Tips on finding a suitable storage space (Part 1 - Storage Unit)

I have been wanting to do this blog post since my very own episode of storage space hunting. Hopefully this post can help my fellow CrossDressers who are having troubling hiding their CD stash or clothing in their home, to find a nice place to hide their CD stuff and possibly dress up. As this topic can be quite technical and can be quite lengthy, I will split this into a three parts postings. 

Singapore is not a very big country; most of us do not have the luxury of owning our own penthouse, studio apartment or private property. Unless you are still single and above 35 years old, you can probably get your own singles unit of 2 room housing. If not, it is highly likely that you are staying with someone else in your house, they can either be your parents, your siblings, your spouse, your children or if you rent a unit, maybe roommates or landlords. The bottomline is, having your own living space or privacy is not an easy feat in Singapore. 

When staying with others, if you are sharing a room with siblings, not sure if you face the problems of someone rummaging through your stuffs and belongings. If you have the privacy of your own room, good for you. However, does your parents have access to your room and may want to help you tidy up your room once a while? For married couples, do you have place to keep stuff that you will not want your better half to find out? I guess these are the typical problems faced by a CrossDresser, having a private space to hide their female clothing and other CD stash such as make-up boxes, wigs, heels and etc... (of course unless you come clean with your spouse or family members about your CrossDressing habit and they accepted it, then it is totally no issue at all...)

Technically, the best option will be to get a storage space since it become quite popular in the recent few years all thanks to Working From Home (WFH)... Storage space is gaining traction in Singapore especially the recent years with many companies setting up within the last 10 to 15 years. We got StorHub, Extra Space Asia, Space Next Door, Lock+Store and many others. You can check out some of the storage space using the links below. 

https://www.bestinsingapore.co/best-storage-providers-singapore/

https://thesmartlocal.com/read/storage-spaces-singapore/

Space is scarce in Singapore and storage space is extremely good business. For CDs, it is definitely a godsend as it can definitely help to address the conundrum of having a proper and private space to store our CD items. In fact, some of the CDs I know use the storage space as a secret place for them to dress up. That is killing two birds with one stone, having a secret hideout to store all your CD stash and a small personal area to crossdress. In my initial stage, I was using this as an option. However, I did not really do my homework and I was just thinking of cost. So, I rented a 25 square feet storage space in a secluded area (good thing that I drive) for around $100+ per month but the storage place is not air conditioned and the lighting works using motion sensing. It is definitely good to store my CD stuffs but not really conducive to crossdress… 

For those CDs who are considering this as an option. You will need to take the following into consideration.

(1) Location of the Storage Space – Is it easily accessible? If you drive, then it is less of an issue but remember this, the more time you take to travel to your storage space, the less time you have to dress up. And also, if it is more out of the place, that means you can have greater privacy to dress up without the fear of other people accessing their storage space unnecessarily…

(2) Size of the Storage Space – How much space do you need? I have to forewarn you. This can get really addictive, at least for me… Space is never enough. If you just want to store clothing and other CD stuff and crossdress when you book a hotel, then a locker size will do just fine. If you want to storage space to be like a mini walk-in wardrobe style. I think you will need at least 25 square feet and above. 

(3) Facilities and amenities – Is it air conditioned? Air condition is a MUST. Trust me on this one. How is the door like? Is it shutter down type or normal door type? For me, the door type is better as you can somehow “lock” yourself inside and crossdress without the fear of busybody checking out your storage unit. Generally, you have to provide your own locks. Do you need power point for electrical power? Most storage units do not come with their own power socket. Some CDs may want a basin or toilet nearby for washing and cleaning up of make-up or even showering, but this can be quite tricky for storage unit. However, the easiest way is to use wet tissue, make-up removal and some cotton pads then go to the nearest toilet to do a final wash up. However, shower units not commonly found in these places.

