A Male-to-Female Makeover with Elizabeth Taylor
Wondering what it actually feels like to walk through my door for the first time? Here’s how a typical 3 hour Total Makeover unfolds from arrival to departure.
Welcome & Consultation
I greet you at the front door of my house, and we head downstairs to my makeover and photo studio. You’re surrounded by a wardrobe full of clothes, shoes, wigs, and corsets, with MAC makeup lining the countertop and plenty of room to set down your suitcase.
“Have a seat! Tell me what you’re looking for today. I see you brought a couple of bags — do you have outfits in mind or would you like to go through things together?”
We sit on bar chairs across from each other on a counter-height peninsula.
“I’ve ordered some stuff online, but I’m honestly not sure if any of it goes together,” you say. “I’d be happy for you to look at my wardrobe, but I also want to explore yours. Here are some of my inspiration photos for you to look at.”
You pass me your phone, and I scroll through the six images you brought. “What inspires you about these photos? Is it the hair, makeup, outfits, poses, or something else?”
“I just love the confidence of these women,” you say. “The way they smile, their polished yet professional makeup look, and put-together hair really inspire me.”
I study the makeup looks more carefully and come up with my makeup plan for later. “Could you text me this particular shot?” I point to the one that seems to best represent the makeup look for reference so I can use it while applying makeup.
“What are your goals for body shaping?” I ask. “Are you looking to stay as natural as possible except for a bra and breastforms or are you looking to see the art of the possible with a curvier shape, a corset, and hip pads?”
“I can always try natural later. Since I’m here, I want to get as close to an hourglass as possible!” you say.
Sizing, Shaping, and Wardrobing
I have the sizing chart in front of me on a clipboard along with a pink cloth measuring tape. “I’m going to reach around you several times and record measurements each time. This will give us an estimate of your sizes for a bra band, corset, hip pads, dress size, and panty size. You’ll get to take this chart home with you and I’ll take a photo on my phone for my records.”
I measure you and record your measurements—3 for your bust, your girl waist, and the widest part of your buttocks. I also ask you your shoe size in men’s and look at the shape of your feet to predict your women’s shoe size. You have a standard shaped foot, so your women’s dress shoe size is about 1.5 sizes bigger than your men’s size. After doing some ciphering on my custom size chart, I propose your shaping strategy and target sizes.
“Based on wanting an hourglass shape, I suggest adding a bra and breastforms, a corset to pull in the sides of your waist, and short hip pads to give you flexibility in what dresses you can wear. If you want fuller thighs, long hip pads are great, but they either require lots of pairs of hose to cover them and the short that holds them or a knee-length dress.”
“I certainly would like to wear dresses shorter than knee length,” you say. “I have some shaping stuff with me but I want to see what you can do with your magic.”
I start by adding the bra and breastforms. Then we add either a compression short or a tight panty and tights to hold in the short hip pads. Finally, I add the corset and tighten it down. We step over to the full length mirror for you to check out your new shape.
“Wow! This is incredible!” you say as you run your hands up and down your new curves.
With your new shape in place, I take updated measurements and give you your new size estimate. As planned, your upper chest and waist measurements now match the same size! The hip is a little smaller than the size chart but not by much. The dresses in the studio are organized by size. I lead you over to the X-Large section for you to browse. You find three dresses you like the look of and I help you try them on. After checking yourself out in the mirror, you decide on a dress.
“Let’s check out wigs next. Have a seat in the makeup chair,” I say, pointing to the director’s chair that is bathed in light from multiple ring lights. “Based on the photos you showed me earlier, I’m going to try some wigs on you to see what you think. I think you’re looking for something blonde to light brown that hits past the shoulders. Does that sound right?”
“Yes. That’s right,” you say. “My natural hair is a light brown but I’d like to see what I look like as a blonde.”
I start by adding a wig grip around your hair and then a wig cap over that. I select a first wig for you to try on and have you pop up to take a look in the full-length mirror. “What do you think of this one?” I ask while looking at you from six feet away.
“Hmm. I like the color and the length, but I don’t like these bangs in my face,” you say. I set aside the first wig and find another blonde without bangs.
“This one is perfect!” you say as you twirl your hair around your fingers.
After that we look at shoes from my collection, which ranges from size 8 to 15. I try a pair of black pump on your feet in your projected size, an 11. A perfect fit! “Do you like this heel or would you like to take a look at others?” I ask.
