Wednesday 23rd Sept 2009

Jewellery and make-up from
Anne & Michelle

This evening Anne and Michelle came along to show off and sell some of Anne's home made jewellery which she almost gives away as I only paid £1 for as very nice pair of earings to which Anne added clip ons.
They will be coming again on the 21st of October so come along and get some bargains.
Jenny Shaw on the right comes from over the other side of the country so only comes to Manchester once or twice a year to visit Iris, who then brings her along to us for an evening out, so welcome to you both. For your information, Iris used to help run the TV/TS meetings held in the univesity many years ago, before Concord existed.

Jenny Shaw

Sally and Janine

Sally on the left is a relative newcomer to the club but has made herself at home very quickly by starting a thread on the forum called Looking Good. This has resulted in a lot of good advice and discussion about make up, where to find the right clothes, how to choose what to wear, etc which makes interesting reading with contributions from several different members, including Janine, shown with her. They obviously have a lot to talk about which is great.
As you may have noticed, Lisa on the right, does appear a lot in this blog, but that is because she is always trying out new outfits, which she has managed to put together by diligent searching before finding things which really go together well, like the colour match between her shoes and this new dress from Jane Norman.

Lisa

Tina, Jay and Sam

On the left we have Tina, Jay and Sam all shown together as Sam needed a bit of encouragement to be included in a photo, unlike the others who love having one taken. I am no different as I wanted to show off these slightly unusual fishnet tights. These are actually much easier to wear and look better if you have a normal pair of sheer tights underneath.
Finally, please dont forget that we have our Chinese/Oriental evening next week when we are hoping to see quite a number of Chinese dresses. Also Lana will be here selling off some of the Stock, at half price, from the Thai gift shop which used to be at the end of Sackville street but has now closed. Quite a variety of different items.

Mary

Wednesday 16th Sept 2009

Lisa

Lisa on the left really enjoys putting outfits together and was pleased with the contrast of the red against the black for her overall look. Complete with patterned tights it made a very good look.
Jay shown on the right with Stella had bought the dress she is wearing from the Charity sale in Taurus over the Sparkle weekend and is very pleased with it.
Stella is her usual elegant self and this photo shows off her corsetted shape very well. One of the great things about this club is that it gives people a reason to come out into the village and the opportunity to try out different styles.
We are now just finishing setting up our projector and screen in the bar. When it is ready we will be showing many of the photos taken over the years as a continially changing picture.

Stella and Jay

Tulip

We will also be able to show video clips and short films of interest to our members.
Tulip, on the left is only an occasional visitor to the club as she does several other activities on wednesday evenings that keep her away. But she always makes a great effort to glam up when she does come. It is good to see you Tulip when you can make it.
Rachel on the right, is a long time member of Northern Concord but this evening she joined Manchester Concord. She is willing and able to assist any new people who need help. She is putting some information about what she can offer onto the forum

Rachel

Finally, dont forget that we have Anne and Michelle coming next week, the 23rd and the following week, the 30th we are having our Chinese/Oriental evening so I hope you have been looking out an outfit to wear. I know several people who have so it should be a good night.

Early on in the evening I met Jude, who was visiting us from Scotland, looking very chic in this outfit shown on the left. She is a very confident TV who goes out of her way to help other to get started, so it was good to meet you. Later on, at the end of the evening, she is shown on the right ready to party the night away looking just as good in a different way.
Another rare visitor was Pamela, shown below, who comes from up near the Scottish border. It is difficult for her to get here very often, but we are glad to see her when she can make it.
Next below is Rachel, who visits us from Kent every few weeks so has now got to know lots of friends. She is with Samantha and Debbie who are now part of the family coming along most weeks.
Then on the right are the wonderful Dee and Mischa

Jude

who have to make a real effort to get here after spending all day looking after TVs at Dee Selecta in Bolton. It is great to see them also managing to have a social life with us.

Rachel, Samantha and Debbie

Dee and Mischa

Madelaine

Elaine

Julia and Maddie

Lisa

This evening started off fairly quietly, but later on got really busy which is exciting as there is a real buzz when the bar fills up. We had a newcomer come in soon after 10pm and I persuaded her that she did have time to get changed which pleased me as it is better to do it straight away if she can, rather than put it off. It helps to break the ice much more quickly. Her name was Linda and she says she will be back very soon now that she has found her way here. We stayed talking till after 11:30 which gave her time to get used to us.

