Filling In For Crystal Chapters 3-5 (Patreon)

Chapter 3.

"I'm home," Jerry called out when he arrived.

"What did Mrs. Hren want?"

"She had a job for me."

"Doing what?"

"It's sort of helping around the house.  She's busy with other things and she needed me to do a few odds and ends."

"Like housework?"

"No, nothing like that.  She wants me to do some things on the computer and make sure things go smoothly."

"Fine, how much is she paying you?"

"Not too much, about $75 a day."  She was paying more than that, but there wasn't any reason for his mother to know.  $75 was more than he would get working at a 'normal' job and this job didn't have taxes taken out.

"Sounds good.  When do you start?"

"Tomorrow morning."

As Jerry was talking to his mother, he noticed something he had never noticed before: her makeup.  Even though Jerry's face hadn't been fully made up, he certainly had more makeup on his than his mother had on her.  He noticed the difference.

He also noticed that his mother wasn't using a face primer and certainly wasn't using a setting spray.  Her makeup had faded badly.  Jerry seemed to know instinctively that his mother's foundation, what little she still had on her face, didn't quite suit the skin tone of her face.  Jerry supposed it had been this way for a long time, but this was the first time he had noticed it on her or on any girl.  Having his face made up properly (if that was the correct word) had given him an interest when he saw the makeup of others.

Jerry thought that his mother could look prettier if she worked on it.  After all, she was much younger than Mrs. Hren.  Mrs. Hren was over sixty and his mother was only in her mid-forties.  His mom should also take better care of her hair.  She had tied it in a ponytail, she had such nice hair, it should be styled.  If she didn't have time, then a wig like Mrs. Hren would be ideal for her.

Jerry didn't find any of these thoughts disconcerting.  This was the first time he had been really exposed to wearing makeup. He found that he enjoyed it.  It was fun, like wearing a costume at Halloween.

After dinner, Jerry spent his time on the computer watching videos on how to administer cosmetics.  Jerry had never thought of applying makeup before, now that he had a taste of how it worked and what a little makeup could do he was eager to try it out on his own.  He didn't see this activity as gay.  None of his friends would see him wearing it anyway.  He considered putting on makeup in this case just a disguise so it wasn't a 'gay' thing.  It was more like putting on fake blood for Halloween when he was a kid.  Plus, the $3000 would go a long way.  He justified it to himself as actors wear makeup all the time, he was just acting and he would be paid a lot of money to do it.

Chapter 4.

In the morning, Jerry got out of bed excited to start his new job.  He had never been paid to learn anything before.  Jerry didn't know why he would want to learn a topic like "The History of Fashion" but he was.  He felt like he was in a no-lose situation, because even if he didn't learn the subject well he still would be paid.

He also liked the idea of fooling everyone into thinking he was a woman.  He was playing a trick on them and they wouldn't know it.  Maybe this might be the story of a new career as an actor.

He was even excited to get to apply the makeup.  He believed he had a hidden talent for it.  Maybe he did, or maybe he didn't but he would find out.

Jerry arrived early at Crystal's house.  He could put on any old thing because he knew he would change there regardless of what he wore.

At Crystal's home, Jerry started off with a shower and a complete cleansing of his face.  Then he put on the wig.

Crystal didn't just apply the makeup, she taught Jerry how to apply it himself.  She found that Jerry was an enthusiastic pupil.  He was eager to learn.  He combined what he did yesterday with what he taught himself online last night and what Crystal was doing today.

Jerry had focused at home on the more colorful aspects of makeup, lips, eyes, and cheekbones.   But, Crystal showed him the importance of the earlier steps with the priming of his face and using foundation.

"But what if I want my eyes to look..." Jerry asked when it was time for his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.  We don't need all that.  We just need your eyes to look professional, not dynamic.  Just use this three-color blend and nothing more."

"That's right, small circles...start from there...blend it with that bigger brush.  No, not that far over your crease line..."  Crystal, shouted out directions to Jerry.

It took about forty-five minutes for Jerry to get his look right.  It would take less time tomorrow now that he had practice and less time after that.

The final step of his costume was his blouse or top which always had to have shoulder pads to distract from his masculine shoulders.  There would also be painted nails and rings to distract from his 'big hands'.