“I like this one a lot actually,” you say.
Then we move to the jewelry section and you have your choice clip-on earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings.
After about 45 to 60 minutes of consultation and wardrobing, we move on to the makeup stage.
The Makeup Application
You settle into my director’s chair, and we talk about the look you’re going for. I review the photo that we selected earlier for makeup in detail and verify details like the eyeliner color and style, contouring techniques, and lip trends. After that, I ask you about your skin and how easily you burn or tan when exposed to the sun. I hold up my wrist to yours under the ring light and compare our tones to predict your undertone. Then I start holding up foundation bottles to your face and neck to get ideas of which colors will work. After narrowing it down to 3 colors, I swatch your face and neck with colors to see what will disappear while evening out your complexion.
“Take a look at these foundation options to see what looks the most like you,” I suggest.
You hold the mirror up to your face. “Where is the foundation?” you ask. “I can’t see it.”
“Exactly!” I say. “That is the goal—for the foundation to be such a perfect match that you don’t know where it is.”
From there, I propose lipstick colors and eye makeup colors that will help create a look similar to your inspiration photo.
Throughout the makeup process, we talk about all manner of topics, femme and otherwise. It’s one of our best opportunities to get to know each other, have some typical girl chat, and enjoy the process.
Makeup application takes about 90 minutes. When we’re done, I spritz you with setting spray, replace your wig and earrings, and have you stand up in front of the full-length mirror.
“Oh my goodness! I look so beautiful,” you say. “You’re a magician, Beth!”
I smile. “Why don’t you keep checking yourself out in the mirror while I turn on the lights in the photo studio?”
The Photoshoot
After you’re done enjoying the mirror, we move into the photo studio. I shoot with a Nikon mirrorless camera and studio strobes, and the space is designed for variety — environmental backdrops including a stone floor, white walls, brick walls, and red curtains give us plenty of options without moving far. The chaise lounge is always ready for a quick change of mood. If the weather cooperates, we can head outside to the gardens and back deck, which photograph beautifully with my strobes for a polished look or external flash to move more quickly between outdoor locations.
You choose to start with typical indoor poses with the white wall behind you. “You’ll need to give me posing tips. I’m so new at this,” you say.
“Absolutely,” I say. I provide guidance on where to place your hands, how to stand with one leg straight and one bent while popping out a hip, and how to smile in a way that engages the viewer.
We sit on the couch and review the standing photos together. “I love them! I’d like to try the couch for photos now,” you say.
“Sounds great. Let me adjust a couple of lights, and let’s do it.”
You start by sitting on the chaise lounge and progress to photos lying on the couch with legs long. We review these photos as well.
“What time is it?” you ask. “I bet we are almost out of time.”
Sure enough. Our 3 hours together has flown by, and it’s time to get ready for departure.
I help you change out of your outfit using a “face mask” to protect the dress from your makeup and vice versa. As we take off the studio garments, I ask, “Are you planning to leave dressed today?”
“I wasn’t sure when I got here, but now that I love the way I look so much, yes!” you say. You add your shapewear and dress while I brush out your favorite wig from your suitcase. After you’re ready, I place the wig on your head and show you the final look in the mirror. “Perfect!”
Preparing for Departure
As you pack up, I ask you if WeTransfer works for you for getting your photos or if you prefer the SD card. “With WeTransfer, you have 60 days to download your images and after that they are permanently deleted. I don’t keep any copies without a signed release.”
“Well I don’t have an SD card reader, so WeTransfer sounds perfect,” you say.
“Great! I’ll get them uploaded this evening. If you don’t see the email by tomorrow morning, reach back out so I can make sure that everything went through and forward you the email if it went to your spam.”
We settle the balance, and I walk you to the door. You ask if you can give me a hug, and we exchange girl hugs as you depart en femme.
Book Your Makeover
Ready to see yourself transformed into the woman you know you are? My private studio in LGBTQ+-friendly Takoma Park, Maryland is a safe, welcoming space for transgender women, MtF crossdressers, and genderfluid people with a femme presentation and it’s just minutes from Washington, DC. I work one-on-one with clients, and I’ve been doing this full-time since 2013. Clients tell me that leaving my studio they feel more confident and more fully themselves than they ever expected.
Book your makeover online anytime, or contact me at elizabeth.taylor.makeover@gmail.com or 202-803-3231.
Leave a Reply