BethOfTheWild

Co-written by me and blake1. If you like the stuff I write you should definitely check her out!

Preston was a typical rich kid who grew up in Orange County. He was blonde and wore a lot of tanktops and chain necklaces and wanted to become a social media influencer. After graduating from USC, he had moved back in with his parents and was just kind of dicking around with his friends and filming it. But the views just weren't coming.

He didn't understand why people didn't like his content. When David Dobrik made a dumb joke on his vlog, people loved it. But when Preston made the exact same joke on his own vlog a week later, nobody was interested.

One day he was scrolling through the YouTube trending page, when he noticed something weird. There were a lot of girls showing up. Not only that, some of the people he thought were girls actually seemed to be dudes -- unless there were girls called Jeffrey and James. Preston didn't click on those videos, though. That kind of thing creeped him out.

It gave him an idea, though. People loved social experiment videos, and they were pretty easy to make. All you had to do was do something funny in public and film peoples reactions. And nothing was funnier than a guy dressing up like a girl!

Haha. Yeah. Imagine just walking around in public, dressed up like a girl. That'd be... hilarious.  Plus, he could try doing girl stuff, like shopping at Victoria's Secret or drinking smoothies. Stuff no real guy would be caught doing! Sure, it'd be a little sus if a guy just did those things, but in this case obviously it was just for the meme.

He messaged his friend Marcus.

hey dude im gonna need a camera man next week, u free?

Marcus kept complaining his talents as a cinematographer were being wasted by just filming beer pong and house tours, so this should shut him up.

sure dude I'm free basically all day weds thurs 

Sweet! Now he just needed to get girl clothes and makeup and whatever. How hard could that be... 

...actually pretty hard, it turned out. When he googled "how to make a guy look like a girl," he got some results he wasn't expecting. 

There were a bunch of results that reminded him of the girl-looking guys on YouTube, with crazy hair and makeup. Apparently that was called "drag," and yeah, it was kind of funny. That'd probably make a good video. But... it felt wrong.

Guys in drag weren't really pretending to be girls, right? So it didn't work. If he wanted to make a really funny video, he should try and make his girl disguise as realistic as possible. 

He kept looking, and realized his heart was beating faster and faster. That's how he knew it was gonna be a funny video.

Finally, he found a tutorial that said it was meant for "trans women," whatever that meant. He wasn't sure why women would need tutorials on how to look like a girl, but whatever. 

He started watching one YouTube video. Wow, this girl was pretty cute.

"So there's really no right or wrong way to be a woman, but these are just some things I've found helpful in everyday life--"

He skipped ahead until she started talking about tips. "So one way to help make your face look more feminine is to pluck your eyebrows, especially if you remove hair from the bottom so they appear higher. If you have beard shadow that you need to cover, it can help to use lipstick or a relatively orange concealer or blush under your foundation to help combat those blue tones. 

“Another thing that's helpful in affecting perception is hair and jewelry. Some earrings, especially dangly ones, tend to be seen as feminine. If your hair is relatively short, you can go for something like an undercut or pixie cut. Bangs are also an option, but they can be hard to maintain so I'm not sure I'd recommend them. Other jewelry, like piercings and necklaces, can also help push up just a little further to the femme side.

“I'd advise not to go too dramatic with makeup, but there are things you can do to make your face look more feminine. Good use of eyeliner and mascara, along with false eyelashes or extensions, can help feminize your eyes. You can make your eyes look bigger using white eyeliner around your waterline can really help. I have another video about that, linked in the description.

“Finally, contouring can make a really big difference to changing the overall shape of your face. It can be a lot of work at first and I don't usually bother with it after being on hormones and getting some FFS, but I've linked a great general guide on contouring in the description below."

He paused the video and scribbled down some notes, including a reminder to look up what "FFS" stood for later. This was all great info, even though he didn't understand why a pretty girl like her would know so much about making guys(?) look like girls.

He hit play again. "Okay, so, clothes! I suggest looking at the women around you for cues, especially women in your social group around your own age. Normal casual and professional clothes can vary a lot by place and by industry, so it's hard to generalize, but there's some simple rules for finding clothes that will help your body look its best. 

“So first off, I want to dispel any idea that using shapewear or padding is 'cheating'. Lots of cis women use those, and there's nothing wrong with it.

“Hip pads can help make your waist look thinner in comparison. A lot of people neglect this and just have breast pads, and it can result in their figure looking somewhat imbalanced. Waist cinchers and corsets are another option for helping with your waist. 

“I recommend paying a lot of attention to how clothes fit. Ideally you want things that are close fitting around the waist and that flare out above and below to give that hourglass shape. For bottoms, I suggest avoiding loose, drapey fabrics that really conform to your body unless you're willing to tuck. For a casual outfit, I recommend denim, whether jeans or a skirt.

“I know it can be hard to find shoes, but I suggest looking at specialty stores for tall women or crossdressers, or buying online. Heels can be great for helping to feminize your legs, but they're not appropriate for all occasions.

“For swimwear, many trans women have relatively long torsos, so I actually suggest bikinis over one pieces.