(4) Costing per month – How much are you willing to put in per month to maintain this space? I will not advise you on this, to each his own. For me, for the price I paid, I feel is not worth. You can see from 2 different perspectives. (A) Overall amount you paid per month VS (B) Price per Square Feet or Square Metre. I have gotten an extract from a quote that I inquire from a popular Storage Space provider who got air conditioned units to rent out. If you look at the promotional or discounted price, the storage space unit is actually still quite expensive. Let’s do some math here. For an 81 square feet unit (7.5 square metre) with air condition, we are paying like $526.44 per month. That works out to be around $6.50 per square feet. If you want cheaper and choose a non-aircon unit, I got one that is around 29 square feet (2.7 square metre) that goes for $189 per month (not including service fee of 10%), that works out to be still around $6.50 per square feet. Of course the pricing will varies with the location, for those more "ulu" storage space, like the one I used previously, it will cost around $228.74 (not including service fee of 10%) for a 39 square feet unit, that works out to be around $5.80 per square feet...

However, for these storage units, they usually bundle with more discount (such as giving a few months free rental) or give better promotional price if you sign up longer lease term with them. So, if you factor those in, you may end up paying slightly lower price overall. However, I feel that the cost per square feet will still be steep regardless… 

Most CDs do not need a large space to store their clothing and CD wares and if they want to crossdress, they can just find a few other sisters and book a hotel for a dressup staycation or crossdress in the storage unit if it is big enough. Hence, they will go for the smaller units that suit their needs and this is why storage space units are more popular with crossdressers here. 

There are other crossdressers who choose to rent a commercial unit and share with other crossdressers to even out the cost, thus they do not need to fork out so much each person for the monthly rentals. I guess when it comes to commercial units, a lot of us may have a lot of queries and worries. I was in that predicament too last month, but having gone through the trouble and landing myself a good unit. I have to say, it is not that difficult or scary after all… I will share how to source for a unit, what is needed and also the costing. Stay tune for Part 2. 

Harassment and Unwanted Attention

Recently, I have decided to take 2 weeks off from my CD social media and soft delete (closed) my blog to cool off and lay low as I was getting harassed and unwanted attention on these channels. Actually, I wanted to take some time off my alternate life as the recent episode of moving my lair really set me thinking... Is it a sign from heaven to stop me from CrossDressing and to focus more on my normal life? Anyway...

Despite that I am sharing my personal stuff on my blog, I am still quite a private person in general. I shared my experience and my CD journey "publicly" as I hope that my blog can some day be a resource for fellow CrossDressers. By sharing my stories and thoughts, I hope I can relate to other CrossDressers and some of their encounters or predicaments that they may be facing while on their CD journeys. I hope to reach out to them, letting them know that they are not alone and what they are experiencing, someone else had gone down that path before.

Back to my recent unfortunate events... Ever since I started posting photos of my make-up facial shots on social media, I became more cautious of what I post online and who I approve as friends or followers. My rules are quite simple, I only add or approve requests from fellow CDs. I written it as a rule on both my social media accounts but yet I am still getting requests from men who are friends of friends with some of those CDs that I have approved or added. 

As a rule of thumb, anyone with a profile picture of a man, or with user name that sounds like a man. I will not approve the request. For those with profile picture without head but dressed in female clothing, or even if the profile picture is a woman or potentially a CrossDresser, I will still have my reservation due to the rampant use of FaceApp or photoshop to edit their photos. In this internet and social media age, it is hard to trust people online. Only for those that I feel potentially safe, then I will approve the request. And for those who cannot understand my basic rules that I only accept requests from CrossDressers, I will just block them. In fact, I blocked quite a lot of those who tried to add me as friends because I do not feel comfortable sharing my photos with them. Who knows what they wanted my photos for and I feel that it is intrusion of my privacy. One of the thing is that I do not want people to leech my photos and pass it as themselves.