When he was ready, he sat in front of the monitor.  He made sure he had his touch-up makeup and cigarettes in his purse right next to him.  He looked at himself on the screen to assure himself that he looked as he needed to.  "One day," he thought, "I'll be able to appear on screen without the plastic wrap over the camera lens.  One day, soon"

He logged on to the course and confirmed it was him with his fingerprint.  Every time a yellow light flashed, he would have to reconfirm his identity with another fingerprint.

He was one of the first to log onto the class.  The teacher hadn't even logged on yet.

He waited for a minute or two.  Then he had to do it.  He said, "Hello" to whoever was there.  He heard his feminized voice in his earphones and was pleased.   Several other students returned the greeting.

The lesson began on time.  They started with the fashions of the 1950s.

"Fashion," the teacher announced, "is rarely confirmed to just one decade.  The roots of the fashion of the 1950s in fact started in 1947 with Christian Dior's 'New Look'"  That look was typified with a nipped-in waist and a flared skirt.  The look was so successful that it continued well into the middle of the decade..."

Jerry not only heard every word that the teacher said, but he also heard, without realizing it, instructions on how he loved to learn about fashion, as well as maybe trying it out someday and making himself look pretty with makeup.

While he was listening to the lecture, his cell phone warned him it was time to light a cigarette.  Every 45 minutes, he would be warned.

Jerry took his eyes off the lecturer but was still listening intently to the lesson.   He reached into his purse and fished out the pack of cigarettes and a lighter.  Jerry crossed his legs and sat up straight.  He put a cigarette into his mouth and light it up with the lighter.  This was the first time his manicured fingers appeared in the frame with him.

Jerry had to take a puff to get the cigarette going and then quickly put the cigarette down into the ashtray.  Every 45 seconds, he would be reminded to take up the cigarette to his mouth, feign a puff and then return it to the ashtray.  The first time wasn't as effortlessly feminine as a real woman would do it, but it was close enough and no one was looking at him anyway.  After a certain amount of puffs, Jerry would crush the cigarette out in the ashtray, only to start the process again when the alarm warned to start another cigarette at the next 45-minute mark.

There was another warning every hour and thirty-five minutes to check and repair his lipstick.  Similar to the cigarette procedure, he would take out what he needed from his purse.  Sit up straight with his legs crossed and fix his lipstick no matter their condition.  Jerry didn't know if any of his classmates or his teacher noticed, but he did those procedures anyway.

At the lunch break, Crystal asked, "How is it going?"

"It's a hoot," Jerry enthused.  "I'm having so much fun.  Who would have believed I would love women's fashions.  I think I truly have an eye for them."

"What are you doing?"

"We started with the 1950s."

Crystal knew the work backward and forwards.  It was her lifetime work.  "We've come a long way since the fifties!"

"I still just love that style.  It was so elegant and feminine.  Women back then were coming out of the depression and the war, they wanted to add luxury and fashionable things to their wardrobe."

"Uh-huh."

"Did you know that the fifties was the time when both the poodle skirt and the cocktail dress were created?  Hardly anyone really wears a puddle skirt, but the cocktail dress is now timeless."

Crystal could see that Jerry was taking his job to heart.  He was really learning something.  Her hidden suggestions were permeating his mind also.  "What did they wear before cocktail dresses?" she asked.

"Well the cocktail dress was worn to the new social event known as the cocktail party,  hence the name."

Continuing, Jerry stated, "Woman also started to wear pants in the fifties.  Not too often, but that's where the trend started.  My time is almost up, I have to go," Jerry said with enthusiasm.

"You are doing great, see you later," Crystal smiled.

At the end of the day, the teacher gave everyone a surprise quiz.  It was a fill-in test.  Jerry aced it.

1) __________introduced pedal-pushers with matching tops.   Claire McCardell

2) As the decade progressed, clothing became less structured and ________________. Straighter in cut.

3) Perhaps one of the most enduring images of everyday fashion in the fifties is the _________________.  Poodle Skirt.

Jerry answered each question in turn.  He knew the answer without a moment's hesitation.  He got a hundred on his quiz.

Jerry ran excitedly to Crystal to tell her his good news.  She was proud of him.

After the day's work was done, Jerry didn't clean off his makeup and go straight home.  Instead, he practiced how to put on his makeup for tomorrow.  He wanted to do it all by himself without Crystal's help.

The next day was similar to the first and the day after that the same too.  Jerry was learning the fashion of the 1950s in greater detail.  Not just the clothes but the accessories and even the cosmetics too.  He excelled in all aspects of his education.

Chapter 5.

