The most
vivid memories of early childhood relate to the desire to put on something that
only girls wear. But at the same time I firmly knew that it was a terrible
disgrace. I attributed the apron to the girlish things. In kindergarten, when I
was 5 or 6 years old, for classes with clay we were given very simple aprons made
of oilcloth, but there were one or two - beautiful, made and embroidered in a
special way, which only girls wore. Being embarrassed to put on even a simple
apron, I dreamed of putting on that beautiful. Once at home, I put on my
mother's apron in the bathroom. It was up to my heels and I wrapped it twice.
Suddenly my mother came in and laughed, but it was my dream come true and I
tried on my mother's clothes for the first time and for the first time I got
caught.
A little
later, when I was in first grade at school, I began to secretly try on my
mother's clothes. On the rare occasions when I was alone at home, I crawled
into the closet and put on my mother's combinations, sometimes all at once. And
nylon stockings, thin, slippery, which lay in a beautiful crunchy plastic bag.
At that time we lived in the same room, in a communal apartment, and I, fearing
that someone might peep through the keyhole, closed it with a piece of cotton
wool. Somehow noticing a mess in the closet, my mother asked, turning to me:
"Did you wear it?" I portrayed extreme indignation, how could such a
thing be thought!
As time went
on, I grew up. I could already wear my mother's shoes, but soon they became
small for me. But the clothes, although they were long, began to fit me more and
more. Nylon stockings and elastic belts were just a hit for me. But there was
only one belt, and when my mother used it, I had to improvise with garters from
gauze.
Tights were
in short supply, and I so wanted to wear them. In the end, I just sewed stockings
onto my panties. The panties were from my mother's two-piece swimsuit. It was
very comfortable with him. Firstly, it was lying on the far shelf in the
closet, and it could be taken away unnoticed for a long time. Secondly, the set
also included a bra.
Mom caught
me countless times, but all the strict words only worked for a while. Whenever
possible, I tried to wear something from my mother's clothes. Sometimes in
school there were stockings or even a combination under the uniform. Several
times classmates noticed that a nylon stocking peeped out from under the
trousers or laces were visible under the shirt, but, apparently, the morals
were still simple, and these cases had no consequences.
And I
fantasized continuously. The fashion of the late 60s and early 70s was cocky
and I really enjoyed looking at fashion magazines. Every dress that I saw
there, I mentally put on. I looked through the entire stack of magazines over
and over again, each time playing up some story where they asked me, or even
forced me to change. Sometimes the story was quite simple: I was a girl from
the very beginning, and it was natural for me to wear beautiful dresses.
Now it seems
completely incredible, but I even managed to go outside during the day. The
only mom's shoes I had at the time were low rubber boots. I put on a synthetic
cloak on top, tied a headscarf to hide my short hair, and went out for a walk.
To be honest, I don't remember the details of this adventure, but everything
ended well. It's amazing that even then and much later, going out into the
street in women's clothing, I felt fear and most of all was afraid to meet
someone. I don't know how to explain such a paradox: to go out as a girl and
hide in dark corners, afraid to be recognized.
A little
more about paradoxes. Once our whole family went to rest on the sea. Mom bought
me shorts before the trip, but I read the label, which said they were girls
shorts. There was no limit to my indignation. I categorically refused to wear
them. The shorts went into the closet, and later I often wore them when I was
alone.
It seems
that I have tried on all the women's clothing that I could reach. In the
summer, these were sundresses, dresses and swimsuits of my aunt, in the rest
house, things of my roommate.
Mom died
tragically when I was 17 years old. I was in my senior year. I kept some of my
mother's clothes and it seems that from that moment on I was always wearing
something made of women's underwear. During the day at school, at night in bed.
That year I already went to college, I even tried to sew a dress and a skirt
myself. I sewed the skirt according to the pattern in the magazine. It turned
out to be very long and narrow. Not at all what I expected. I had to shorten it
first to my knees, and then completely to mini.
I was still
afraid to buy women's clothing in the store. Several times, having plucked up
the courage, waiting until there were no other buyers, I bought myself
stockings. Buying stockings in those days did not happen quickly. The saleswoman
opened the package; spread the stockings to show the buyer that they were free
of defects. After that, they were packed again in a plastic bag. All this time,
I was barely alive with fear, confident that everyone around was looking at me
and knew that this boy was buying himself stockings.
And then my
father left for a few days and, for some reason, my grandmother stayed with me.
Probably, I was considered not yet independent enough. We lived in a two-room
apartment - I had my own room. In it, I prepared for the entrance exams and
wore a dress, putting on my home clothes only when I left the room. In addition
to the dress, I had my mother's skirt, which I shortened in half, tucking the
hem inward, and a lace blouse. I used my mother's two-piece swimsuit as my
underwear. There was also a garter belt, which I myself had already saved and
restored from things intended for disposal. But I didn't have any shoes. And as
without shoes, the image is not complete.