Wednesday 2nd Sept 2009

The evening started off with quite a crowd of us eating in Eden and it was nice to welcome Sally to the group. She is a relative newcomer to Concord but has already made herself known on the forum and does seem to be making the most of this new exciting life. Welcome Sally and I also enjoyed our long chat in Napoleons at the end of the evening as well. She is a computer buff and has quite a few useful tips that I can make use of.
When we got back to the club at 7pm I was delighted to meet Andy again. Our Female to Male friend who I had last seen at Sparkle and then when he first came here a few weeks before that. He was accompanied by a TV friend he had met at Sparkle but lives in Yorkshire so they cannot meet up very often. Andy gave me a box of chocolates as a thank you for looking after him at Sparkle which was a very nice unexpected present, so thank you Andy. I hope you keep popping in occasionally to keep us up to date with your progress. He had been staying with his Grandparents but when they found out that he was transitioning they completely rejected him and he has had to find somewhere else to live. I cannot understand how people can behave like this, to their own family members. Society still has a way to go.

Milli

Milli on the left is getting out more often now which is good, so keep it up Milli and I hope you like your picture.
Louise on the right, shown with myself, is a rarer visitor so it is good to see her as well looking very relaxed in a casual outfit with lovely long hair.
Lisa is shown wearing her corset on top of the dress for a change which certinly makes the outfit more dramatic.
Kelly and Sam, shown below, had brought along twenty wigs which they were selling at £20 each, which is a very reasonable price for such superb quality wigs. They sold a few and the remaining ones

Louise

Lisa

will be put on Ebay. They will do this exercise again in a few weeks time if they feel there is a demand.

Kelly and Sam

Louise

Finally, I am sorry to say we will not have the company of Anne and Michelle on wednesday the 9th as advertised. A few weeks ago they had to rush down to the south for a family crisis and now they have to go to the resulting funeral. I hope they will accept our condolences for their bereavement and hope we will see them again shortly.

Wednesday 26th Aug 2009

Marlena

Just as we were leaving the changing room to go down to Eden for our evening meal, we bumped into Marlena who had just arrived in Manchester and was going to her room in the Rembrandt. We introduced ourselves and invited her to join us for a meal. She seemed glad of some company so quickly put her bag in the room and joined us. It appears that the last time she came to the village was at the begining of April last year when we had just started Manchester Concord. Today she had arranged to meet someone in York at lunchtime and when they failed to appear she decided on the spur of the moment to come to Manchester instead. She came down to Eden with us, where she was good company, and then came back and spent the rest of the evening talking with new friends in the club. So, I am glad you came along Marlena, we enjoyed your company. I hope we see you again soon.

Donna

I was delighted to see Donna again wearing this new dress and carrying it off beautifully.
Mercedes, on the right, had also bought a new dress and was delighted to show off the very different new style she had found. The arms have very large Batwings which make it hang well and move as you walk. It is wonderful to see the girls coming out of their shells and really enjoying what they can find to wear.
This is one of the real pleasures of "Coming out of the Closet" and just being yourself, so if there are people out there who read this and are still hiding themselves away, dont leave it too long. The look on Mercedes face says it all. Come along and we will help you enjoy life.

Mercedes

Mary and Giselle

It was really nice to see Giselle looking so happy and confident. She has been a member for several years now, but we only see her occasionally, so it is nice to hear that she is doing well and getting on with her life as a girl.
Peta, on the right, is one of our newer members, but she is now getting more confident and is planning to take part in the Pride parade this saturday so that is really quite a big step to take. I hope she enjoys it.
Towards the end of the evening I was asked by Kelly if she could bring some wigs along next week to show what is available from a local wholesale firm Eve International. I said of couse she could so next wednesday the 2nd of September she will bring along about 20 wigs for people to see and try. See some more details on the coming events page.

Peta

Then on the following week. the 9th of September, Anne will be here selling her home made jewellery and Michelle will do a make over demo.

Wednesday 19th Aug 2009

Lisa, Tina and Paula

Summer is obviously here as all the short dresses are coming out, including Tina shown in the middle here. We just hope that the warm weather continues at least till after the coming bank holiday weekend when the PRIDE parade will take place through Manchester as part of the weekends celebrations in the village here.
On the other hand, they were not all short, as can be seen by this stunning dress that Ashley had found for her visit this week.
We had quite a variety of new people come along this week, some who have hardly been out before and some more experienced who just happen to be in Manchester this week.
Some of you will remember a group called Transmission that ran very successfully in London

Ashley

Susie

for a few years but has now closed. One of our visitors used to help organise this group and she told me that the building that they used for their meetings changed hands and the new owners wanted thousands of pound to let them continue to use it. This would have made the club unviable, as they would have had to charge so much for entry, so they reluctantly decided to close it down, which is a great shame as it was very popular. This just makes me realise how lucky we are having such a good venue.
Susie on the left has now returned from the continent, where she has been working for a few weeks and is now well back in the fold, staying here overnight most weeks in room 1. Good to see you back.
Amanda, on the right, was looking very elegant, so

Amanda

I couldn't resist taking this photo just to show off the complete outfit.
We welcome Sally, as a new member to the club. She obviously enjoyed the evening as I notice that she has already joined the forum and has written a letter of thanks to the people that spent time with her.
Later in the evening I bumped into Rosemary in Naps who was accompanied by her friend John so here they are together. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their evening.

