Had a great time yesterday going “in costume” to work. You can’t really see it in the picture, but I had a boa, so that with the cigarette holder I was nominally ’40s movie star or something. (BTW, I discovered that boas are hot — I mean temperature-wise. Which makes sense, since it’s not that different than having a down sleeping bag wrapped around your shoulders.)
The year before I went as Little Red Riding Hood and would’ve won the contest if I hadn’t been a consultant at the time — so those folks who’d been around then might’ve of noticed a pattern… But there were a lot of people wanting to see how I’d top last year’s costume.
The best part is the number of people who didn’t even recognize me (both years). For example, our HR director told me that when she first saw me, she wondered why there was a new hire that she didn’t know about.
The interesting thing is that one of the two other co-winners was Felicia, who’s a drag king in her spare time — and who came as a British bobby, complete with handlebar mustache, some very furry forearms and a piece of tissue covering a shaving accident (her trademark). Some there was a bit of high-profile gender-bending. Especially since our CEO made a point of having his picture taken with me. (I also had my picture taken with the HR director and one of C-level executives.)
The biggest challenge is figuring out how to top myself next year. There’s some adorable Marie Antoinette costumes (complete with matching shoes!), but not in plus size.
But everyone seemed to get a kick out of it, and a fair number of people in the company now know that I do drag. (A small number know that my crossdresser isn’t just for the stage.)
