Mardi Gras 2005

    by Tessa Kay

  There are only two times a year when I go out dressed in public, where I really don’t mind if people approach me and make a comment about being in “drag”.  Halloween is the “National Holiday” for most cross-dressers, but for me it’s becoming Mardi Gras.

   With Chael, my wife having roots in New Orleans and going to Mardi Gras there, we do the second best thing and go to the second best Mardi Gras in the nation…St. Louis.

  Over the years of going with her, I have gotten more into the spirit each year.  The annual Mardi Gras parade was held this year on February 5th and I had gotten hold of my two girlfriends in St. Louis and got them to agree to go with us.  Shalon had went last year along with Jamie, but Sharon had not wanted to be around the crowds and was sure she would run into people that she knew and didn’t want to see, but this time she put that aside and was ready to go.

    While on vacation in Vegas, Chael and I had found some really kick eyelashes and beaded eyebrows.  I chose mine in green.  This was the start of the mask for me.  On one of my monthly business trips to Columbia, I stopped at a local theatrical shop that I know of.  After a few minutes with the owner, I found a paint-on mask kit.   The mask was obviously for a woman and he asked if I was going to use it.  “Yes, I like to dress in drag for Mardi Gras”, I said.  “Oh, you too!  I know several of us guys that do”.  End of issue and we went on to get other items.  Two other guys come in and we all wound up by the register at the same time.  “Hey, those guys dress up too, but I think they take it a bit more serious than we do”, he told me after they had left.  I just thought to myself, “Hey buddy, you have no idea”.

   The following weekend I tested the mask and it took one and a half hours to apply.  I wore it around the house for 4 hours to get used to it and figure if it was something that I could wear all day on the 5th.  The base of the mask is latex paint with several colors of glitter applied to it.  After four hours, I wanted to see how if came off and if I had any reactions to it.  It pealed off like dead skin from sunburn, but without the redness.  Hey, this worked well and now I knew just how to do this.

     During vacation, Donna had told me of a pair of red platform boots that she would let me use if I chose to, so she agreed to mail them to me and they arrived on the 1st.  That left only 4 days for me to get used to them.  Every night, I would come home and put them on till bedtime.  Chael was loving the boots already and after seeing the mask was curious as to what I was going to wear with them.  I told her she would find out when I got it all together. 

    I went in search of hose, skirt and top now.  For those who might not know, Mardi Gras colors are gold, purple and green.

Several months ago, Chael had brought in a few bags of clothes from her girlfriend in St. Louis.  Items she didn’t want or the girls in the family couldn’t wear.  I have picked up some jeans from these bags before, but this time had picked up a few skirts as well.  One of them happened to be a short green knit skirt with a 4” zipper on the hem.  I knew this would show off those red boots well.  Now, what to do for hose and top?

    Chael and Dave have been to a local dress shop many times where she has all kinds of purple apparel as she heads up the

“Red Hat Society” here in town.  I just knew that if anyone had purple hose, she would.  Middle of Wednesday afternoon, Dave stopped in to see her.  “I was told that if anyone had purple hose, you would”, I told her when she asked how she could help.  All of a sudden there was laughter from everywhere in the little shop.  I didn’t know that there were four ladies amongst the clothes racks.  After talking with her for a bit, she didn’t have any hose, but had several tops in purple, of which I selected one.  One of the customers came up and said, “Hey, I know you.  You’re my neighbor, the guy with the great yard.  I just knew your voice.  Your’re so nice to be getting stuff for your wife. I remember her from the Halloween party.  That was a great time”.  It’s at this time that I’m ready to have to start explaining the party and costumes, but she just gave me a smile and went on chatting about the items I was purchasing.  I spent almost 45minutes with the four women, having a great time purchasing some jewelry and other items…some of which really were for Chael!

     Okay, so now where was I going to find gold hose to finish this outfit?  It was now Thursday and I didn’t have much time.  Dave wound up in Wal-Mart looking through the hosiery.  A clerk came to help me and we just couldn’t find a yellow or gold pair.  I did find some red fishnet pantyhose with black strips.  We would just have to see how they all went together.

     Fridays are normally an office day for Tess as I work from my home.  So, it was time to put it all together and see what it looked like.  It was great.  Chael got to see it that evening and gave her all important approval.

    Saturday morning, almost 7am and well on our way to getting “costumed up” for the day.  My cell phone rings. Its BeBe, saying that Shalon is sick and will not be going.  “Are you still coming” she asked?  Well of course we were!  There wasn’t anything stopping us now, short of car trouble.  I told her that we would meet her and Sharon in a few hours.

    Now Sharon is always the last one there and I figured that I had plenty of time.  Wrong!  She not only was there when we got there, she had been waiting for 30 minutes.  We took pictures and really needed to eat before heading to the parade route.  Steak & Shake will never be the same.  I don’t think that the people eating their hamburgers at 10:30, on a Saturday morning, ever thought that four queens would walk in.  Of course the gals wanted me to lead so that everyone would get a great shock first and they could pass unnoticed.  It worked I do believe.