Even though I shared my CrossDressing photos in social media, it is more for other CrossDressers to see and admire. I do not get a lot of likes but that is perfectly okay as I just wanted to share it with some of my CDs friends whom I never met. However, there were times when the friends of my CD friends, mainly guys, who will see my photos and then try adding me as a friend or try to send me a message. I am okay if other CDs comment or like my photos but I never feel comfortable having guys liking or commenting on my photos on social media. Some guys can claimed that they do crossdress but never have any photos. That does not hold as people can claim whatever they want on internet and there is no consequences or repercussions. However, for CDs like us, showing our faces, even though covered with make-up, can still run the risk of been outed. That is why I have to be extremely careful when it comes to online stuffs. 

I believe other CDs also have their own fair share of harassments or unwanted attention, maybe others got more interesting encounters to share. I will just to share some of the messages that I received over the years on my Facebook. 

Case 1: Gloves Lover

There was this guy who is a gloves admirer but I just block him, and he messaged me privately that he will block me in turn. Well, not sure which part of "Accepting on CDs" does he not understand? Good riddance, that is very much what I wanted, guys off from my profile. Thank you very much. 

Case 2: The one who cannot keep his private private...

This was the most recent episode and the one that really pisses me off. This guy was on my friend list somehow. I guess I got deceived by the profile picture but I just keep him there as he "seems" quite harmless initially. There were frequent "Hi"s but I just cannot be bothered to make small talks with people who I do not feel connected. Just a fortnight ago, he sent me picture and a video of a private part, not sure if it is his anyway. 

To be honest, I feel quite indifferent to it as what he has, I also have. But what irks me is this type of disrespectful behaviour. People do not run around showing others lewd pictures or videos, let alone someone who is a total stranger to you. Imagine in real life, having to show your private this to a lady when they are both not even close, he deserved one BIG FUCKING TIGHT SLAP in face. 

Anyway, it was this incident that set me on a social media and blogging shut down frenzy. Not that I am afraid or offended but I just feel so tired of having to block, ban, ignore all these attention seeking pricks and wanted to "disappear" for a while.

I have already set my privacy on my social media accounts to private but still I am getting requests like once a while. I was also contemplating on moving my blog to a more private and secure platform and only friends whom I shared my password are allowed to view and read. I guess for worst case scenario, I might just delete my social media and this blog for good... Just wondering how is Isabelle and Gin or other CDs managing this... Or maybe I should be more specific like this CD, who was previously on my Facebook friend list...

Oh well, does feel good to rant it out. Hopefully this can help me to continue blogging, sharing and CDing. Cheers.

My CD Journey (Part 12) - Of Sweat, Blood and Petrol [Moving my Fortress of Serenity]

I was working on another blog topic when this thing happened, so I decided to blog about it first. Weird title to start off and I was still contemplating if this episode warranted as part of my CD journey. But seeing how this event can be quite relatable to all those closet Crossdressers like me who are renting a place to stash their CD stuff, I decided to share this journey with them... So here goes...

One fine day, just out of the blues, I got a call from my Work and Storage space agent asking me to relocate to a new premises that is nearby my current storage location. I had been considering of moving over to this new place as it is a  newly renovated building. Me been me, I am always looking for a bigger and nicer space to setup my ideal Fortress of Serenity to CD. 

However, after setting up an appointment and viewing the new place, I was much disheartened with what this new place has to offer. The aircon system is a centralised, which is different from my current storage space that utilizes individual aircon unit in each of the room. There is also no power socket in each of the room, this is to prevent people from abusing and overusing the power utility. There is only power point along the corridor and in order to use electricity in the room, one must use a power extension cord, lead from the corridor and into the room. In this way, the room door cannot be closed properly. The lightings in each of the unit is not as bright as my current storage space, so there is very little motivation to move to this new premises. 

I told the agent that I will not consider the new place and wanted to stick to my old one. This is where he broke to me the bad news... the building owner is going to take back the whole building, so like it or not, I have to move my lair out of the building before end of the year...

This news came as a shock to me as I just upgraded my lair in April and coming to half a year later, I have to move again... I was really devastated as I spend so much time, effort and energy doing up my current lair. Even though I was constantly thinking of upgrading, but never did I expect it to be so soon and the worst part is, since the building owner wants back the building, that will technically mean that I have to move to other locations. Imagine the trouble of moving all my stuff and stores...

