It’s about time people started accepting drag for the fashion statement it is and we need to petition Anna Wintour to let drag queens attend the Met Gala.
Drag and fashion have always gone together. Drag artists need to be inspired and have a reference point for what they wear and this usually comes from what designers put down the runway however designers are now beginning to take inspiration from drag queens in order to create collections. Brands like Marco Marco base their entire collections on drag queens and trans women as it is their main customer base and so drag queens often walk at their shows, which have been shown at LA and New York Fashion Week.
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Bigger brands have begun using drag queens in their advertising. For example, last Autumn designer Marc Jacobs used drag queens like Thorgy Thor, Miss Fame and Jodie Harsh in an advertisement. He has also used the likes of Violet Chachki, Milk and Naomi Smalls for campaigns.
The most recognizable names in drag fashion include Violet Chachki, Miss Fame and Naomi Smalls. In their season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Violet brought the best looks and had the most memorable runways and I would go as far to say that they had one of the most iconic fashion moments when they revealed a sequin coverup into a tartan jumpsuit. Violet has walked the runway for designers like Marco Marco, Moschino and Christian Cowan and recently was the face of a Prada campaign alongside Sarah Paulson. Miss Fame appeared on the same season as Violet however her looks often fell in the middle of the road however after the show Miss Fame has become incredibly popular in the cosmetic and fashion world wearing designers like Iris Van Herpen and archive Mugler along with being invited to countless front row seats at fashion week along with this Miss Fame was the face of L’Oreal and even created their own makeup brand Miss Fame Beauty. Their incredible fashion sense has garnered these two queens in particular millions of followers on social media.
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Drag fashion used to be very over the top, or very basic. 20 and 30 years ago drag queens were mainly focused on comedy and if an outfit was over the top it would make the performance funnier and if it was basic no one really cared. Now drag fashion is held much higher. Every drag queen now must understand how to style themselves immaculately to be aesthetically pleasing on social media platforms like Instagram.
As I mentioned drag queens are inspired by the top designers however as the garments are incredibly expensive many drag queens have taken to create their own garments from dresses to corsets. If a drag queen has more money this can be outsourced to designers and as many successful drag queens now tour a lot this is most commonly done and it is also good for the designers as they get to showcase their talent and gain a following from that.
A great example of how drag is influencing fashion is the 2019 Met Gala. This year’s theme is Camp: Notes on Fashion based on Susan Sontag’s essay about the extravagant ways a garment can be constructed. Anna Wintour, one of the people who decide on the theme, credited RuPaul as one of the inspirations of the theme and says that drag will be celebrated throughout the theme. Read more about that here
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So, Anna, I think it’s time to let them walk.