At home, when Jerry was doing his own investigation of the history of fashion on the Internet, his cell ran.  It was one of his friends, Cooper.

"Hey, Jerry, where ya been?"

"Coop, I got a job, I've been busy."

"Really?  Doing what?"

Jerry told his friend Cooper the same cover story he told his mother.  I'm helping out Mrs. Hren around her house.  You know doing this and that."

"Making good money?"

"Yeah, some."

"Well, I thought we could play NBA 2K21?  I already have logged in."

"I can't.  I really can't.  I've been working all day.  I'm beat."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Jerry was much more interested in fashions.  He was having a great deal of fun looking at how the fashions of the fifties were still influencing the trends of today.  He never noticed before.  Some of the trends had a revival in subtle ways.  No one wore Poodle Skirts anymore, but he could see their influence if you kept your eyes open.  Jerry's eyes were wide open now.

As for Cooper, Jerry was starting to see him as a bit childish as were the rest of his friends.  He also looked at girls differently now.  Some knew how to put together an outfit, and some didn't know a Dior from and Irving Penn.   Jerry figuratively shook his head at what they called fashion these days.  Not that Jerry didn't appreciate a pretty girl in a pretty outfit.

The phone call from Cooper gave Jerry an idea.

"Hey Mom," Jerry asked, " Can I stay over at Cooper's house?"

"What about your job."

"I'll still go to my job.  I'll just go from there."

Jerry's mother considered the request and then agreed.  "I suppose it's alright."  Jerry was over eighteen, she couldn't treat him like he was a child.

But Jerry didn't want to stay at Cooper's house, he wanted to stay at Crystal's.  She had suggested it so he wouldn't have to get up so early.  If he stayed there, he wouldn't have to remove his nails and then put them back the next morning.  Also, he could wear a cleaning mask at night while he slept.  It would help his skin.  There were many reasons that made it better for him to stay at Crystals than to go home and return in the morning.

Jerry arrived at Crystal's with an overnight bag.

"Aren't you a little early?"

"You said I could stay overnight.  I think it'd be great to stay here instead of going home at the end of the day.  I wouldn't have to take off my nails and put them back on.  You know, stuff like that."

"Did your mother say it was OK?"

"I told her I was staying at a friend's.  She's alright with that."

"OK, you can stay here.  Let me show you to your room."

Crystal showed Jerry to the guest bedroom.  It was definitely feminine.  The walls were white, but they did have a pink tint.  There was a large walk-in closet.  Jerry presumed it was full of Crystal's out-of-season apparel or some such thing.  The room was dominated by a queen-sized bed with a white headboard on the far wall.  It was flanked by a pair of nightstands.  Opposite the bed's headboard was an 8-drawer dresser.  In the far corner was a vanity with a large mirror.  A soft rug was on the floor and tasteful paintings on the wall.

What the room was missing was a computer and a television.  Jerry didn't mind.  He was happy to stay here.

"How are the courses going?"

"Great, I'll, I mean, you'll get an A."

"You seem to be having fun."

"I am.  I really am.  I didn't know that fashions were so interesting.  I just love the fashions of the 1950s."

"Surprising, that was seventy years ago.  Even I wasn't born in the fifties.  I just missed them, I was born in 1960."  After a pause Crystal continued, "Don't tell anyone."

"I won't.  But I don't care how long ago it was.  I just love the look of it.  All the clothes were so elegant.  Women were always trying to look good."

"Don't they look good today?"

"It's not the same and not all the time.  The dresses were so pretty.  They were so feminine."

"Want to see one?"

"You have a seventy-year-old dress?"

"No silly, but I have some in that style."

"OK, then I'd like to see it."

Crystal didn't have to leave the room.  She went to the walk-in closet and entered.  She came out with a green and white diagonally checked sleeveless dress with a v-check.  It had a narrow waist and a full skirt that would have reached just past Crystal's knees.

"That is really beautiful."

"I can try it on if you like."

"SURE!"

Crystal left to put on the dress, when she came back she was wearing the dress with a petty coat that poofed out the skirt.

"Wow, that is fantastic.  I wonder..."

"You wonder what you would look in it?"

"I was just curious."

"This dress isn't suited for you, you would need something different.  You couldn't go sleeveless with your broad shoulders and arms."

"But I have just the thing.  You want to try it?"

"Um, sure," Jerry said.  He didn't want to sound too excited, but he wasn't fooling Crystal.