To some who might not understand the whole situation, if you remembered from my previous post about my secret lair, I practically "split" my storage space into 2 section. One section is for my CrossDressing activity, the other section is my front façade where I put my personal stores such as books and other items to give others the impression that I am renting this unit for business storage. For my CD stuff, I got one "detachable wardrobe", one big Toyogo box, one "detachable shoe rack", one 5 tier plastic drawer and a couple of medium size boxes. To some, that is a lot but I have to admit, that was the least of my worries. It is my "business" front stuff that is my headache because I am quite a hoarder unfortunately and I store quite a lot of things that I cleared from my house in order to free up some living spaces... This is the part of the store that got me really perturbed as I got 4 tall shelves filled with items to the top... You can see where I am going with this... 

In the past, when I upgraded my lair, it is all located within the same building and on the same floor, so it is quite easy for me to move as long as I can get a trolley to load up all my things including my open shelves. But now, I was totally thrown into disarray as the only option I have is to move out to a new premise and moving is not going to be easy...  

After receiving the ill news from my agent, I was distraught and upset as I see my current lair setup close to my ideal place for my crossdressing. Nonetheless, there is not much I can do except to look for a new place to set up my new lair. I contacted my agent to view the other properties under the same company but the conditions of the other premises are quite rundown and the cost per square foot is not cheap. In fact, I am paying like $4.5 per square foot with my current storage space and it is not like this is in a prime area...

I was thinking, since I am going to move, then might as well do some proper planning and scouting for a cheaper yet bigger space. In my mind, I got a few options...

Option 1: Find those aircon storage hub and rent maybe 2 units (one for my personal store, the other for my CD store). Thoughts: Not really as cheap as I thought and the environment is not conducive to CD, so might take a few months or maybe years off CD.

Option 2: Take up the offer from my agent to move to the new premise. Thoughts: Might not CD as much but still can consider as a proper space to CD. However, I feel that the area is smaller even though the agent offered me a unit that is quite similar to my current storage size... 

Option 3: Look for a new office or work space and convert it into my lair. Thoughts: Privacy issue and more troublesome as I need to set up business entity for rental and so on. The floor area and setup might not be ideal...

So, you can see my dilemmas here... For 2 weeks, I did intensive searches, messaging other properties agents and arranging for viewings... This has not been an easy process but it is quite an experience for me. Thus I will share my experience and blog about how to look for rental properties in another blog post to help other CrossDressers who may be facing the same predicament as me...

After a few viewings, I found a unit that I feel suits my needs in terms of the floor space and layout. The location is still reasonable and the pricing per square foot is cheaper than what I am paying for now. Without much hesitation, I accepted the offer from the agent, signed the Tenancy Agreement and gotten the keys for my new unit...

For almost a week, I was disassembling and packing all my belongings in my old stores, making frequent trips to and fro my new space. I did not really have the time to unpack my stuff as I was just dumping them inside my new unit and rushing to pick up my boxes and items from my old location...  After multiple trips and an exhausted body, and all the sweats, blood (through accidental cuts) and petrol that I used to ferry all my wares to my new lair... I finally completed my move and it has not been easy... Just to share a quick overview of my wardrobe and clothing in its new environment. 

My new lair is still a work-in-progress as I am still trying to lay out the vinyl floorings over the carpeted floor and I really need to do some housecleaning to clear up some of my stores and stuffs. Looking forward to complete my setup and sorting out my stuffs so that I can start CDing again. At the end of the day, this is all worth it as I really love my new premise and I am making plans for it to become a sanctuary for me to CD and possibly do photoshoot. Hope to share more pictures of my completed lair soon... Cheers.

Mistake when buying my breast forms...

Isn't a standard size made the same regardless of user?, I thought to myself. Shouldn't all D cups made the same... That was my naïve thinking without understanding the concept of proportionality of the female breasts in regards to her size...

