Petticoat Pond: The Place to Get Your Poof

Petticoats, while not being in popular fashion for many decades, still hold a strong allure for real women and sissies alike. That little extra “poof” to a skirt or dress adds a feminine touch to the shape that feels so nice.

Lately, petticoats have made a resurgence of sorts, particularly since the advent of the Internet which has brought enthusiasts of poof together. Petticoat Pond is one such site that is a particularly strong resource for the world of petticoats.

Petticoat Pond is, in its own words, “dedicated to the appreciation and resurgence of The Bouffant in fashion.” The site is intended for all lovers of the petticoat (including hoop skirts and crinolines) no matter the gender. Visitors will find plenty of photos, writing, and links. Petticoat Pond is a free site that does accept advertisement banners and donations.

The new visitor to Petticoat Pond may be initially confused by the long main page. A quick click on “Main Features” at the top of the main page simplifies the navigation and takes the user to the meat of the site. Most will enjoy the photos under the “Images” link that range from 1950s fashion to wedding gowns. The images vary in quality, but most will find plenty to enjoy and save to their hard drive for future viewing. The Pinup section also showcases real life women and transgendered girls in their most beautiful petticoats. Anyone can have a pinup page created although a small donation is requested.

The writings on Petticoat Pond are also quite solid containing a strong selection of both family friendly and adult fiction, real life experiences, helpful tips, and even some poetry. For those new to the world of petticoats, this section is a virtual gold mine of a library. Other resources include links to books, films, and even online stores. Regular visitors can click on “Update” to see the newest material which is added daily. Reading the Update section makes quite an impression in itself with the sheer volume of new content.

Petticoat Pond uses few frills (oddly enough) in its coding which makes for quicker loading pages. Some of the pages are a bit cluttered in design, but the strength, freshness, and quantity of the content far outweigh any layout issues. Petticoat Pond is a wonderful site to simply surf for pictures, look for petticoat resources, or enjoy a relaxing story. The owners of Petticoat Pond show a clear passion for the bouffant and the poof which any lover of the same should not miss.

Click Here to Visit Petticoat Pond

UR Not Alone - the Myspace of the Transgendered Community

URNotAlone - The MySpace of the TG Community

URNotAlone (www.urnotalone.com) or URNA for short, has been a strong presence for the transgender community going on 13 years. URNA is similar to MySpace in providing a profile page for anyone with a special emphasis on the gender variant spectrum. What has kept URNA going is a solid resource base, ease of use, and a slick professional design.

The core of URNA is the profile pages. Many in the Transgender community choose to use a URNA profile as their home page. However URNA is strict in one area. Silver Member profiles which grant basic functionality must have a waist length non-adult picture with the face showing. A valid email is also required. Those used to using legs only or blurred out pictures on MySpace might be disappointed. However the pictures policy syncs nicely with URNA’s mission of truly helping those in the community come out and meet others. A Bronze Member status with limited functionality is available to those who do not wish to post a picture.

The profile pages themselves have a clean consistent look. The similarities with MySpace profiles include a personal introduction, friends list, journal, videos, and comments section. The one major difference is the static layout of each page. While URNA profile users may not like not being able to choose schemes, colors, and favorite music, the similarity in layouts does speed up the loading of profile pages. It also forces the user to concentrate on strong content instead of a fancy layout. Gold Members can also view an entire gallery from a profile while the rest can only see the main profile picture. Silver and Gold members can post comments to any guestbook as well.

URNA also has a wealth of resources and TG related articles. The front page has articles from around the world and a calendar of big events and parties. The top menu bar on every page connects the user to all URNA has to offer. For example, clicking on “Main” from the dropdown menu at the upper left gives the user access to even more articles, forums, and chat. A comprehensive search engine will also help users find profiles to their liking. For the amount of content on URNA, the whole site loads up quickly and seamlessly. URNA also has a solid security policy which allows email without ever revealing the address of the member until she chooses to do so. Many have made their first contacts in the TG world through URNA profiles.

URNA has recently gone through some changes as the owners gave up their adult content section in the new year. They have also have increased the functionality of the free Silver Membership. URNA has one level of premium membership called the Gold (for those without profiles) or Gold Plus (with profiles) membership. Gold Members receive the highest level of functionality, but there is no longer a premium content subscription. At $7.95 for the first month and $5.95 a month afterwards, Gold Membership is a reasonable price for those wanting to give back to the site. A comparison of plans can be seen at http://urnotalone.com/compareplans.php URNA also offers advertising banners for interested businesses.

URNA has evolved through the years into one of the best profile and resource sites in the community. The number of quality profiles, articles, and event listings gives URNA a major advantage over similar sites. Vicky and Jon, the owners, are to be commended for this labor of love. Here’s to hoping it stays another 13 years.

Fictionmania - Feminization Fiction *Site Review*

 FictionMania - It’s About the Stories

FictionMania (www.fictionmania.com) is a free site that is all about its content of gender changing and transgender themed stories. Begun in 1998, FictionMania has a rich tradition of continually providing new material while archiving virtually the entire repository of Net TG fiction. As of this review, FictionMania is approaching the 15,000 mark in numbers of stories.

FictionMania’s gender and transformation stories run the full gamut of genres and ratings. Genres include everything from romance and mystery stories to fantasy and science fiction tales. The ratings of the stories cover the full spectrum as well from family friendly G to hardcore XXX. The fiction of FictionMania has both traditional short stories and full length novels (and every length in between).

The stories vary greatly in age of the characters, time in history, and even the type of clothing worn by the protagonist. The yarns weaved in FictionMania have forced feminization, blackmail, shopping trips, formal dances, time travel, and yes, the ever popular sex, just to name a few of the elements found. Even the types of gender change encompass everything from straight forward cross dressing to magical transformations. In short, whatever situation suits your fancy, chances are good you will find something to your liking.

With the huge library of FictionMania, several solid search functions are provided. All can be accessed through the top menu which appears on every non-story page. The primary search criteria (category, key word, author, date range) can be accessed individually or combined through the “Super Search” function. Regular visitors to FictionMania can easily find newly added stories as well. The search menu even offers a “grab bag” function where the user is given a random sampling based on selected criteria. The new user would be wise to read through the FAQ which offers a comprehensive detailing of FictionMania’s content, search functions, and background information.

So how good are the stories themselves in FictionMania? They vary greatly from some amateurish efforts to professional quality novels. Many first time writers start by contributing to FictionMania. Fortunately, there is an active community of reviewers. Each story usually generates some reviews which give the reader an idea of the quality and content. The best submissions have many more reviews on average. The user review process is also helpful to the author as he/she can receive many opinions on their work. Potential authors can learn more via the “Author Help/Info” link on the top menu.

FictionMania at its heart is a functionally designed site. The coding has changed little in the last ten years. The stories themselves are presented as text documents. While not very attractive, this allows the user to save favorite stories easily on a local computer. The page loading speed can also be an issue especially with the more advanced search functions. Finally, FictionMania has a message board with a good number of regular posters. It is easy to see with this committed group why FictionMania has had such good staying power.

The whole site is a bit of a throwback in design with little in the way of frills. However, visitors go to FictionMania for the stories, and they return to stay on top of some of the best TG and gender bending fiction around. FictionMania certainly has the quantity. The quality can be found by investing some time in its ever expanding library.

Reviewed by: Stephanie Marie, January 12, 2008