The Story of Stephanie Anne Lloyd
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The opening of Transformation in Manchester gave transvestites the chance to experience everything they had ever dreamed of in a shop. Under one roof they could not only buy the clothes and accessories they had fantasised about wearing, but even try them on first. A shop where a man can pop in and see how he looks in a dress is very rare even nowadays - in the mid-1980s it was totally unheard of.
As well as buying clothes, wigs and shoes, TVs could get advice on make-up and even have lessons on how to apply it. There were full beauty treatments laid on such as manicures, massages and wanting to pamper them in the most feminine way possible.
And did transvestites flock to reap the benefits of this experience? In a word, no.
In fact, the early response from the UK transvestite population was practically non-existent. Perhaps they didn't know the opportunity was there, or maybe they were just too nervous to use it. Either way, Stephanie's business dream was crumbling.
"It was very difficult in those early days with so much open prejudice aimed at transvestites and transsexuals,"Stephanie recalled. "Newspapers and magazines wouldn't take our advertising because transvestism was regarded purely as a sexual perversion. They wouldn't have anything to do with us."
This feeling of transvestism being 'perverted' was also shared by the transvestites themselves, who were scared to put their heads above the parapet in a society where they were equated with child molesters.
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