    I got my first “honk” on the way to the car…heck, we hadn’t even gotten downtown to the parade yet!   Once there, we had several blocks to walk and it didn’t even take the first block before I got the first “whistle”.  After that, I didn’t keep track of when and how many.  We had hardly made it to the parade route before the cameras started.  Sharon & I were having trouble walking more than 30 feet before we were stopped.  It took some time but we made it to the first watering hole, Southern Comfort Hurricanes, Chael’s favorite.

 You’ll notice that I had on my yellow sweater so that’s how I worked in the gold color.  Chael has a yellow jacket.  We have worn them the last two years, so we are going to make them official Mardi Gras jackets.

   As we milled through the throngs of people the same scene played over and over.  Chael and BeBe were always stopping to wait for us to get through with our latest poses for the cameras.  Most of the gals were asked to “show your tittys”.  I just showed them my boots and Sharon held up her purse.  We got a number of beads that way. 

    On more than one occasion, we were asked if we were going to be in the “High Heeled Drag Race”.   All that we knew, it was supposed to be held at Clementine’s.  We found the gay bar, asked, and found it was going to be held in the street at four pm.  We have never stayed that late, due to the fact that we always were with friends who had to leave early.  BeBe and Sharon were all for hanging around and seeing what this was all about.  I still wasn’t sure that I wanted to be running in these platform boots.  I had only planned to WALK in them for a few hours and had already past that time limit. 

    Women stopped me every 20-30 feet wanting to look at the boots.  “Hon, you have to be dying in those”….were the words I heard over and over.  I wasn’t going to tell them how my toes were cramping.  I just smiled and told them I was having the time of my life, which was true…only my toes wouldn’t have answered the same way.

    Sharon and I found a stoop to one of the bungalows in the Soulard area, where all the bars are and parked ourselves for a bit of a foot break.  It didn’t take 3 minutes before the first group came up and wanted pictures.  After the next half dozen, we started charging a strand of beads if they wanted a picture sitting between us.  We started getting all kinds of them.

    Next was, “How do we get to Clementine’s?  You both have to know, as we know you will be there for the drag race”.  So, it was beads for directions.  Everyone was saying how they would be there to cheer on the red boots.  Sharon left me on the stoop for a bit while she went to get drinks.  BeBe and Chael had gone off looking for a potty.  I sat there and got a few pictures taken, but without my girlfriend there, there just wasn’t the same draw.  I guess it’s because the two of us were having so much fun and the crowds could see it.  Time went by and the crowd kept egging me on to race, I was ready to do it.

The four of us slowly, pictures and all, made our way to bar.                        We did stop for a “Stoop Sisters” photo.

    Once there, we had some time before the 4 o’clock hour.  I was in the right place and the first on the list of participants.  After some time asking for more “Queens”, the MC asked me to get up on the stage.  Hey, you don’t have to ask Tess more than once to get up in front of people.  The crowd was having a great time.  I noticed several people we had seen throughout the day, and they let me know they were there to see me.  After 10 minutes or so, there was no one else that came up.  The guys just told me to go ahead and go to the lane that they had made through the crowd.  I hadn’t even noticed that they had parted them enough to make a lane “UP” the street.  Yes, up the street.  I was going to have to run uphill in these?  Are you kidding? 

    The crowd and cheers were keeping me going and I suddenly realized that I was standing by myself, in the middle of all these cheering people, there for one thing…to watch a drag queen run in high heels.  Some had been waiting all afternoon just for this.  So, what could I do but strut my stuff up and down the lane?  I was having a blast.  The starter looked at me and said it should be easy to win this one.

    Just then a “woman” came running in and said she would run with me.  He asked her if she was “In Drag”.  She said yes and he didn’t challenge it.  Heck, I wasn’t.  It beat running by myself.

    So off we went.  Halfway uphill, I looked to see that I was well in the lead.  Now, don’t ask why, but I suddenly turned around and started running backwards, uphill in these red boots!

I’ll never know what possessed me, but it did bring a cheer from the crowd.  I guess I’m just a ham. 

   Once to the end we were told to turn and run back.  We looked at each other and ran back.  By the time I got back, downhill to the start line, I was about to die.  For one, I don’t run much anymore.  Second, I have never ran in full dress.  Third ….well, have you ran in platform boots like these?

   As the winner of the “18th Annual High Heel Drag Race,” I won $100 and a pair of lined, leather chaps.  More pictures and people with congratulations on not falling, went on for a good 15 minutes.  The four of us were tired and I had to pee.  Around here, that’s a 15 minute wait in line.  While in line, several people came up and thanked me for adding to their fun for the afternoon.  One guy made comments to his girl about the fact that she couldn’t use the excuse that she couldn’t walk in her boots; he had seen a “guy” run in them.

 Here’s the four of us just after the race, waiting in line for potty.  I didn’t even take off the beads to run the race…I earned those!

   We made it back to the car, had dinner at a local restaurant, where we made eyebrows rise again.  We then headed home, 10pm we arrived.  The mask had to come off before we left Shalon's, and the boots were off as soon as we got in the car.  Thanks to Chael and her driving, I could let my poor little toes stretch back to their “proper” position.

   Just what will we do next year to top this one?  I don’t know! But we have a year to plan it.  Want to join us to see how many “Queens” we can get to run up and down the street? 

Hugs & Smiles,

Tessa Kay Thompson….the KATT