My topic for today is about the blunder I made when I got my 2nd breast form. As from my previous post, "My CD Journey (Part 9) - Breast Form and Fake Vagina [Key to Voluptuous Figure]", which talks about my journey towards the exploration of breast form for a more feminine figure. I venture in further and got myself another breast form but I do not think it warrant a new chapter of my CD journey as it nothing significant actually. Back to the topic on hand...

Just a little more details to recap about the first breast form I gotten, I got it around June 2020 during the TaoBao anniversary sale and have been using it since. However... as it was my first proper and branded breast form, and without any prior knowledge, I chose one based on the size I deem fit for most of my costumes and clothing. My CD friend, Cecilia, recommended me a D size cup as she felt that it will be more proportional for me and my big build. So I gotten the Eyung Gen 7 breast form, size S, D cup. The specifications of the breast form are as below. 

Not knowing that the S means small and L means large, I ordered the S size based on the shoulder width dimension, which is typically around my shoulder length of 42cm. The S size for the breast form is around 44cm and L is 49cm. So not wanting something that is oversized, I go with my instinct of choosing a S size. I really love this first breast form of mine as it looks really nature and really made me feel like a lady. However, after a few uses, maybe because of my rough handling when removing (I remove it like how a guy will take off t-shirt) or because I ordered the size that is too small. There were signs of tearing around the sleeves areas. It started on my left sleeve but I managed to avoid the tear from propagating by trimming it. But still, another tear occurred on my right side and it is hard to stop the tear from growing. I tried sewing and gluing but none worked. You can see my repair works below. Even though it looks like I managed to arrest the split but it just grew each time I wear the breast form.

Left with no choice and with persuasion from Cecilia, I went on to buy my 2nd breast form, the Eyung Gen-8. However, this time round, before the order got through. The customer service from Eyung (TaoBao) messaged me to ask about my height and weight. He (or she) advised me to get a XL size, D cup. Not really thinking much and checking the specs because I had the impression that all D-cups should be made the same, I took his/her advice and gotten the recommended size. That is where the problem lies...

After I gotten the new breast form, I was thrilled. I tried them on and was more careful when removing it so as not to damage it like my previous breast form. Much to my satisfaction, I was able to slip in and out quite easily. However, I did observed that it is heavier and because it is an XL size, the neck cuff is a bit loose and it looks quite awkward... I did not pay much attention because I am still having the idea that the XL size, D cup should be the same as my previous S size, D cup... I tried on some of my costumes and find that they were a bit tight but I did not think much about it...

It was only recently when I tried on one of my cheongsam that I realised that I can no longer zip up to the top. I panicked and I tried on the wedding gown that I gotten previously, I also cannot zip to the top... Initially, I thought that I had put on so much weight these days because of Working From Home that I cannot fit inside these costumes. I blamed myself and started to do intermittent fasting to bring my weight down (fact is, I did put on some weight but less than 5kg).

I was complaining to my CD friend, Cecilia when she told me to try out my previous breast form with my these "ill-fitting" clothing. It was after I took her advice that I made a dawning discovery, I could still fit inside that cheongsam and gown. It was then I realised that the problem was with my breast form. After examining the Gen-8 breast form specifications in detail, I noticed that my new breast form was about 15cm bigger than my previous version... That really explains a lot...

It has been quite a blunder that I made and I learned from it. Seeing that the 11.11 sales is coming, I am still contemplating about getting another new breast form that is more fitting... In the meantime, continue with my weight loss programme to get to a more beautiful figure. 

Lynda Carter and Wonder Woman

Apologies for the hiatus as it has been an extremely busy period for me. Work has been mounting and this ever changing pandemic has been making it much worse. Can't tell you much of my job but just like to apologize to those visitors who came by my blog to have a look only to find it inactive for close to half a year already. Another reason for not updating is my lack of topic, my mind was quite blank to decide what to write as not much been happening on my CrossDressing front as I have moved to a larger storage space in April. I guess getting space upgrade is so addictive as I get to plan and decorate the place to make it more personal and conducive for CD. I was planning for my next topic about my favourite CD outfit such as leotard and so on, then a thought strike me to write about today's topic, Lynda Carter. Well, why did I decide to write about Lynda Carter and how is it related to CrossDressing? I will explain later about my sudden interest in her.

