Barbara Day, owner of Fairey Godmother’s in Mechanicsburg, is the proud proprietor of a clothing store that is a step right out of the past. The store — stocked to the ceiling with a wide assortment of shirts and pants and shoes and accessories — is the perfect place to supplement one’s wardrobe at an affordable cost. The items are “classic,” according to Day, and she believes that the genuine relics found in her shop are comparable to the retro items found today at the local malls. And while it is true that Day’s customers come from a variety of areas and backgrounds — bargain hunters, children, highschoolers, professionals — some of her most treasured clients are members of the local gay and crossdressing communities. To them, she is truly their “fairey godmother.”

In the business for some 20 years, Day named her store “Fairey Godmother’s” after the moniker she was given from her first clients. “I used to be in the city, and my first customers basically were gay people and crossdressers,” she says, “It didn’t matter what I called the store, when people called on the phone or if they came in, or if they even saw my in the city walking, they’d go, ‘Oh, you’re the Fairey Godmother’ … oh, hey, I heard you can find something to wear for our new show … so, finally I just decided to call it the Fairey Godmother.” And over the years, Day has proven that she fits the bill — taking on the responsibility of saving the day and providing a wardrobe, too!

And what a wardrobe she provides! To her clients, Day’s shop is the place to be — a comfortable atmosphere full of wonderful clothes. And although some may falter at the sight of a man in drag, Day has come to see the transformation from man to drag queen as a thing of pure beauty — and surely not something of sex. “You know, a lot of people think drag shows are sexual,” she begins, “I always say, ‘if you knew the pains those guys go through — they’re not taking a thing off. Nothing … You’re not going to see anything except a guy who hopes you see him as a woman for a short amount of time.” It is that sense of style and beauty that keeps her clients coming back, as, along with her ever-mindful purchasing of drag-appropriate selections, Day exudes a personality that is a curious mix of lion and lamb.

As a result of such a personality, in addition to her roles of fashion consultant and shop owner, to most of her customers, Day has also become a confidant and friend, a point that she traces back to her open-mindedness and complete lack of judgement. “I think that somehow they (the clients) know they that they could come in and they could feel comfortable …,” she states, as she recalls the many young adults that have come to her, desperate for advice, often referred by a friend, “I’ve had people come in and say, ‘can you give me a hug, I’ve heard you will give me a hug.’” It is obvious that that type of interaction is what drives her to continue on — even through the doubt and the hate and the ignorance of others that has decried the inclusion of the gay and crossdressing communities. “I don’t understand people,” she states, “You know, for awhile in the ’80s, people wore t-shirts that said, “God doesn’t make junk” or “God doesn’t make trash,” well, you can’t wear that t-shirt and then down a whole group of people. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Ironically, that lack of sense is the key to understanding Day herself. Through the years, the store’s name and its customers have caused their fair share of grief for the owner, yet she has never backed down or given in to the pressure. Rather, she has grown stronger. On the day of her grand opening at her current location, for example, she says that she and her clients were the victims of some “taunts from the alley and some remarks about them being here” and were called “unGodly” by others. And while a lesser person may have crumbled under the ignorance of such neighbors, she became even more determined to continue in her ways — fighting back at every turn and defending the clients she calls friends. After all, according to her, giving in “would be doing a disservice to the guys,” she says with all sincerity, adding, “they were the ones that made it so I could pay my rent for years until other people caught onto my shop.”

While she does admit that her move from a more diverse city to a quiet town has caused uneasiness about acceptance among some of her clients and resulted in some infrequent visits from her friends in the city, she has managed to maintain strong ties with the gay and crossdressing communities in Harrisburg — ties that she remains quite proud of and takes every opportunity to defend — even at the possible risk of losing customers. “Some people probably don’t agree with me, I’m sure,” she begins, quickly adding, “and if you don’t like them, fine — but you don’t need to hurt them.” In talking to Day — and digesting quotes such as that — it is obvious that not only is the acceptance of gay and crossdressers in the Harrisburg community and the world at large extremely important to her, but that her role in outfitting her clients has introduced her to a world that stems far beyond any 9-to-5 job every could. It is clear that the acceptance — or at the very least understanding — of her client-friends is all that she desires, although she knows that the battle is far from over. “It’s like prejudice,” she explains, “You take two steps frontward and somebody else is taking ten steps back.” But, to be sure, she has yet to lose hope, and she is certainly far from ignoring the issue.

“People want to pretend that there’s not a large gay community in Harrisburg,” she says, matter-of-factly. “I like to tell people, ‘well, you eat at so-and-so’s or you go to so-and-so’s — that’s gay-owned … you would not have a lot of those nifty little places to go to if we did not have a gay community.’” It is this perceived ignorance by the community that baffles Day, as she pleads the importance of acceptance over and over again, making it one of her life-goals that she see the Harrisburg community breaking down the barriers and stereotypes and supporting its own, “each generation is better than the generation before, I do believe that,” she emphasizes, as she fades off … knowing that there’s a long way to go and knowing that she has more than done her part to help the effort.