It hit zero today, as I wined earlier, but fortunately, I had the foresight to go out yesterday and buy a coat. It took most of the day, alas. I’m skinny, but with long arms and I didn’t want to spend too much. Before, I left for here, I posted something about wanting to get as many clothes as possible before I left, because of not knowing what it would be like to cross-shop. Oh, what a fool I was.
First of all, only one guy gave me a kind of disgusted look and that was the extent of anything negative. Much better than home. (People are reading me as female now because my hair has gotten longer.) Also: blazer-type jackets for sale at every store. In velvet(ine). In corduroy. In my size. Picture: blue velvet blazer. Royal blue!! Oh my god!!!!! There was a whole store for very scrawny slightly femme-y guys who still wanted to dress like it’s still the mid-to-late 90’s! I was a size medium there! They had tweed jackets with elbow patches, something I spent months looking for!!! For only 230€, ahem, yes. I had to leave without buying anything because it was lovely, but it was just too much money.
There’s a store called the C&A which has ads in the metro where they show whatever their featured sale item is. This week it’s a black corduroy jacket for 30€. I’m going back to buy one tomorrow, but their coat selection, alas, didn’t fit me well. But every fashion in the store was really nifty, as far as I could tell. A city where I can shop for men’s clothes where it isn’t suspect for men to wear anything other than trainers or sweatsuits!
Anyway, after a lot of looking, I walked into a fairly fancy-seeming store and tried on a tweed coat in a size medium. It was too big. But a sales person came over to help me. At home, I try to duck sales people because they’re not entirely friendly. The woman clearly thought it was a little odd that I wanted to try on men’s coats, but was happy to help. She went and found me a size small coat in black. It fit very well. I bought it. At the register, she went through the script, kind of laughing as she did so. Did I want men’s gloves to go with my men’s coat? How about some men’s dress socks? She would have smiled and sold me some if I’d said yes. We chatted a bit in frenglish. She wanted to know how to say, “would you like anything else?” in english.
Sometimes, it’s really good to be foreign. I have no idea about modern french cross dressers and what their experiences are like (I’ve seen some around in bars and whatnot, but not had a conversation). But I think I get away with a lot because I’m foreign and people expect me to be kind of different. That’s true in Paris and it’s also true in Nebraska.
Anyway, I have never before enjoyed shopping for clothes that I can remember. Right now, I am pondering buying a whole new wardrobe. And coming to Paris from anyplace else in the world when I need clothes.
Tags: Cross Dressing, Paris, Celesteh