For those who may not know, Lynda Carter was the actress who played Wonder Woman in the TV series back in 1976 to 1979. In 1972, she won a local Arizona beauty contest and gained national attention in the United States by winning Miss World USA 1972, representing Arizona. In the international Miss World 1972 pageant, representing the United States she reached the Top 15. Not only is she beautiful but she is also quite talented. 

Back to my sudden interest in Lynda Carter. Well, one day, when I was looking through some YouTube videos, I happened to come across some video clips of Lynda Carter Wonder Woman series. I was quite memorized by her and her outfit. The corset type body hugging leotard just accentuate her assets and beauty. For me, that costume really caught my eye as I love to crossdress or get female clothing that are rather uncommon or unconventional, not those type that you wear out but I prefer those more interesting ones, e.g. cheongsam, uniforms and leotards. These are not what other crossdressers will wear out in the open on a normal day. Apologies to all Gal Gadot Wonder Woman fans but I feel that Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman is more appealing. That costume is a display of sensual and beautiful but at the same time, power and strength. 

There is something about Lynda Carter that really attracted me, she is like the embodiment of a true lady, her conduct and the way she dresses. Going through some of her photos, you will see that she would wear a pair of glossy nude pantyhose underneath her Wonder Woman costume and she paired her other dressings with pantyhose also. Truly a refined lady. 

All these really got me interested in Lynda Carter, so I decided to get a set of the Wonder Woman costume for myself. However, due to the popularity of Gal Gadot Wonder Woman, it is quite hard to find the older version of the costume. I managed to find a couple from Etsy but they are custom made from US and quite expensive, but thank goodness for TaoBao, I was able to get something quite similar. To complete the costume, I tried getting the red boots from other sources as the one from TaoBao is more like Zentai or skin-tight garment material. 

I managed to get one from Ezcosplay but they are not as good as the ones I saw on Amazon. However, the problem is... Amazon does not have my feet size... The woes of been a large size CrossDresser. After getting my costume, I decided to do a cosplay and got some shots. The issue I had was the tiara. The tiara that came with the set is made of fabric with elastic band and I feel that it is too big. I also got a Wonder Woman wig and I find myself a bit hard to pull off the looks. In the end, I change to my straight long wig that I always used instead. However, I am not really happy with the result. All is not lost, I managed get some advices from my other CD friend and she recommended me some metal tiara and bangles to complete the looks. I ordered them on Amazon and they arranged safely at my lair. Just need some time to dress up again. Not sure when will be the next time. Oh well, just stay tuned. Cheers. 

My CD Journey (Part 11) - Getting bigger and bigger... Space [Secret Lair Upgrade]

How time flies and we are already 4 months into 2021, nothing eventful has been happening with my life, likewise for my alter-self except for today's topic about my secret lair. More of that later in my post. Have not been able to CrossDress as much but I saw that Isabelle and Gin have gone to a photography studio to have their bridal photos taken. It is so brave of them... Well, I have been considering setting up my own photography studio so that I can take glamorous photos of myself without the fear of people recognising me. This thought has been on my mind for quite a while already since digital photography has made photo taking much easier and equipment are more affordable now. In fact, after coming to adulthood and with social media taking to the sky, I have been trying to take nice photos of myself as Francesca especially since I learned the beauty of make-up and cosmetics... 

Back to today's topic, my constant pursuit for bigger and bigger... storage space. Back around the mid of 2019, after my first experience with online and app shopping, the ease of getting my hands on female clothing and life stress brought Francesca coming back into existence after my last purge. I have been buying things from WISH, Aliexpress, Lazada, Shopee and TaoBao, as a result, it was getting a bit difficult for me to keep them hidden. After I learned about storage space, I have been wanting to take up a unit for myself to hide my stash of ever growing women's clothing and accessories.

