Closing Out 2025

Now that I wrote about my year end summary (to fit it in before 2025 ended), let me backfill with a few more outings I didn’t cover in those two posts. Redoing the math, I ended up with 52 outings, or an average of once a week.

During November and December, I had four chances to get out, our monthly STLGF lunches and dinners each month, plus getting out on New Year’s Eve.

Dresses were my November choices, while a long sleeve top and Spanx leggings were my December lunch choice, as it was a cold day, suitable for long sleeves. The top was a hand-Dee-down from my friend Renee and reminds me of what blogger Micki Finn might wear.

The green sequin dress was my choice for the December dinner, held the Saturday before Christmas. I wore it for the Yes concert I attended in November and decided then it was suitable for Christmas too.

Before the Christmas dinner I stopped at favorite thrift Refresh (they are moving and had a 50% off sale) and I bought the shorty floral dress. It fit and I can’t resist a deal–it was $12.50.

With more time to kill before dinner, I stopped at Akira at the West County Mall. Upon walking in, sales angel Kathryn said she liked my dress, and I said I liked hers. 

She said hers was an Akira dress and pulled the largest size they had for me to try on (I did, but it was too small, and they didn’t have it in larger sizes). At the same time, I noticed and pulled on a sparkly red dress, because girls can never have enough short sparkly dresses.

Kathryn and I had an interesting conversation. She considers herself Gender fluid and sometimes performs as a drag king. She said her male roommate is her size and they share clothes. I asked if the roommate also used makeup and she said yes (wish I would have had a fun roommate back in the day). She also guessed I was about thirty years younger than my age, and I really don’t think she was trying to pull my leg.

We agreed the red dress was a winner, and though it cost a fair amount more than the Refresh dress, I decided to self-gift a Christmas present for myself. 

My wife and several friends (including Ms. Dee-ism) met in Nashville the Monday before New Year’s Eve, so we (the boy me) could attend the Music City Bowl. It was cold (Ms. Dee-ism had a very cute cold weather look), but my team won at the end, and our friend’s group had a good time. It also meant driving back home the morning and early afternoon of New Year’s Eve. 

My wife and I didn’t have any plans for New Year’s Eve, and my GG friend Michelle was going out with a couple of her co-workers, so she invited me along. I cleared it with my wife about a week before, and she was OK with it (it turned out we got a joint invitation to a NYE tennis party at our club, so my wife when to the tennis party and I glammed up and joined Michelle). I wore a NYE suitable dress; a silver sequin dress, one of four dresses I have in the same style–multi-color, red, blue, and this silver one, my latest addition. 

The place was a bar in my hometown, and the patrons were mostly my age range, but I didn’t see anyone I knew. There was a band playing mostly 50’s and early 60’s music–not necessarily my favorite–but it was fun to be out. Michelle’s co-workers, Gloria and Shelly–mother and daughter–were glad I came. FWIW, I had met Gloria and may have met Shelley previously. Gloria has seen me dressed–and boy me often shows up at Michelle’s salon to mow the lawn. Gloria was irritated how my bra was fitting–I wear padded bras–so she came to the other side of the table where we were sitting and tugged and yanked at my bra, while I laughed. Gloria and I had a fun conversation–she said she told her husband I was coming and he needed to behave (he was of an age where not all are CD tolerant) –but we both shared our appreciation of Michelle. Shelly said she wanted to go out together one night with Michelle and I, and I’m definitely up for that once I return to the US in early April (I have decamped to a Melbourne suburb once again–have some clothes here and hope to get out at least a couple of times).

I didn’t make it to midnight–more tired from the long day than afraid of turning into a pumpkin–so my end to 2025 being dressed did not extend to 2026. But it was a fun end to a good year, and I hope to have plenty of dressing opportunities in 2026.