It's not just the dress it's everything.  Why not put on your makeup and I'll get a few things.  We can help the fifties out with a few modern touches."

"Modern touches?"

"Yeah, don't worry, you'll look great.  You want to look great don't you?"

"Yeah."

Jerry had learned to make up his face fast.  It didn't take him long to get ready.  He expected Crystal to come in with a dress, but she had other articles of clothing instead."

"Where's the dress."

"You need some modern touches first."

"Like what?"

"Shoulder pads from the eighties."

"You said my shoulders are already too big."

"That is why you need pads, it'll make them look like the pads, not your natural shoulder.  Put this on."

"What is it?"

"It's a slip with shoulder pads silly.  But before you put that on, put on this with these."

Crystal handed him three items.  A tapered shapewear bodysuit.  It would narrow his waist as much as possible and hold his breasts.  She also had D-cup falsies.  Jerry didn't think to ask why a woman like Crystal would have such a thing and the full slip with large shoulder pads.

Jerry got undressed in front of Crystal.  She didn't put up any fuss at all.  As he got dressed, Crystal explained.

"The key to dressing is to draw the eye away from the problem areas, in your case your masculine shoulders.  The pads will frame your shoulders and the big bassoons will draw the eyes away from the shoulders and down your body to your waist.  You'll have a V-shape.  You'll look like a plus-sized woman, not s skinny man."

Even without the dress and everything else, Jerry could see how his eye was directed away from his shoulders.  They rested on his 'boobs' and then had to continue down to his relatively narrow waist.  The bra part of the shapewear molded his breasts into bullet shapes as was the fashion in the fifties.

"I think I know what you mean."

"Great, now put on these stockings and this petty coat."

Jerry didn't need any explanation, women of the 50s always wore stockings and the petty coat made his entire midsection look bigger and curvier.  It contrasted with his narrow waist.

Once his lingerie was in place, Crystal returned with the dress.  It was a leopard print dress, with 3/4 length sleeves, a v-neck, a belt at the waist, and a peplum under that.  With the petty coat, it flared out tremendously.

Every aspect of the dress emphasized what the lingerie was trying to do.  It gave the illusion of a narrow waist as compared with the chest and hips.  His arms were hidden from view along with his legs and really the rest of his body.  He had the illusion of an elegant older woman.

"Wow!" he stated.

"But you aren't finished."

"Oh yes, the shoes."

"There is more to it than that, it's shoes, purse, and hat ."

The wider brim hat, matched the small purse, belt, and shoes.  Crystal even gave Jerry a pair of black cotton gloves.

"And the final touch."  Crystal handed Jerry gold jewelry: necklace, dangling earrings, and a bracelet.  A ring was not necessary as he was already wearing gloves.

"I look great."

"Yes, you do.  Maybe this is a little too dressy for every day, it can be toned down a big.  But the core of shoulder pads, large breasts, and a petty coat with a dress that covers most of your arms is what you need.  At least for this look."

"I've fallen in love with fifties' fashions.  We started on the sixties, and that is just too casual.  I like the elegance."

"Do you want to try something else?"

"YES!"

As Crystal had stated, the core never changed.  But he wore dress after dress and looked good in each.  If he was wearing makeup that let him appear his own age, it wouldn't have worked so well, but the vintage look for a person who appeared to be a woman approaching her senior years looked appropriate.

"It's getting late, you should get ready for bed."

Jerry got undressed and then washed his makeup off with cold cream then took a shower.  The days of just jumping into bed were over.  It took quite a while to get ready.  Care would have to be taken with the clothes and jewelry he had been wearing.  But at least he saved a little time since he didn't have to remove the polish from his nails.

Jerry was getting out of the bathroom when Crystal asked, want to sleep in this?"  She was holding a satiny bias-cut nightgown with an empire waist and balloon sleeves.  It was relatively long, tea-length with a ribbon wrapped around the waist   It looked like it was straight out of a 1950s catalog.

"It's lovely, but I don't think so."

"Are you sure?"

"Maybe next time," Jerry smirked.

"Anytime you want to try it."

"I'll let you know."

"You can listen to some music, if you like," Crystal suggested.

"I might just do that."

"But not too loud."

"Fine."

There wasn't a TV in the room, so Jerry took her up on her suggestion.  He wasn't feeling too sleepy.  But found himself falling right to sleep almost immediately after his head hit the pillow.

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