After doing some research, getting quotations and working on my finances, I settled for a cheap and small yet cozy storage unit to house my secret stash. I also bought a simple garment rack, some wooden floorings and a chair to allow me to dress up inside my storage unit... Dressing up in a storeroom is quite a tricky affair as it only allows you to lock from the outside and not from the inside, so there is no privacy and it also runs the risk of people who might open up your storage unit since it is unlock from the outside. Thankfully, I managed to figure out how to "lock" myself inside my storage unit and this allowed me to have some personal space to dress up. However, as my storage unit is located in an industrial building, so there is no aircon and it is be quite uncomfortable and hot to dress up. Most of the time, I just do a quick test of my purchase in my storage unit or wait for opportunities such as a solo hotel stay where I would bring my luggage of ladies' garments for a proper dress up. The photo of my first storage unit setup as as shown... 

Moving on, around beginning of 2020, I learned about those Work and Self Storage unit from another fellow CrossDresser and that brought me to another level of storing my female's clothing. The unit is actually a small work unit but I feel that the space is good enough for me. Most of all, it is air-conditioned and I can lock from the inside without the need to figure out how to skillfully "lock" myself from the inside when I was using the storage unit...

After having a much proper storage and dress up space, my alter-self just could not control the buying spree and urges, I just went on to decorate my place to make it more cozy and conducive for me to enjoy my dress up session. I went on to buy an inflatable bed, a foldable table and a self assembled wardrobe. I also expended my wooden floorings to give it a more comfortable feel as you can see from the pictures below...

I really loved this concept of Work and Storage space rental as it allows me to have my personal space to release myself and be Francesca. Despite the small space, this space is definitely bigger and more conducive for me to CD without any fear as compared to my previous storage unit. However, in terms of my vision to set up my own photography studio to have my own CrossDresser photos taken, it is going to take a while as this first auxiliary unit is good for individual storage and that is all. It is quite narrow and only sufficient for me to walk but not even enough for me to do a simple phototaking... 

After taking the unit to close to 6 months, I decided to upgrade my first unit to something more spacious. I managed to get a unit that was one and a half times bigger and it is a great difference as I got more space to dress up and to store my things. In terms of the floor space, I managed to squeeze out some space to take portraiture shots of myself using one of those selfie ring light with stand. This is not how my dream studio looks like but this setup is good enough for me. So every time when I need to do a full body selfie, I will need to set up my lights and move some of my storage boxes around to get the space I need. 

More space means more things, I decided to properly organise my ever growing stash and gotten quite a few storage boxes to help me sort out the stuff that I used to CD. I even managed to partition out a portion of my room to store some of my other items in the front (not included in the photos as these are truly personal). You can see my new secret lair outlook from the photos below. 

This new unit is really a nice and comfortable place for me as it even allows me to separate out my CD items and my personal things into 2 section; I actually used some IKEA curtains to partition out the 2 sections. In the front façade, it is my personal things that include some boxes and my other wares but behind the curtain, it is my CrossDressing and photography space. In fact, it was in this unit where I met another fellow CrossDresser who came by for a short meetup.

I held on to that unit for quite a while but I had been keeping a lookout for better storages spaces offers as the bigger the space, the more expensive it is going to get. So, wherever I see other CDs posting in Facebook about getting rental space, I was quite interested to ask for more details as I hope to fulfill my dream of setting up my own CDs space and photography studio but at an affordable cost.

Luck was on my side as one of the tenants in my Work and Storage space decided to move out and I took the opportunity to upgrade a much better unit. This unit is around one and a half times bigger than my 2nd unit and it is so much more spacious. I feel that with this space, it can allow me to take some nice studio shots with the proper equipment. In terms of comparison to a professional studio, it is still a bit too small. However, I feel that it is sufficient for me... For now. Haha... Anyway, you can check out the photos below. I was still in the midst of sorting out the items as I had just moved quite recently...

