Masochist me/Clothes
From Create Your Own Story
I showed up to the training, wondering why we would need training for how to dress.
I knew how to dress.
"You," he said, point at me. Not like he had much option, as there was only three of us.
"I am forty year old client. I like younger women, and we will be going to a high school reunion. What are you wearing?"
He pointed at a clothes-rack, completely stuffed with clothes. Halter tops and tank tops. Capris and jeans. Miniskirts, long skirts, full length dresses and cocktail dresses. It had so many different styles that it was hard to decide what to wear.
I looked at everything, some nice, some not so nice. Thinking about a forty year old man that likes young women, I grabbed a pleated miniskirt. Looking around, I thought hard what would go with it, as young and innocent, but still sexy. I settled on a ruffled white blouse. I went to the shoes pile, and found a pair of white wedge heels to match the blouse. I looked around further, finding a nice pearl necklace and some hoop earrings. I topped it off with a small white clutch bag with a shoulder strap.
He pointed at the office, and told me to go change.
I came out, and checked myself in the mirror. A little makeup, a ponytail, and the client would love me. My outfit had a youthful appeal, yet still was sexy, and more than grown up, for the pretend client.
And then, he started criticizing.
"You focused on the wrong elements of the client. You targeted his like of younger women, instead of the social setting," he stated. "First, you are already young, so your manner of dress will not matter for that. If I had said he likes young, catholic school girls, then it might be different, but youth itself is not an issue for you."
I nodded.
"Next, the social setting. During a high school reunion, while there is some catching up with old friends, things like that, there is much more judging and weighing. That old girlfriend from high school that he broke up with will look at you as a scale of what he exchanged her for. You will be weighed against her, what your qualities are, how you are better or worse, things like that. The old girlfriend that broke up with him will look at you to see if she made the wrong decision, or if she is glad she left him. You will be there to make sure that his love life is better than it was when he was in high school."
"Okay," I said, showing him I was paying attention.
"Next, he will also target those girls who rejected him, or who he had crushes on but could never voice. You will be a trophy to show off to those who snubbed him, showing that he can get better than they could. Also, you will be the trophy for those who he confesses he had a crush on, if he does, showing that they are equal to you."
"I understand," I told him truthfully. A few of the things that I learned in my psychology classes helping highlight the social influences and mechanisms. Fear of rejection, fear of humiliation, fear of being looked down on.
"As for the men. You will again be the trophy for him. To show his friends how well he is doing, and that he was able to get so lucky with you. Remember, for that night, you are his wife. You need to make sure you understand that. For his enemies, you will be something he can rub in their faces, how well he is doing, compared to them."
"Hmm. Yes, but what about challenges? I mean, won't some know I am an escort? Won't they specifically ask questions targeted to 'out me' as an impostor?"
He nodded, a small smile on his mouth finally. "Exactly. But, that is why you need to do your homework and talk to your client."
I nodded. In my head, I imagined having a secret identity, like some spy. It was actually sort of exciting to think of.
"Now for the clothes you chose." He pointed at the floor. "Stand here."
"This outfit would probably be fine for a casual date. In fact, you have good taste. But, given the social situation, everything needs to change."
He pointed at the shoes. "For this, you would want heels. You want to try to look your best. Wedges will give a more fun look, but you want to go for elegance and sophistication."
Next came the skirt. "Remember, a reunion where the client is forty years old would have a more conservative environment. This skirt is too short. You should go with something that goes below mid-thigh. But, as you are also there to look good, you would not want to go below half calf. Remember, he still wants his wife to look sexy, but not slutty."
Now, he came to the top. "No. Just no. No ruffles at all. Ruffles have their place, and it isn't in elegant. They are more cute and playful. It is better to avoid complex clothes, and stick with simple, basic clothes."
With that, he selected something else. It was a simple black backless midi dress, some black heels and a small black clutch bag.
"Go try that on."
I went and changed, then came back out, standing in the same spot.