Finally, dont forget it is PRIDE this weekend in the village and we are part of this community. As I said last week, there are two opportunities to take part in the parade. The details are on our events page and it is not too late to get involved.

Rosemary and John

View of the bar

PS, during the evening I took this general view of the bar. It was only when I got home that I realised that in the foreground was one of the new people that had come along today and I had not asked her permission to show a photo of her. I sent her a copy and she has now given her permission, so here it is. The lady in the front shown in profile is Hazel who came along with her partner for the first time together. Her partner is not shown in the photo as she was hidden by the person with her back to us. Hazel says in her letter that they did both enjoy the evening and they will both be back soon.

Wednesday 12th Aug 2009

Our Saree evening

Mary in Eden Bar

I took the opportunity to go out wearing the Saree and went down to Eden bar as usual for our evening meal before the start of the meeting at 7 pm in the Rem.
I couldn't resist taking these two photos while we were there. Lisa hadn't managed to get a Saree but was looking very colourful in a new dress
The Saree I have was bought from Anand Fashions Ltd in Wilmslow Road Manchester. I was introduced to the shop by our Asian member Rihanna who seemed to know several of the staff there and was able to speak their language so we got off to a very good start.
The Saree consists of a Crop Top that finishes just under the bust and 5.3 metres of decorated cloth that wraps around from your waist down acting as a skirt before going up over the left shoulder. Originally they

Lisa in Eden Bar

Jay

were just simple pieces of cloth but now you can get them with a very flexible sewn in belt with six pleats at one end to enable the skirt to have some give in it. This belt makes them very much easier to put on. The crop top has five hooks at the back which means that it is impossible to put on by yourself but I did find, out of necessity, that it is possible to undo the hooks on your own with great difficulty.
Due to my large bust I had to have the Crop Top tailored to fit but this was all done within a week for the total price of £75. The staff in the shop were all very helpful and the man who did the tailoring didn't speak any english but seemed very pleased with the result.
Jay, on the left, was given her Saree by a friend but it

Tina

Frances

had no sewn in belt so it was a bit harder to put on. We solved the problem by wearing an elasticated belt underneath the Saree and tucking it into that. What we failed to do is to create a few pleats in the front, so it was rather harder to walk in. We will learn.
Frances on the left has a different form of Indian dress that she wanted because it can be worn on more occasions. She found this very elegant one after trying 4 different shops down Wilmslow road.
For a first time this was a good turnout of indian dresses and hopefully we can encourage more of you to acquire one. We will certainly repeat this theme next year giving more of you time to find something you like. Just to add to the evening, we also had a selection of Indian sweets available bought from the DELHI sweet centre in Wilmslow road Manchester.

Millie

Estelle

Group photo

Emily

Sarah Louise

Brydie and Amy

Richard Isis and Mary

Kathy

Jade and new girl

Mandy and Cindy

It was great to see Amy again, looking very well, even though she is under a lot of stress with several family health probems making life very hard at present. When she does manage to get here she really does manage to relax and enjoy herself, so it must be doing her some good. I was also glad to see Lisah again back from San Francisco and Isis who put in an appearance after quite a long gap.
Mandy, shown on the right with Cindy, now runs a group in Leeds. She is known as Mandymakeup on TVchix so if you would like any details have a look for her on there. She has promised to send me some more information and we will put this on the website when we get it.

Finally. dont forget it is Manchester PRIDE in a couple of weeks time on August the 29th. There are now at least two opportunities for any of you to take part in the parade if you wish. PLEASE SEE our COMING EVENTS page for full details.

Wednesday 5th Aug 2009

Georgina Emily and Julia

Just as we were returning from Eden after our early evening meal we bumped into the three girls shown on the left, Georgina, Emily and Julia, who had just left their hotel Eazysleep in Canal Street. As they had emailed me earlier about getting some pictures taken outside, I stopped and took this one with the canal just behind them. They then followed us in and spent the rest of the evening in the club.
Debbie, on the right, is visiting England from Spain where she has been living for several years now. She last came to Concord about 5 years ago when were in the Hollywood. A number of things have gone

Debbie

wrong for her while she was here, like finding that her driving licence was no longer valid in this country, that I think she will be glad to get back to warmer Spain. It was good to see you again Debbie and I hope life gets better for you in Spain.

Brydie

Brydie, on the left, tells me that she has now taken part, as an extra, in a new British documentary film called "Going our way" which was filmed in Hulme. She seems to manage to get involved in activities like this which help to add a bit of excitement to her life.
Millie on the right, has been away for a few weeks now staying first of all at a camp down in Devon for over two weeks. She spent the entire time as Millie, even driving down there from home. When she got back she then went off to another camp a lot nearer and spent more time there. She has a very active social life and nearly all of it is as Millie so it does seem that being a transvestite is now becoming much more socially acceptable. All you need is the confidence to just do it, which Millie has in spades.

