As some of you may remember, a week ago I made an appointment for us to visit a wig salon in our local area. Our hope was to find either a replica of Angel’s current style, or perhaps a new look. The exciting part was….we would be going with Angel en femme! Up until now, our only fully en femme outing involved a drive in the car and a brief walk in a parking lot at dusk. So this was to be Angel’s first time out in daylight, and interacting with other people, as a woman. What follows is an account of our experience that I wrote with Angel's help.
It took us about an hour and a half to prepare Angel for our trip. We had already decided on an outfit that I felt was totally in keeping with what a woman would wear on a Saturday afternoon shopping trip. We paid careful attention to the details: makeup, jewelry, and shoes. I felt that Angel looked very “put together” and classy when we left.
We were both a little nervous when we pulled into the parking lot, after a 20 minute car ride in 100 degree summer weather. I squeezed Angel’s hand and told her everything was going to be fine, and we walked to the entrance. As we approached, we could see that the salon was busy, perhaps because it was weekend. There were two sales assistants, several women trying on wigs, and a large family in the waiting area. As we entered, I said to the first sales associate we saw, “Hello, we’re here for our 1:00 appointment. Should we go on back?” She said to go ahead, and we made for the private, curtained area in the rear.
We were welcomed by a friendly woman who introduced herself as Kristy. She shook my hand and asked me what my name was, then turned to Angel and asked, “And this is?” I replied using the female version of Angel’s birth name: “This is Richelle.” She smiled warmly and said, “Hi Richelle,” and we immediately felt at ease. She asked us what we were looking for, and we explained that we wanted to try some different medium-length styles in light auburn or golden brown, preferably with some waves or layering. She went out into the front and while she was selecting some wigs for Angel to try, I took this “before” photo.
She came back holding two adorable wigs and said to Angel, “Are you ready?” Angel smiled and said yes, and she removed the old wig and carefully pulled one of the new ones onto Angel’s head. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “So cute!” And it was. She played with it a bit, combing and arranging it, and then she gave Angel a mirror so it was possible to see the sides and back. At that point I asked her, “So, how long have you been doing this?” “Oh, about five years,” she said. “I have so much fun. It’s like playing with Barbie dolls. Like today, I get to have fun with Richelle here in the chair!”
We both liked that wig, but were eager to see some different styles too. The next wig Kristi put on Angel was lovely. It was a Raquel Welch monofilament wig called “Image.” I liked it straight away, but Angel was initially less enthusiastic about it. It was very different from the old wig, in both color and cut, and the look was a little outside Angel’s familiar comfort zone. We agreed to go back to it again after seeing a few more. Half an hour and five wigs later, Angel began to think differently about the “Image” wig. Kristi and I both told Angel how flattering it was, and that it was very age-appropriate and fashionable. At one point when Kristi left the room, I said to Angel, “You look so pretty….I would go anywhere with you looking like this, darling.” Angel’s mind seemed to be made up then. Kristi asked, “Would you like to wear it out?” Angel said, “Yes, please!” Before we left, Kristi kindly took this photo of us looking happy with our new purchase.
Angel looked fabulous, and we felt on top of the world. Read on to find out what we were inspired to do next!
