They take you as a woman and believe you are a woman. Enjoy it, go with the flow. Do you really want to wear slacks and a shirt tomorrow?”
Sarah Watson was having a great day. She was selling like a house afire. Every customer left with something to spruce up their wardrobe. She was on a roll. It made her feel superb and vibrant.
That night at supper she told Tom, her husband, about how her day went. She was so enthused that Tom caught it and it made him happy to see his wife so animated. He had been skeptical when she wanted to buy into a partnership with Marjorie Lane to buy the shop but they had gotten that back and then some. He loved his wife deeply and wanted her to have whatever she wanted. Fortunately, her tastes were not expensive but were traditionally conservative.
The next night Tom had bad news. Due to downsizing, he was going to be laid-off at the end of the week. Sarah told him they weren’t bad off and she was sure he would be able to find something. The lay-off came and he put his application in six different places. All had told him they weren’t hiring at this time but would keep his application for future reference.
The first week he kept busy fixing little things around the house that he had put off. The second week he lounged around for the most part. By the end of the week, he was bored and needed something to do.
Saturday night he was telling Sarah that he needed something to do. He was getting sick of being housebound. He had cleaned the house for which Sarah was grateful.
Sarah thought and then said, “I know what you can do. We need some help at the store. You can put together racks for the dresses. You can be a big help to us by stocking the racks!”
He thought that would at least give him some time out and a chance to do some constructive work. He looked forward to being able to use some of his skills.
Monday morning he rode with his wife to the store. He started putting racks together. He got four racks together when Sarah came and got him for lunch. They ate in a family restaurant just down the street. He told her it felt good to be doing something again.
After lunch, Sarah showed him where the dresses for the racks were kept. He was busy all afternoon putting price tags and putting merchandise on the racks. He had three of the racks just about fully stocked when Sarah got him to go home.
At supper, he told her how good it felt to be able to help. Later that evening Sarah was doing laundry when she noticed many of his undershorts had small holes in them. She showed them to Tom and tossed them into the garbage. When she was putting away his clothes she noticed he only had one pair of undershorts in his drawer and they had holes. She tossed them also.
The next morning when he went to get some undershorts there were none there. He asked Sarah where they were. She told him they all had holes in them and weren’t wearable. He was wondering what to do when Sarah handed him a pair of her panties. He didn’t want to put them on but ended up wearing them. They were blue nylon and he liked the feel of them and their lightness.
At work, he was finishing the third rack when a woman approached him and asked about long flowing skirts. He told her he would show her where some were. He explained he had just put them out yesterday.
She pulled a skirt out and held it in front of her. He said it wasn’t her color but there was another one with the same pattern in a different color. She took it and went to the dressing room. Soon she was back wearing it. He told her it made her look ten years younger. She took it and a blouse to go with it.
At lunch, Sarah told him the woman was Mrs. Morgan and that she had raved about him and his service. Sarah said maybe they should make him a salesperson. After lunch, he finished the fourth rack of clothes a half-hour before closing. Sarah told him to pick two packs of panties. He went and picked a pack of pastel nylon briefs and a pack of bright colored nylon briefs. Each pack had a generous edge of lace around the leg openings. He gave them to Sarah who put them in a bag and handed it to him.
At home, Sarah said to him she didn’t think he would pick such feminine panties. He told her nothing but the best for her. He was shocked when Sarah said they were for him to wear. When he asked why they didn’t get him some men’s underwear Sarah said it was silly to pay retail when they can get some for cost.
The next morning he put on the pastel blue pair. The inch and a half lace trim he could have done without. At work, he assembled the last two racks. He was filling the first rack when Mrs. Morgan came up to him.
She said, “I want to thank you. You were right. I got all kinds of compliments on that skirt. A lot of people told me I looked younger. You can pick out whatever I am looking for from now on.”
He said, “Why thank you. I just happened to notice that that particular skirt seemed to bring out your eyes more and make you look better. I was just following instincts, I guess. I am not really a salesperson here; I only put the racks together and stock them. But it is nice of you to let me know I helped you.”
She said, “You are so sweet. I am going to tell Marjorie that if she wants me to do business here she will make you a salesperson!”
He said, “Whatever, if you come in and I am here I’ll be glad to help you but I must tell you I don’t know a lot about current fashion.”
She said, “You know enough for me. I’ll see you.” She left him standing and he saw her talking to Marjorie. He knew what she was saying and he smiled at her brass. Moments later she was back.
She said, “I talked to Marjorie and she says you can be my personal salesperson. Now, I have a banquet to go to tonight. What would you suggest?”
