Miss Vera’s Cross-Dress for Success Book is based off of Miss Vera’s academy in New York. It’s sold by Dallas Novelty. The tagline calls it “A Resource Guide for Boys Who Want to be Girls”. The book is 216 pages which is split into 15 different chapters – one of the chapters is the resource chapter which is really long. The book has thin, black and white pages with a softcover front. The book is eight inches tall and five inches across which makes it about the same size as any average book. The front cover shows a “fairy” transforming a male into a beautiful female and has the title largely written, so it’s probably not the best book to take to work. I did read it on the college campus without any problem though. This book is based about Miss Vera’s experience running a New York school which caters to turning males into females through crossdressing. Miss Vera pulls upon her knowledge of everything she’s done with her students to make this an interesting read. She writes in a really friendly style in a way that makes cross-dressing accessible to both those who are curious and those who have been practicing for awhile. She also reassures the reader multiple times that crossdressing is perfectly okay to do – she mostly does this by explaining the stories of other men she’s seen in her academy.
The interesting part about this book is that you really get to know the characters that Miss Vera is around. She flits between actually giving advice on how to cross-dress with actually telling real-life stories about the men/women she’s seen at her academy. Sometimes she also includes a little story written in second-person (“you”) that describes “your” time out with her and her assistants or “your” first time clothes shopping or other adventures like that.
A great feature that I loved seeing was that, at the beginning of every chapter, the author included a picture of some of her “girls” in dressed up. This allowed you to feel more comfortable about your own desires and compare yourself to others out there who enjoy cross-dressing. I’m a bit confused as to who to specifically recommend this to. Yes, it works great for those who have been cross-dressing for awhile and want some good pointers, but it also works okay for those who have just discovered their crossdressing desires. In fact, this book actually works for those wives of cross-dressers because there is a chapter in this book all about it.
The book starts off by an introduction which talks all about the different genders orientations and assures you that whatever yours is, it’s perfectly fine. The first chapter is one of those “second-person experiences” where you go out for a tea with the Academy Deans. The second chapter is all about basic care – Miss Vera covers going to a spa, taking a relaxing bath, getting pretty toenails, and getting attractive fingernails.
The third chapter is all about those female body parts such as the penis (and how to hide it), how to give yourself breasts including picking out inserts, and how to make your butt look better. The fourth is all about a remembrance of one of her shop owners that ran a cross-dressing store. The fifth chapter is all about clothing – it talks about how to choose your own clothing includes hats, gloves, and outfits including how to go shopping for these items in “regular” stores in public. It also covers picking out your own feminine name and gives some meanings to some common names.The sixth chapter covers make-up, the basics of make-up, and gives you a step-by-step guide on putting on some basic make-up. Miss Vera also covers what to do about a beard. The seventh talks all about your hair, recommending you grow out your own, or if you can’t, talks about different wig styles, wig types, and what works best for your face. The eighth chapter is another one of those second-person chapters but this time you go out to a famous nightclub with a few of the Deans. Chapter 9 is a story about one of Miss Vera’s students going through a wedding with a bridal gown and everything.
Chapter ten is suited just for the women of cross-dressing males. It talks about support groups, other women’s experiences, and what it means if your guy wants to wear women’s clothing. The eleventh chapter is more stories about Miss Vera’s students and how this relates to their sexual lives. It talks about how some of the males don’t enjoy sex because they don’t mentally connect with their penis nor enjoy the sight of it. The next chapter is about one of Miss Vera’s favorite students – Patti – and her transition from cross-dressing to full male-to-female surgery. The last chapter is all about a guy who came in just for weddings – another personal story. The last section is about thirty pages of resources – some on the web and some off the web. Since this book was published 2002, I’m concerned that some of these resources might not be up anymore, but for the most part, most seem to be functioning.
I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I really enjoyed reading it for the personal stories, and I liked seeing into the minds of crossdressers (especially as the girlfriend of one), but I’m not sure it was amazingly helpful. Everything inside of the book is stuff that could be explained to a cross-dresser by a female friend. However, if you are a male that doesn’t have that female friend, I can easily see where this book would be useful to you. If you do have a female who has been mentoring you, the tips won’t be of much use, but you may enjoy reading about others experiences. Either way, this adult toy store sells fetish & bondage books as well as Miss Vera’s Cross-Dress for Success book.
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