GENDER BENDER: How RuPaul Taught Us to Let Go of the Perfect Woman
Kelly: Before the Story Story Late Night show, Jason and I spent all day (and the evening before) watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on Netflix. UH-MA-GAAHD, those queens are so fierce. When Bethany started taking pictures, I thought, “Channel RuPaul, girl. Werk it out. There’s no reason why you can’t pose as good as those queens.”
Nicole: I of course had to jump on the RuPaul drag wagon so Kelly and I could gossip over whose fake T&A we liked more. Watching those lady boy’s made me want to dress in drag, too. But the queens are just too good at bein’ ladies. So my inspiration for the week was lady as ladyboy:
K: I love you as a drag king! I feel vaguely samuri-inspired in my vintage black acetate, um… robe? jacket? kimono-y thing?
N: Honey, who cares what you call it, yous is workin’ it!
N:Part of my goal with this look was to fuck with gender roles a bit. I After using my minuscule make-up collection and shoddy skills to painstakingly paint my face into the worlds sorriest drag queen, I tried make my body as masculine and flat as possible. I’m wearing Jason’s old pin-stripe trousers with silk shell and second-hand Levi’s vest.
K: I love that you’re perching your beat-face-but-still-in-street-clothes-ass on a jungle-gym. There’s a lot going on this picture and I just wanna xoxo all of it it! Like this picture of RuPaul as Barack and Michelle Obama. I want to squeeze it!
N: Even as a man, Ru has been lookin’ fierce since at least 1979, when this shot was taken:
K: In keeping with the theme of the night, NAKED, I picked a nude princess dress. It’s rare that I go for all neutrals, so I wanted a bulky, dramatic silhouette to keep it interesting. I liked feeling so covered up on a night of stories about being in the buff.
N: I love the play with proportion here. Long legs, tiny waist, broad shoulders. I also stuck with a neutral color palate to keep my look androgynous. My mint-green nails and Liz Clairborne watch are my two feminine details.
K: Plus the shoes! Girly!
K: RuPaul is such a glimmering specimen of femininity, that when I see her, something in me lets go of that pedestal-perched supernatural female, perfect in form and expression. I no longer subconsciously strive for a platonic form. It originated from men, and it has been fully realized by a man.
N: I say, let the queens be the only ones to strive for an out-of-reach standard of feminine beauty. It takes so much padding and make-up that no real woman could ever expect to fill it. I’ll pull what I like best from everyone, girls, boys, girl-boys and boy-girls alike.
K: Here here! It’s all fair game. Ties, spats and suspenders. Sequins, petticoats and corsets. I’ve recently taken home a pair of Dan Costello‘s slightly-shrunken trousers. I can’t wait to wear them in a gender-bending ensemble.
N: Gurl, is my wig on straight?
Now sashay away…