He showed her several different dresses. One that he had pulled was an orange one with flowers printed on it. He decided it wasn’t for her. She told him it looked like it would look good on him. He blushed a deep red. They finally selected one that both liked. She was happy with him again.
He continued filling the rack when Marjorie came up to him. She said, “You are such a big help. I really appreciate everything you have done. When Sarah and I started the store we decided that all employees would wear the clothes we sell. For you, we have made an exception, as you are not directly involved with customers, except Mrs. Morgan. She is different. She buys something then all of her friends come in to get something like it. She is our best walking advertisement. Sarah tells me you are wearing some clothes from here, so that makes you qualify somewhat. I agree with Mrs. Morgan that you have a certain sense of style that you can relate to the customer. If you keep that up we’ll have to make you a full-fledged salesperson.”
He blushed at her comment about wearing clothes from there. He didn’t even notice that he had the panties on. He continued to fill the rack. Then a tragedy occurred. He hit the edge of the rack with his body and a small hook on the rack caught his slacks and tore them from the pocket to the knee exposing his groin.
Marjorie had noticed the commotion and came right over. When she saw his slacks she told him he couldn’t walk around the store exposed. He said he could run home and change. Marjorie said nonsense that the store was full of clothes. She hustled him into a dressing room and told him to strip down to his panties.
He caught the reference to panties but did as she said. She returned with a black padded girdle and had him pull it up. She pulled the garters down and handed him a pair of black nylons to put on. As he was putting them on she went and got a black bra and black slip. She helped him into the bra and hooked it in back. She slid some foam breast forms into the bra cups and then helped him put the slip-on.
She asked, “Did you see any dresses out there that caught your eye?”
He said, “Mrs. Morgan said that orange number on the rack next to the one that fell would look good on me. I don’t know about all of this. What is Sarah going to say? Where is she?”
Marjorie said, “She is out for coffee with a seller and she should like what we are doing. I am sure she will understand that accidents happen.”
He wondered if this was right but was in no position to argue with Marjorie. She came on pretty strong. She returned with the dress and helped him by zipping up the back. It fit like it was made for him. She had thought about getting a size smaller but now knew she had gotten the right size. She led him by the hand out to the three mirrors. He looked at himself and except for the face and hair, it looked like a woman checking her appearance. Marjorie told him to relax for a couple of minutes. She came back with a pair of yellow and green sandals with real thin straps. They had a short inch and a half heel that he could walk in without any problem. Marjorie excused herself telling him not to go anywhere.
When she came back she told him she had arranged to make him look even better. He didn’t know what she was talking about until she told him to go two doors down and ask for Agnes. He didn’t know what was two doors down but when he got there he saw it was Agnes’s Beauty Spot. He went in and didn’t have to ask for Agnes. She met him as soon as he stepped in the door.
Agnes said, “Welcome, I am Agnes I am glad to meet you. Marjorie told me all about you. You have nothing to worry about. I am good at what I do and I have everything you need to be made beautiful. Now, come over here and sit in this chair.”
He sat in the chair and she put a floral cape around his neck. Then she led him over to a sink to shampoo his hair. He told her he was going to get his hair cut a couple of weeks ago but just didn’t as he had higher priorities at the time. She told him she would have to do very little trimming for what she had in mind. She had him hold his fingers in a bowl of liquid as she trimmed his hair. He wondered why he had to do this but was afraid to ask. She didn’t take long to trim before she was putting small rollers in his hair. Then she put some foul-smelling lotion on the rollers. She put a bonnet over the hair and soon he felt warm air blowing over his head. She took his right hand and started cleaning and shaping his fingernails. She wasn’t happy with them so soon she was gluing some false nails on him. Then she started painting them. When she was done with them he had light pink nails with a dark red rose on each one and they extended a good half-inch beyond his fingers.
Then she told him that they were at the part that may hurt a little. She started to pluck his eyebrows. He got tears in his eyes at first but soon it wasn’t so bad. He wondered why she had to do his eyebrows. Hen she worked on his eyes putting long false eyelashes on and doing eye shadow. Then came foundation and some blush on his cheeks. She told him he was lucky to have high cheekbones. Then she outlined his lips and did the lipstick.
It was time to take the bonnet off. She worked on his hair for a good ten minutes getting it just the way she wanted. As she was working on it she told him she opened the shop just after the dress shop opened and one helped the other. She said someone comes in for a makeover or perm and then has to have a new outfit for it or someone gets a new outfit and has to have their hair done to go with the new outfit. He could see their reasoning. She said she gives discounts to employees of the store and the store gives her a discount on what she buys.
When she removed the cape and swung him around so he could see himself in the mirror he was amazed.
