The mall, unsurprisingly, was a complete bust so I decided to check out some novelty stores. Yeah, like that ever works. Frustrated with the mall I went to a strip mall nearby. The first store was an utter disappointment. Walking from that store to another store at the other end I saw the window display of a Chinese pawn shop and figured 'what the heck, why not' as I slipped in to check it out. I was surprised with some of the things there and began thinking 'I might actually be able to find something here.'
As I was browsing through a rack of dresses, most were in the traditional Chinese cut, long dresses with the mandarin collar but with a thigh high slit, when a small oriental man approached me. I assumed that he must be the owner of the store.
"He-rro, can I hep you? He said his Chinese accent quite apparent.
"Um no, just browsing you know." I replied
"Oooooo, look something for girlfriend, Yes?" He continued.
I always hate it when you dismiss a salesperson and they stick around anyway. "No. Actually I was looking for something for myself." I said. The annoyance in my voice lost on the little man.
"This rack cloth for woman. Man cloth dis vay" he said trying to lead me to another rack.
"That's OK, what I want is on this rack" I said trying hard not to be rude.
A confused look crossed his face and then as his eyes widened, understanding seemingly. "Ohhhhh, you wan be woman!" he exclaimed. Dis not what you look for. Please. Come, dis vay. Have something speciar!"
I followed him back to the counter when he disappeared behind a bead curtain. When I didn't follow he poked his head out and gestured. "Come come, dis vay. Very speciar"
I followed him in the back and found him climbing a ladder. When he reached the top he retrieved a single black, leather cased box about 18" x 18" and about 5 inches deep. Judging from the dust on it's surface it had been there for quite some time. He brought it down cleaning the dust off with his hand and wiping it off on his pants. There was a strange metallic symbol in the center of the lid. He pressed a button in the center of the symbol and the lid popped open. Inside was a heavy black leather corset. Clearly of very fine quality and heavily boned, it was way nicer and more expensive than the cheap bedroom corset I had bought for Jen from Frederick's of Hollywood. This was the real deal and obviously made by a true craftsman.
"I am sorry but this is out of my price range. Way out of my price range!" I stammered knowing what garments like this were worth "but thanks for."
He cut me off before I could finish my sentence "I make good price, you buy, yes? You vant yes?"
Yes I did vant I thought mocking his accent in my head but I didn't see any way I would be able to afford it.
"Two hunna dolla" he offered with a hopeful look on his face.
Two hundred was the entire budget for my costume. Thinking of everything else I would have to get I told him "I'm sorry but the most I could do is $100." This set off about 10 minutes of intense bartering before we settled on a price of $145. I had just paid the man when a little Chinese woman came out from further back in the store. She took one look at the dusty leather box and grabbed it out of my hands and started screaming at the little man in Chinese. The little old man grabbed it back and passed it to me and started screaming back. There was much frantic gesticulations from both of them as the screaming continued. I don't speak a word of Chinese but it was quite clear to me that she was upset the he had sold the box and the corset within. He turned and said "you go now!" before turning to resume his tirade with the woman. Feeling very awkward and considering that I HAD already paid, I left. I could still hear them screaming at each out on the sidewalk.
It was not until I was on my way home that I realized I had been haggling for something that I didn't need and couldn't afford. I mean I COULD but not for a one time event! This totally blew my budget, now all I had left was $55 to get everything else I needed to pull this off and all I had was some stupid lingerie that would give me a more feminine shape. Other than me kicking myself all the way home the drive was uneventful.
Getting my new found "treasure" home I decided to find out how much this was actually going to help me. Setting the box on the bed I opened it like the old man at the shop had. Pressing the button the lid popped open. Once again I marveled at the craftsmanship of the corset within. I had more time to examine it and noted that it was a halter style under-bust corset made from some type of leather, maybe its dragon hide leather I comically mused. Turning my attention back to to the corset I noticed that it also had a hidden busk and that the laces seemed to be in good shape.
Deciding that there was no time like the present I stripped down to my boxers and black wife beater tank top and wrapped the corset around my waist. I fastened the busk and slowly started to draw in the laces. Having done his for Jennifer several times I knew to take my time. I worked the laces slowly and after nearly ten minutes I had whittled my waist down to a very feminine shape. This should definitely make finding clothes for this stupid party easier I thought. Still not enough to justify $145 dollars though, hopefully it would fit Jen I thought. I gave the laces one last tug before tying them off. No sooner had I finished the knot that everything went black.
I remembering hearing sounds in the distance. Was that the TV? Then the smell of carpeting. I opened my eyes and realized that I was on the floor. I must have passed out I realized as I stumbled to pick myself up off the floor. I could definitely tell that the corset was limiting my breathing and I knew how women used to "swoon" from wearing them but I was far from being "tight laced". My head was a bit groggy, and I was more than a little unsteady on my feet as I walked to he bathroom to splash some cold water on my face. I tried taking a deep breath to test how constrictive the corset was. It definitely limited my breathing but not enough that I should have blacked out. Glancing at my alarm clock I was shocked to see that it was 11 pm already. I had been out for over an hour! No wonder my mouth felt and tasted like the carpeting I had just peeled myself off of.
I was on autopilot, rubbing my eyes as I walked into the bathroom. Stepping up to where the sink was I turned on the faucet, filled my hands with the cool wet elixir and bent down and splashed the water on my face. "Mm-mm that's better" I said as I fumbled for the towel to dry my face. Lowering the towel to look at myself in the mirror I got an even bigger surprise than waking up on the floor. Looking back at me was not my face. Well it was but it wasn't. The unkempt brown wavy hair and hazel eyes were the same but the angular features that I shaved every other day had been replaced by soft smooth contours. Very feminine contours. I was also looking at myself from a much lower angle than my normal 6'1". The more I took in the more I started panicking. Large breasts spilled over the top of the corset stretching the fabric of the 'wife beater' I was wearing. My boxer shorts hung loose on my hips and my legs had the muscular tone of a gymnast or ballet dancer. Then I remembered the little old mans "understanding and wide eyed" look "Oh, you vant to be woman" he had said. Oh my God! Was this permanent? My breathing was coming in quick, short gasps and I felt darkness approaching, I really was going to Swoon! Frantically my fingers worked the laces as fast as I could without getting them knotted. Once I had the corset loose enough to unhook the busk I shed the garment on the floor. I had the brief sensation of falling before darkness took me again.
Consciousness came a little quicker this time. Seeing the corset laying next to brought me completely to my senses. Frantically I examined my hands and and body before I got up and confirmed that I was myself again. Breathing a shaky sigh of relief I pushed myself to my feet. I walked to the mirror and confirmed everything else was back to normal.
Retrieving the corset and its case I carried them to the couch and sat down to think. This corset had somehow, magically, transformed me into a woman! Trying to figure out as much as I could I inspected the corset. I already knew that it was leather so my examination turned to the other details. The boning appeared to be actual whale bone and not the new steel spiral springs. That fact indicated that it must be VERY old. The stitching was very good but slightly uneven, it was SO good though that I had to get right up on it looking for something, meaning it had been made without a sewing machine. Other than the obvious quality there was nothing remarkable, no marks, tags, or symbols. Next I checked the case, maybe I would have better luck there. Inside the lid was some writing in Chinese but since I don't read Mandarin I didn't know what it said. I imagined that it explained what I had already figured out but I made a mental note to stop back at the store to get some more information.