And so,
having collected some money, I went to the store. In the window I saw a pair of
inexpensive sandals and decided to buy. Just so that they would not think that
I was buying for myself, I decided to name the size smaller. With sandals, this
is possible. I, holding my breath, walked up to the saleswoman and said: "For
me, please, these sandals are size 37". And she replies: “There is no
thirty-seventh, there are 35 and 38. Well, of course, then I should have said
38. But I blurted out of fear: “Come on, 35”. I have no idea what the
saleswoman was thinking. I grabbed the purchase and just ran out.
There
weren't even disappointments at home. I finally have my own shoes! I put on all
the best I had: nylon stockings and a silk dress. I walk around the room, but I
can't even go up to the large mirror - my grandmother is at home. She sits on
the couch in another room, watches TV and seems to be napping. I slipped past
her and sat down in a chair. From the sofa, because of the high back of the
chair, you can't see how I'm dressed there. I’m sitting supposedly watching TV,
actually admiring my feet in new sandals.
Suddenly the
grandmother said: "But I look, I don't understand what kind of girl is
sitting." I froze with fear. The grandmother exclaimed: “Sasha! Do you
wear women's shoes? “I had to get up and show that I was wearing not only
shoes, but also a dress. Now I know it's called "Coming Out". Grandma
didn't ask what, how, why. She simply said, "If you like to dress like
that, you can wear this dress at home."
We agreed
that my grandmother would not tell anyone, and at home I was already openly
wearing only women's clothing. My grandmother no longer paid attention to how I
was dressed: no emotions, no comments - nothing ... It was even insulting, for
me it was a big event, but for her it was a common thing.
But my
grandmother scolded me very much for the cigarettes and made me throw out the
whole pack at once.
But after my
dad, who unexpectedly returned from work, saw me in a dress, I had to throw
everything out.
The pause
did not last long. In the summer, I managed to earn some money, which I spent
on buying women's clothing. I bought a bodysuit and a wig from a thrift store.
I was looking for an opportunity to buy a dress for a long time. I walked past
the hanger several times, trying to make out the dress, but didn’t stop so as
not to attract special attention. Somehow I chose the moment, right before
closing, when there were no more buyers, I bought it, as if at the request of
my sister, although I didn't have to explain the reasons for the purchase -
well, the saleswoman did not care at all. It was a green dress with embroidery
on the chest. This was my first dress.
There were a
lot of things, and I kept them in a cardboard box, and then in a suitcase, in
an automatic storage room at the station, transferring from cell to cell every
3 days. The next summer I worked at a construction site, and there was an
opportunity, under a plausible pretext, not to spend the night at home. But I
had no idea where to change until I saw a suitable place on the southern
outskirts of the city, near the pipes of the heating main, not far from the
road, but behind the bushes, it seemed I was no longer visible. I doubted and
was afraid, but in anticipation of the evening I went to the cinema, where the
plot involved a moment with changing clothes (Breakout, movie 1975, but I
watched in 1979, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072737/). I thought it was a
sign and made up my mind. So, in the evening, I went to the pipes of the main
pipeline and changed my clothes on a small section of the concrete foundation
(the only clean place). I was wearing grace, stockings, a dress, a wig,
high-heeled shoes, and a handbag. I put my clothes in a box and just left there
by the pipe. It was August and it was getting dark early. I walked the streets
for quite a long time without attracting attention to myself, but, truthfully,
without going into crowded places. One thing is bad. I practically did not know
that area and caught myself very late at night on the road, far from houses.
First, one car slowed down, I waved my hands that it was not necessary, I would
go there myself, although I had no idea where to go. Legs from heels began to
hurt, there was nowhere to sit, only the road and the field all around in pitch
darkness. In general, when another car stopped and offered to give me a lift, I
agreed. Two guys went, one started a speech that, they say, we guys are good,
went to visit. However, as soon as residential buildings appeared ahead, I said
that I had arrived and jumped out of the car. Then I was 21 years old and just
amazing naivety. However, hardly anyone could have imagined that at night a guy
dressed in women's clothes could walk the streets. Everything ended well that
night. I walked up; the rest of the night sat on the bench, taking off my
shoes.
But other
exits have seriously undermined my confidence. The next time I arranged such a
walk: after work late in the evening, when we all went home together, I
returned to the locker room, to my secret drawer under a plausible pretext. I
changed into a dress and went home, where I changed again on the stairs and
came home as usual. Somewhere in the middle of the road next to me a car slowed
down, and the driver, opening the door, asked: "Let's go?" I said no,
but then he said: "Oh, what a man worth." His girlfriend looked at me and
scolded him: "What are you?" He left laughing, but I was not at all
funny. It's so easy to expose me from afar at night …
And after another
incident, he completely stopped going outside. In those days, leatherette coats
came into fashion. It was so shiny and looked so great that I bought it. And
so, in the fall, I went out of the house at night. On the street, I met two
girls and bravely walked alongside them. When I looked around, I saw that they
were looking after me and laughing merrily. It convinced me that I didn't look
like a girl and everything is very bad.