Dirk Luykx on Vicky West

When I was four or five, I loved to play with a pink slip. I don’t know what possessed me. It was hanging on a line and. it was gorgeous!. I saw a full-page illustration in Life magazine of Rita Hayworth kneeling in bed, wearing a pink negligee with a bodice of black lace, and I made a drawing of it. Even though I was very young, I was turned on-I wanted to be her. One time I played with a boy who tried to have sex with me in a peanut patch. I was the girl. It was scary and exciting. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I accumulated a cache of clothing, a nightgown here, a bra there. My mother discovered the cache and thought the clothes were souvenirs from sexual exploits, but all during puberty, when I went to bed at night, I’d pray that I would wake up and be a girl, even for a day.

I had just finished the army, when I discovered an ad for Virginia Prince’s organization for TVs. They had a social once a month where you could not come dressed, but you could bring a pair of heels and hose in a bag. The first time I dressed fully was when I met some of the people from this group. Shortly after that, I stopped working as an engineer and went to art school. I came across Drag magazine, and I started doing the covers and illustrated stories. I was hoping for another Vogue-images of transvestites enjoying themselves, trying on clothes. All the expression was positive.

Since sex has been taken out of the equation due to the AIDS epidemic, much of the enjoyment of impersonating a woman has become kind of academic. I’m not a queen, but I hate the word ‘ transvestite’ or ‘crossdresser’; they’re too clinical. People probably think of me as a snob, but I like being a whore too, being very sexy, running around in a transparent blouse. I’ve been to some clubs where I have ended up on stage doing a slow striptease. I am quite pleased to be exhibitionistic in a transparent petticoat, but if I’m walking down Fifth Avenue, I do it in high style, as I did recently at the Copacabana in an evening gown. I’m always trying to get a reaction. My desire is to be an exceptional, ebullient, well-liked, and, if possible, pretty woman.

I had a ten year relationship with a woman. The dressing was nice, as far as she was concerned, as long as it was just play. I’d take the garbage out in my nightgown and try to make it to the incinerator and back; there was adventure and she was part of it. But when I started going to balls and to Mardi Gras, she sat home envisioning all sorts of sex.. And when I’d come home and want to be Vicky, she felt I was more glamorous than she was. It got to be stressful for her and we broke up. I don’t blame her.

The men I’ve lived with were gay lovers. Gay men, almost routinely, don’t wish to think of drag, except recently, with the AIDS epidemic, gays are doing drag as something else to do, another avenue of expression. Because of the epidemic, there’s a lack of sexy socializing, and drag has filled in more and more. The Halloween parade is bigger. Gays are wearing drag on Fire Island. Before, they looked down on it. Just as my girlfriend was, gays are put off by femininity, by the lack of the macho image. It’s not exclusively an aversion to heterosexuals, it’s an aversion to homosexuals too, but now, since they’re not having sex, it’s not as upsetting. Lingerie becomes a play item.

What kills me is that gay people have forgotten the accomplishments of the Stonewall riot, a turning point in gay history. Coming out, year after year, unaware that transvestites were the ones that started the riot. I am not political, but I very much admire those who are, and I believe that transvestites should be proud and should be honored for what they’ve accomplished. Because when you do drag, when you dress to express yourself as a woman, you’re totally without façade. You’re utterly vulnerable, you’re not protecting yourself. You’re carrying your feelings not only on your sleeve, but all over you.

Vicky’s narration is excerpted from my book “Transformations: Crossdressers and Those Who Love Them”, published by E.P. Dutton, Inc., 1989.

Mariette Pathy Allen

Dirk Luykx

Dirk Luykx, the youngest of four boys, was born in Tenafly, NJ, on February 21, 1935. His family moved to New York City when Dirk was in grade school and he became a member of the St. Thomas Church Boys Choir, class of 1946, and graduated from the Fieldston School in 1952. He received a full scholarship to Cornell University where he studied Civil Engineering.

In 1955, Dirk took a leave of absence from Cornell to join the US Army. He served on special assignments in Japan and Korea for three years, then five years in the Army Reserves. Following military service, he returned to Cornell, completing his engineering degree in 1962.

Dirk moved to California where worked in engineering design, city planning, and public works. During the same period, he was the art director for The Los Angeles Youth Theater, Inc, making posters, billboards, scenery, and display advertising. Realizing that he much preferred art to engineering, Dirk returned to New York City to study Fine Arts and Graphic Design at Cooper Union.

In 1967, while studying at Cooper Union, (he received his BFA in 1969), Dirk was hired by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., the art book publishers. At Abrams, Dirk Luykx was responsible for designing and selecting for publication many extraordinary books such as: “Morris Louis: The Complete Paintings”, “The Art of Walt Disney”, "Windows at Tiffany’s”, “The History of Modern Art”, “Impressionism”,and many, many more. When he retired in 2000, Dirk Luykx was the Executive Art Director at Abrams.

Following retirement, Dirk traveled extensively until his untimely death on July 19th, 2005. His ashes were interred at Arlington National Cemetary.