Now, with more spaces, I can better organise my stash and wares. In fact, I gotten some better flooring to decorate my secret lair to make it more cozy and comfy so that I can hopefully host some guests in my secret lair next time. In the meantime, I am looking around for some studio lighting in my pursuit to have my own photography studio. Wish me luck that I can get a much bigger and cheaper unit next time. Until then, this space is good enough for me. Cheers. 😁 

The bane of Photoshop, Faceapp and Beautycam for Crossdressers

I was still thinking what to write for my March blog post when I saw an inspiration from Facebook about Photoshop, Faceapp and Beautycam. I guess this post might offend some other Crossdressers and I do not mean any disrespect, but I just airing my opinions and stand on the use of photo editing apps or programme that distort the reality of things. 

With advancement in technology, there are so many softwares and apps that allow users to do photo editing even on a mobile phone; apps such as Faceapp, Beautycam (美图), and even photoshop are all available at the fingertips as compared to the days where photo-editing have to be done on a laptop or PC. Because of this, some crossdressers decided to opt for the easier way to showcase their photos. They chose to edit their photos heavily and post it on social media, in some cases, really misleading. 

Using this article as an example, a young Japanese female biker with a large following on Twitter turned out to be a 50-year-old man behind the screen. As cited, 

"I want to share pictures of myself riding a motorcycle, but no one wants to see an uncle," he said.

Souya said when he initially opened the account in January 2019 to post about his motorcycle adventures, he did not attract many followers.

But after posting a a picture of himself he as a woman he made on FaceApp for fun, he quickly gained 1,000 followers and decided to continue posting with his online female persona since."

This is my stand on use of photo-editing software, I am fine using photoshop or beautifying apps as long as it does not distort the reality of photo too much. For me, when I started CrossDressing, I did not know how to do make-up and I did not intend to venture so far into CD initially. Hence, I started by taking photos without my head in the shots. Even after I started to learn about make-up, in fear of people recognising me on social media, I would blur out my face. After I learned more about make-up and how it made me looked different, then I had the confidence to post my full face photos online and share with others; all my recent photos are straight from my mobile phone and no editing involved. 

Before venturing into make-up, I see how some Cross-Dressers are taking the effort to don on the wigs and put on make-up, I thought to myself, so much trouble and effort. Some of my closer CD friends actually encourage me to try on make-up when I crossdress, it is a totally different feel. For me, I take like almost 1 hour or so to do my make-up and cross-dress to get into the mood and feeling of being in the opposite gender, and it took me like another 1 hour to clean up and remove-up and etc. All these effort for Cross-Dressing, it is like a hobby, more like a mental and emotional release for me. 

Having to set this as the context, I feel that there are three levels to those CrossDressers who use photo-editing apps.

Level 3 - CrossDressers who dress-up nicely, don on a proper wig and put on make-up. They use photo-editing apps to beautify themselves, e.g. make their face slimmer and etc. (I am fine with this group actually, after putting in the time and effort to CD and make-up, who would not like to look perfect and pretty after all? As long as it is not too drastic, it is fine.)

Level 2 - CrossDressers who dress-up, some in this group chose to put on wigs and then use photo-editing apps to make their face more feminine, while others just use the Faceapp or Beautycam to make their hair longer and face more feminine. (This group is either beginners or just do not want the trouble of dolling themselves up. If this is the case, then they will really miss out the fun and sensual feeling of getting to be the opposite gender. Doing make-up comes as part of being a fairer gender as most woman put on make-up when they go out.) 

Level 1 - CrossDressers just photoshop their make-up faces onto photos of other women... (This is the minimal effort I guess. My take is, either they do not have clothing to dress-up or they are not confident about their body build. If this is the case, that is where the fun of CrossDressing is, there are so many garments and accessories to help women to achieve those beautiful figures, we CD should use them too. If all else fail, there is always breast or body form to cover up.)

To end off this post, I guess the saying by Helena Rubinstein really hit the nail here,  “There are no ugly women, only lazy ones”. Think about it. Cheers and peace.