A Visit to Sophie's
	After my incredible first night out, reality struck home when it became apparent I would only have two-and-a-half hours sleep before I had to set off for Plymouth.
	The fuel crisis seemed to have eased, or at least there was more traffic on the roads which made my departure from London take longer than planned. Then fatigue started to set in. I made it to a motorway service station where I was able to fill up with fuel but it became apparent that I wasn't going to complete my trip safely without a nap. Fortunately I had also invested in a mobile phone so from the safety of my car I was able to contact Juliette to let her know I was delayed (I had planned to arrive at 3pm but was now estimating 4pm).
	As it turned out I was clearly more tired than I thought - I needed more stops on the way so I had to keep calling Juliette to advise her of my ongoing delays. Finally, I reached Plymouth around 5.30pm, and with my usual skill, got lost for 5 minutes 100 yards away from the house!
	At last I reached Sophie's. Juliette was there to greet me and we sat down for a quick cup of tea and a chat. However, my late arrival meant we were now up against the clock as Juliette's Child minder could only have her daughter till 8pm.
	The way things work at Sophie's is that you bring your own underwear, tights or stockings plus food but Juliette supplies everything else. The house is jam packed with clothes and shoes in every size and style. Juliette also has a wide variety of second-hand wigs that can be borrowed when she isn't in the house - for the photos she lets us use the new wigs. Bring your own camera and as much film as you want and Juliette will happily take your picture till the films all gone.
	I dashed upstairs and put on my white panties, white gel-filled bra (padded out a little with rolled up old tights) and a pair of light tan 15 denier tights. I then grabbed a dress (pretty much the first one we found in my size), some court shoes and then it was into the makeup chair.
	Juliette is a perfectionist when it comes to the makeup so she did a very thorough job. That included tidying up the hairs in my ears, thinning out my eyebrows (with my permission) and then using two strips of surgical tape to raise my eyebrows up in a feminine arch. Once covered with makeup, she assured me that the tape wouldn't show up on camera (and she was right). With the addition of the wig I was now set for a photo session.
	We had a mad dash around the house taking as many pictures in as many poses as we could manage before Juliette had to leave. We even managed a quick couple of shots in the back garden, though we had to be careful as the neighbours don't know what goes on in the house, and with the light fading the flash had to be used. To see the pick of the pics check out the Eyebrow Gallery
	After Juliette had gone, leaving me fully made up and with a choice of wigs, it was time for more fun. I spent the next 2 hours or so going through the available outfits, selecting three or four to use the next day when I would be having another make-over. I then got myself some supper and then spent another hour trying on outfits before fatigue finally got the better of me and I had to remove my makeup and get to bed.
	After a surprisingly refreshing nights sleep (I usually struggle to sleep in a strange bed but here I just drifted away), I got up, washed and then dressed in one of the outfits I had chosen the night before (the outfit you can see in the side bar pictures on this page). I decided to wear my own high heels rather than any of Juliette's mainly because I didn't have any pictures of me wearing them. A quick breakfast and then I settled down to read till Juliette arrived - she has an extensive collection of TV/CD magazines available for the use of the guests as well as videos and albums of other guest's photos.
	Once Juliette had arrived it was back to the makeup room. This time I asked to forgo the tape as it had left my forehead creased for a while after I removed it and I thought people might notice. The other thing I asked for was a manicure and nail painting - Juliette had mentioned this was something she could do during our phone conversations (she is a fully qualified makeup artist and beautician) and I had always wanted to paint my nails.
	I have always tended to keep my nails long and I had been doing my utmost to protect them for the last few weeks. I knew it would be OK to have them painted because I wasn't returning straight home so there would be time to spot any leftover traces. I really recommend having a manicure - it's so relaxing and having it done when dressed was just great. It made me feel even more feminine than I already did. Juliette has a wide variety of photo setups that she likes to use with her clients so again we were all around the house for a variety of poses - check them out in the Lepoard Print Gallery.
	Time to change outfits. In our earlier chatting I had mentioned that I had never found a long dress that I felt fitted me properly. Juliette said she knew she could sort that out and came back with three dresses. The first was a lovely peach coloured bridesmaid's dress. I had never really thought about trying this sort of dress but I am so glad I did - it was just wonderful! Check out the Peach Bridesmaid Gallery where you'll see a girl with the most natural happy smile on her face!
	Following on the theme of getting me used to longer dresses, Juliette next produced this evening dress - it doesn't show up too well in the picture but it's actually a beaded top section. Juliette said my white heels didn't look right with the dress. I asked her did she have some black ones I cloud borrow. I think she took it as a challenge because she cam back with the 5" heels you can see me wearing here and in the High Heels Gallery. I clearly need more practice in heels this high because I felt much happier sitting down than standing in them! We also changed the wig as the previous one didn't seem to suit this dress.
	As I really wasn't coping to well with the 5 inch heels, we switched to a 3 inch pair - I'm totally confident in heels that high. Juliette had one more bridesmaid dress she thought would fit so I tried that on too. In combination with the longer wig, this one is a rather different look. You can check out some more shots in the Pink Bridesmaid Gallery.
	By now I was itching to show off my legs again. I had selected this little black dress the night before and I couldn't wait to get it on a gain. It's quite figure hugging as you can see and just about decent in length. I just loved the freedom of movement it gave me. You can check out some more shots in the Sophie's Black Gallery.
	Saving the best to last, we then moved on to an even shorter blue dress. For this one I first changed out of my white bra and into my black Wonderbra - not because it would give me a cleavage (as it doesn't) but because it has nice thin black straps which I knew would go better with the thin black straps on the dress. This one really does hug all the curves. I must admit that fun-fur jacket that I'm wearing in this shot and a couple of others in the Sophie's Blue Gallery could be considered to make me look a little tarty here but I don't care! I really enjoyed wearing this dress and even after we had finished the photos and Juliette had left, I still wandered around in it doing as much packing as I could before reluctantly stripping off, bathing and dressing in drab in order to pursue the rest of my holiday.
	As you can see, I had a smashing time at Sophie's. For future visits I will make sure I arrive a good deal earlier so I can have the maximum time dressed and maybe even venture out in the evening. If your planning a visit to the South West of England it's well worth stopping over at Sophie's.
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