Lisa

Daniella and Milli

Steffie

Leslie

Peta

Leslie Anne

It was good to see Leslie again, as she doesn't manage to get to the club very often due to her work patterns.
I bumped into Peta, in the middle, up in the changing room, before she had got changed and completely failed to recognise her. I thought she must be a newcomer and she was a bit taken aback by my greeting. The dress she is wearing is one of the ones donated by Liz last week and it fits her perfectly so she was delighted to get it for a £1.
Leslie Anne on the right, last visited us when we were in the Hollywood so she didn't know about our change to Manchester Concord. She very quickly agreed to join us and is now a paid up member, number 259.
Dont forget that next week we are having our Saree night so I hope to see some different outfits then.

Wednesday 29th July 2009

A few weeks ago a few of us, myself Alison and Frances, attended a one day conference at Manchester Town Hall and in one of the workshops I met Councillor Paul Murphy who is Chairman of the Manchester Police Authority. During that workshop, I had briefly outlined how Manchester Concord meets every wednesday and is always there to help trans people come out of the closet and make some like minded friends. He said then, that he would like to visit us one evening and today he came along to see what we are like and to talk to some of our members. He stayed over two hours talking to a number of people and when he left asked if he could return again with some of the other people he works with on the Police Authority. He is very interested in finding out if there is anything more he can do to help us, so thank you Paul for coming and we look forward to meeting you again soon.

Samantha and Lisa

I first saw Lisa on the left here, shown with Samantha, coming along Sackville street this evening to join us for our evening meal in Eden. She always manages to look eye catching at the very least and this outfit is superb. Samantha also looked amazing so here they both are at the start of our evening.
The girl on the right is also called Lisa and this name is becoming one of our most popular ones. She is wearing a much less exotic outfit but still manages to look stunning. It is great to see many more younger girls like Lisa coming along to the club. This bodes well for the future.

Lisa

Friends Kerry and Fay

Christine and Elaine

Saturday 25th July 2009

I was lucky enough to be given two free tickets by Lana, for the Ladyboys show this Saturday which was their final night in Manchester. I asked Jay to come with me and we both had a very enjoyable evening. As the evening entertainment was free I decided to have a makeover in Transfixed to get me off to a good start and spent a very enjoyable 2 hours with Lisa and Zara getting my nails amd makeup done.
I then met up with Jay in Eden for our evening meal before going to the 7pm show. While in Eden we also met Elaine, who was out with some friends, so we took her photo with us as well.

Elaine and Jay in Eden

Mary and Jay in Eden and in the Thai Pavilion

In the Thai Pavilion

Wednesday 22nd July 2009

Paula

The first person to catch my eye this evening was Paula seen here wearing a very elegant outfit that was slightly out of character for her. It is actually a trouser dress with batwing additions to the legs and it looked excellent. She tells me that this dress was first worn by her partner when she was 16 years old and Paula first got to know her. She now realises that she has a whole new set of clothes to try. If this one fits this well then so should most of the others that have been kept for quite a few years now. So we could possibly see some more unusual outfits from Paula over the next few weeks.

Soon after that Brydie came up to me and gave me the following information about herself.

Paula

Brydie

I am not a Manchester victim support volunteer any more due to difficulties; however I have been and still am, a public member (transgender representative) of my small local independent advisory group (Tameside and Ashton-Under-Lyne group) which operates withGreater Manchester Police, where we dicuss various issues affecting the local Lesbian/Gay and Transgender people, in particular, personal safety. IAG's operate in various police divisions. I believe it is a part of a National Police/Public network.
I have been invited to a members Get-together at Manchester's Palace Hotel on Nov 30 & dec 1 this year.

Kelly on the right was a birthday girl today, so Many happy returns Kelly you look fantastic.

Kelly

Emily, Michelle & Rosemary

It is great to see people come along to the club together as friends and these three on the left Emily, Michelle and Rosemary fit into that category. As a group this makes a great picture.

The couple on the right, Amber and Elaine have recently joined the club and they are both real party animals who egg each other on. It is fun to be in their company.

Amber and Elaine

Mary and Ruby

Ruby shown here on her own and with Mary, is a real extrovert who does her own shows as a professional.
She is a good laugh if you spend time in her company.

Finally, I should appologise to those people who came along this evening hoping to have a make up demo or buy some jewellery, as our expected guests did not appear. I have not yet been able to find out what happened, but hope we will be able to get them here at a later date.

Ruby

Christine and Peta

Kate and Diane

Link to previous Mary's Blog pages

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