"First, the heels. One of the different effects spike heels have than wedges is they help you look more slender. When people look at your shoes, they see this very small spike, so it becomes an involuntary comparison. Also," he paused. "Can I ask you to step out of the shoes, then back in, a couple times? Slowly please."
As I did so, he gestured to my legs. "As you can see, in the shoes, she appears taller. Like it or not, height is normally subconsciously tied to power and influence." He stopped for a split second. "Please keep going between shoes on and off."
I did, trying to go slower, and see if I could match his explanation.
"Now, here, note her profile." He adjusted me slightly so I was standing sideways in front of the other two escorts. "With heels, it gives her a more slender look. See how her legs will adjust slightly?" They nodded. "The base of comparison, the foot, is smaller, and the foot appears smaller. This gives the illusion that the legs are thinner." This time he gestures from the base of the shoes to the bottom of the dress. "Also note how the legs will seem longer. Again, it is mostly because of the way the foot sits. So, when we look at her legs, we see part of the length of her foot and her ankle as part of the length of her legs. While her legs are still exactly the same," they chuckled lightly at that, "It changes the way we see them." He looked at all three of us, one at a time, until we nodded in understanding. "And last, note that these heels are only 4". You need to remember, for something like this, you will be doing a lot of standing. Sure, longer heels heighten all these effects, but you will be on your feet for a few hours. If he sits, you are fine to join him, but you do not know what he will do, so assume the worst."
I had never really thought about all these aspects with my shoes before. I wasn't strange. I liked shoes. But, had never really thought about these issues. Seeing it now, I was aware of it, but only to a minimal sense, as in "I like the way these make my legs look," without ever really knowing the why.
"Next, notice we have switched from a skirt and blouse combo to a dress. There is still a lot of preference here, so you don't need to go with this look, but let me explain why."
First, he pointed at the bottom hem. "We see how this comes to about three quarter of the way down her thigh. This allows the legs to still be displayed, but will not show too much of the upper thigh. Remember, more conservative. That doesn't mean you need to dress like a grandma, but that you need to dress in something that would be more acceptable for the situation." He wanted for us to show our understanding, then continued. "Next, the back. While we don't want to show off too much, or the wrong thing, we do still want to show off for the customer. Remember, he expects you to help make him look better. With this, it will allow you to show acceptable skin so the women, old flames, old throbs, have something to compare against. And, so the old friends, old rivals, can see some skin to tantalize the senses. They will be imagining you naked, and will wish they were in his place. Although, be careful if one hits on you. Remember, when you are out, you are focused on your client. Make sure he feels like he is the only one in the world you want to see." We nodded again.
"Last, good choice on the clutch purse, bad choice on the color. Normally try to avoid white for things like this. If there is food or drink, you risk something falling on you. But also avoid bright colors. Great if he wants to take you dancing, bad if he wants you to impress others. Darker reds, blues, greens. More earth tone based. Black fortunately will work for many different situations, which is why I selected this black one."
He pointed over at the jewelry, glittering at me mockingly. I wished I could afford all that.
"For jewelry, you need to remember one thing. What is the intention for the evening? So, for our client, jewelry might be okay. A dressed up event, a nice pearl necklace to go with your outfit." With that, he held up the necklace so the other women could see what it looked like with my outfit. "But, what happens at the end of the evening? If you decide to offer additional services, then the necklace and everything else will be coming off anyways. Now, at the end of the service, you need to remember where everything is, and make sure you collect it. This pearl necklace," he lifted it in front of my eyes, "well, this is yours. Do you want to risk losing it?"
We all shook our heads no.
"So, unless the client is providing it, or unless they specifically ask for you to wear something, it is better to keep everything simple."
He continued with a few examples, expanding the topics to include makeup, hairstyle, even hair color and wigs. By the end of the training, I had learned a lot about things that I had never really thought about. Also by the end, I looked at myself in the mirror, with the selected outfit, the makeup, an asymmetrical wig, changing my hair color, and even contact lenses. I looked completely different. And, absolutely stunning. I had never felt quite so, attractive, in my life.
I was even more excited about the choice I had made to take up this specific...career, and was looking forward to the next training.
