Pinocchio, Peter Pan, a court jester, these were Fredericka’s grade school Halloween costumes. Never a princess. She thrilled to get out of her stupid dresses and be a boy. Lederhosen with suspenders, green leggings and a puckish hat meant freedom for a day.

By the time Fredericka graduated from college, women wore pants everywhere and she joined them enthusiastically. But on Halloween, she took a break from liberation. She put on a vintage femme fatale dress and let the neckline plunge. But that didn’t help her figure out what to wear to work. Her yearning for gender balance in her wardrobe intensified. One Halloween, “Fredericka of Hollywood” emerged poured into leopard pattern pants and a matching bustier, topped with a full head King Kong mask. Fredericka was free at last.

After that, when doubt about what to wear, Fredericka remembered the words of her hairdresser, “We are born naked. All the rest is drag.”