that will be outstanding!

Getting Started 

Videos

First off, there is a video I’d like to turn you on to. Found at my local Drug Emporium but probably available at other discount drug stores as well, is Cosmopolitan’s 20-minute makeover. Granted was article was originally written in 1998, so it may nit be available now OTOH, it may. Go check, it's worth it. This video is a very good introduction to technique. There are sections not only for the face but also hair and pumping up its volume. It sells for $10.00 and comes with money-back coupons for other products that more than make up for the price of the tape. Otherwise, run down to your library and ask them to help you you find some videos on make up or make overs for women and don't shy, show confidence!  Another video available is "The Eyes Have it" with Donna Mills and CDS carries others for cross dressers by Joanne Roberts.

Magazines

Found at local grocery markets as well as drug stores are magazines targeted at the youth market, filled with with basic information that if you are just starting out, is a treasure trove of great tips and techniques. The models are young and gorgeous. Besides the makeup tips, you will also find many interesting and worthwhile articles on buying clothes, including some tips on buying clothes on a tight budget, mixing and matching things for outfits and lots of other great information. Definitely check these one out as a possible source!

Books

While at the library checking on the videos, if you want to save same money, check out (no pun intended) magazines such as Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Redbook and Mademoiselle. Glamour will have some feature articles concerning some how-to but mostly the magazine follows the supermodel scene with not a lot to offer us directly. Recommended for extra reading only. Cosmo, Vogue, Allure and InStyle are the best for make up and fashion ads as well as advice. Books!, Don't forget the library has books on all aspects of our subject-fashion and it's many forms, make up, etc.

Cosmopolitan however is packed with a lot of interesting reading, worthy of a subscription. Redbook is strictly (for most of us), a library read. While you will find some good reading inside, there are only a couple of articles worth the time.

Mademoiselle is very interesting. They not only have some outstanding articles, it is interesting to read what girls, that read these things, think of men. Some of the articles they print show various statistics of many things like the ideal waist to hip ratio and how men and women are attracted to each other. Fascinating!

Back at the newsstands, one of my favorites is Allure magazine. Always full of good tips for makeup and fashion, the magazine is a bit skimpy on really good articles on other things but otherwise is at least consistent in the info area. Other magazines that I have seen but have never read but would like to some day, are those such as Top Model and the like. If anyone out there has read this any of others not mentioned here that you like, especially if you recommend any, please let me know!

Some magazines deal specifically with clothing and putting together a wardrobe. One of my favorites in this category is Lucky.

Television

Moving on to television, I would recommend cable TV if you don’t already have it. One might benefit from faster Internet access but my focus here is on fashion so I will stay on that. One of my favorite channels to watch is E! Entertainment Television. Everyday at noon and at various times on the weekend, they have several fashion shows. Two half hour shows, they themselves rotated at random times are on at noon daily. The shows are Model TV, Video Fashion, Fashion Emergency and Fashion File. (Note: these have, for the most part, been moved to the new cable channel "Style", see below). Fashion File has a traveling host who might be in Milan for one segment and in New York for another, covering primarily the runway scene, including the backstage at these shows! There is talk and "quick, on the spot" style interviews on fashion materials, trends and colors. My favorite E! TV show is Model TV, one of E! TV’s own original programs and it is great! They sometimes cover one "supermodel" per half hour. Sometimes it may be an up and coming star, other times one already huge star. People like Karen Mulder, Claudia Shiffer, Helena Christensen, etc. and once in awhile a guy (no names come to mind here) are featured. If you like the fashion scene and you’ve read this far, then you will really like this show. Check it out!

E! TV's other original show called Fashion Emergency features Emmie. Original shows are on at 9:00 AM Mondays and repeat throughout the rest of the week. Lately it has been in the rotation with the other shows already mentioned. They will take usually someone such as the baby girl from Bewitched, Tabatha, now grown up of course or India Allen and give her a full makeover. Hair, clothes, makeup, whatever it takes for that persons’ need to look good for a special occasion they have in mind to do or to attend.

Another show that features make-overs along these lines that is similar to, but involving regular people airs on the Lifetime cable network ("Television For Women"). It airs at about 7:00 PM but is extremely hard to find on any particular day.

If you know of others, please let me know.

Another show about the runway scene and fashion can be found on CNN. I can’t give you exact airtimes, although if you go to their web site, you can not only download their schedule, you can also view on-line video files from their vast archives. They don’t throw anything away. Ever! They have some new technology that they call "Video Select."

Update: 4/17/00: E! Entertainment Television still broadcasts Model TV, Video Fashion, Fashion Emergency and others including a new one, Stylemakers. Most of these air regularly either around 7:00 AM or early afternoon around 1:00 PM, EST, as well as other parts of the day sporadically. The company behind E! also has a whole new cable channel dedicated to style  appropriately named, Style.

Internet

Concerning the web, see my article "Discovering Newsgroups" that will be of interest to you. In it, I tell you how to set up "newsgroup readers" to "subscribe" (no charges) to such resources as alt.crossdressing.support and alt.crossdressing.fashion. It's easy! E! has a web site too, located at http://www.eonline.com//

A great site for models that you will love is The Fashion Directory at http://www.fashion.tripnet.se/index.htm.

http://www.VictoriaSecret.com

Some manufacturer’s web sites for you to see:

Clinique- http://www.clinique.com/

L'Oreal Cosmetics- http://www.lorealcosmetics.com/

Covergirl- http://www.covergirl.com/

Freeman Cosmetics- http://www.freemancosmetics.com/

Revlon- http://www.revlon.com/

OneHanesPlace (Hane's, L'eggs, Bali, Wonderbra and more- http://www.onehanesplace.com/

And some fashion sites:

Firstview- http://www.firstview.com/

Beautybuzz- http://www.beautybuzz.com/toc.asp

Did someone say, "What about the magazines?":

Allure Magazine- http://www.allure.com/

Lumiere Magazine - Fashion | Beauty | Style- http://www.lumiere.com/

On all of these-don’t forget to follow the links!

Well I guess I’ve given you enough to keep you busy for a while. I would like to close with one more great site. You can browse this site and find such things as "Makeup 101," a 3-part series covering the basics of applying makeup, advice columns and many other interesting articles and FAQ’s mainly dealing in make up (with real girls in mind). A wealth of information is here. You must check it out! Go to http://www.kleinman.com

I hope you enjoyed this article and find it useful as well as entertaining. That was my goal. Till next time, I’ll see you in the trenches!

Jenelle Rose

Jenelle Rose

Copyright © 1998-2002 [Jenelle Rose]. All rights reserved.

Other writings by Jenelle Rose:

Poems: Some Hope

Leaving My Blues

A Song Of Sorrow

Articles:

Discovering Newsgroups (Setting up and using a very rich resource)

Plus many more in the Advice areas, Dear Jenelle, more