“Finally, for the rest of your body. Painting your nails and making sure they're in good shape helps a lot with your hands and feet, as does removing any unwanted body hair. Rings and bracelets, used sparingly, can add an extra sparkle much like earrings do. 

“Okay, that's it for today, girls! Leave any questions or suggestions in the comment section below, and if you enjoyed don't forget to like and subscribe, and turn on notifications. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter and if these tips helped, you make sure to tag me in photos!"

Preston scribbled down some more notes. What did "cis" and "trans" mean? Or "tucking"? And who the heck was this video aimed at? She said "girls" at the end, but also mentioned beard shadow. Weird.

Well, time to do some research. After a quick nap. Writing all these notes, he felt like he was back in college. Yawn.

"What the hell are you wearing, man?" said Marcus.

Preston held his arms out wide, showing off his outfit, "I'm dressed like a girl!"

Marcus screwed up his face, "Why?"

"You know!" Preston gestured at himself, like it was obvious. "For the meme!"

Marcus was pretty skeptical, but he agreed to film it anyway. The plan for the video was pretty simple. Preston, dressed like a girl, was going to go around Venice Beach doing a bunch of girly stuff. Like smelling flowers, or being afraid of a dog or whatever. Marcus would hang back to film it and capture people's reactions. That was already a great idea for a video.

That was just for B-roll, though. The main part of the video was gonna be when Preston went into a surf shop and tried to buy a bikini. As soon as the shop assistant called him out for being a man in a dress, he was gonna freak out and make a huge scene. He already had some amazing lines ready to go.

"This is kinda fruity, though," Marcus muttered as he booted up his camera.

"What?" said Preston.

Marcus shrugged, "Dressing up like a girl. It's kinda sus, man."

"That's the whole point!" said Preston, "That's why it's funny."

"Yeah, but..." Marcus squinted at him, "if you're just gonna freak out anyway, why don't you just do it dressed as a guy?"

"It's for the meme, Marcus!" said Preston. "Just... shut up and film it."

Preston was wearing a black skater skirt and white button up shirt with a scalloped collar. He had makeup, carefully sculpted hair, and some light padding. 

Marcus raised his expensive digital camera. "And... action!"

"Oh my god, your dog is so cute!" Preston exclaimed in a high, expressive voice. The blonde girl walking her Pomeranian responded "Of course!" The two chatted about fashion while Preston petted the pooch. 

After squeezing a bodybuilder's bicep, renting a tiny bike, purchasing expensive fair-trade coffee, and riding the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica pier, Preston (and Marcus) walked into an upscale women's boutique.

"I'd like to see your swimsuit selection," Preston announced to an employee. 

"Certainly, ma'am. Were you looking for one-pieces or bikinis?"

"Bikinis. Wait, are you really going to let me try one on?" He laughed nervously.

"Of course, ma'am. Our boutique has many transgender customers. However, I'm afraid we don't allow cameras in the changing room."

"Of course, I don't want this guy to film me naked!" He gingerly took a bikini from the selection the saleswoman presented and headed to change.

He decided to try on the suit over his panties and bra, mostly because he didn't want to risk his tuck coming undone. Looking in the mirror, he had to admit he looked pretty good. And that just made it so much funnier! Someone could almost think he was really a hot girl in a bikini. 

He finally swung open the changing room door. Marcus was waiting right outside, still filming.

"Whoa, dude! That's freaky."

Preston pouted. "How is this freaky? I thought it looked pretty good." 

"It does, that's what's freaky! If i didn't know better I'd think you were some random basic chick. You sure you're not gay or something, dude?"

Preston could see the saleswoman watching them with a professionally blank expression. He decided to revert to his normal voice. "Hey, lady, by the way, I'm not transgenre or whatever. I'm a guy! You can't actually let me buy this suit, right?"

The woman raised one eyebrow.  "My apologies, sir. We have plenty of crossdressing customers as well. Would you like me to ring you up so you can wear it out?"

"What? But this is weird, right? A guy wearing girl's clothes? That doesn't happen outside of, like, the movies and weird parts of the internet. It's funny, right?"

"We're not in the business of judging our customers' lifestyle, sir. Will it be cash or credit?"

Marcus sighed behind the camera. Preston frowned. This was not going the way he wanted it to. Something was clearly wrong with this saleslady, because she was acting weird as hell.

He waved her off, and quickly spotted another sales assistant across the store. This one was a guy. Perfect! No way a guy was gonna be okay with another guy getting in his face while wearing a bikini!

"Hey!" he said, bursting out in front of the salesman, "I want to buy this bikini!"

The guy looked up from his phone. Preston turned to Marcus, mugging for the camera.  This was gonna be good.

"Alright," he said, "Counter's over there."

What the hell was wrong with these people?

"I'm gonna buy it! I'm gonna buy this women's swimsuit!" Preston flailed his arms, trying to illustrate the inherent ridiculousness of that statement.

The guy nodded, "Cashier's over there--"

And then he said a word that could have been "ma'am" or could have been "man", and Preston seized the opportunity for one of his amazing lines.

"DID YOU JUST ASSUME MY GENDER?" he shrieked.