He saw a good-looking woman, not a beauty queen but someone who looked nice and had a look of grace fulness. He couldn’t believe it was him. He didn’t see anything that said, man.
Agnes told him he looked beautiful and he had to agree. She gave him a case with all the cosmetics she had used. He wanted to get back to the shop but on the other hand, he didn’t want to have to go back there. Finally, he plucked up the courage to go back. He was surprised at how much noise his heels made on the sidewalk. He thought about when it is quite the smallest noise sounds loud.
He entered the store and saw Sarah checking out a customer. She glanced at him with no sign of recognition. Marjorie came up to him and led him toward the back of the store.
She said, “I did some calculating and with what you have already if we were paying you, you still have two hundred fifty-two dollars coming. Why don’t you pick out some more dresses to wear?”
He said, “Why do I need some more dresses? I can change tonight when I get home.”
She said, “ Everything you are now wearing comes from the store. You can now be a salesperson. We get nametags just down the street and they make them right there. Here is your nametag.”
She pinned it on him and he saw it read ‘Tomi’. He was slightly embarrassed by everything. Marjorie then called Sarah over.
Marjorie said to Sarah, “You were busy with Mrs. Adams since you got back so I couldn’t tell you this. Wait, I’ll let you figure it out. This is Tomi our new salesperson. Why don’t you help pick out some dresses? Oh my gosh, I forgot about the commission from Mrs. Morgan. Tomi, you have three hundred and twelve dollars to spend. Have fun picking out dresses!”
Sarah said, “Hi Tomi, I’m Sarah. Glad to meet you. Oh, God, is that you Thomas?”
He said yes as she looked shocked. She got over her shock and told him that Marjorie had said she would get him in a dress but she didn’t believe it. He asked if he could go home to change and she said it wasn’t necessary, as he looked good to her. She took him over to a rack of dresses he hadn’t noticed before. The dresses were much like office wear. She helped him select three from there. Then she said he would need more bras and slips. They selected him some and then she led him over to the shoe area. They didn’t have a really large selection as they had just gotten into carrying shoes but Sarah found him two more pairs that would go with many of the outfits they had selected. Sarah removed all of the tags and told him to put the clothes in the car.
He returned to the store and was shocked to see Mrs. Morgan back. She headed right for him and told him she discovered she needed a neck scarf to go with her outfit for the banquet that night. As he was going through the scarves she was talking to him.
She said, “I am so glad you took my advice on that dress. It really looks nice on you. You and I have similar coloring but yours looks much younger. I am glad they made you a full-time salesperson. I love your hair. Who did it?”
He told her about Agnes and she said she was going to see if Agnes had time for her. They made a selection and Mrs. Morgan left a happy woman. He was straightening out some clothes on a rack and thinking that this wasn’t right. He was a man in a dress. How is Sarah going to take him? How did he let himself get into this predicament? How was he going to get out of it? What about all of the things Agnes did to him at the beauty shop? He was churning with emotion.
He had two more sales before quitting time. He asked Marjorie what had happened to his pants as he had his wallet in them. She handed him a purse and told him everything that was in his pants was in the purse. All the way home he wanted to ask Sarah what she thought about what had happened to him. He just couldn’t muster the courage to ask her.
Finally, at supper, he thought he had better broach the subject before he went crazy with emotions that were out of control.
He asked Sarah, “How do you feel about all that has happened to me? Do you find it disgusting seeing your husband in a dress?”
Sarah replied, “Marjorie told me she would get you into a dress. I didn’t believe her but now it has happened. I think she is pleased with everything. First, I do not think you are disgusting. You are my husband and I love you dearly no matter what you are wearing if you enjoy it, fine. You tell me, how did you feel when you looked in the mirror and saw yourself?”
He said, “I felt pretty. I don’t know how to describe how I felt but I had a good feeling inside. I know it isn’t right for a man to feel that way but that is how I felt. When I was walking back to the store I heard the heels on the sidewalk and felt like I was walking on a golden pathway. When Mrs. Morgan told me I looked nice in this dress I felt proud and I don’t know what you would call the feelings I felt. Don’t you expect me to be more of a man?”
Sarah told him, “You are enough of a man for me. I like that we can talk about how we feel about things. This is not something you have ever talked to me about before. I am glad you want to talk about it. There is a lot of pluses to wearing a dress that you know looks good on you. You will find you walk differently and see the world differently. Not one of the customers has said anything about you being a man. They take you as a woman and believe you are a woman. Enjoy it, go with the flow. Do you really want to wear slacks and a shirt tomorrow?”
READ THE ENTIRE STORY — Working In A Dress Shop
