{"id":5230,"date":"2018-05-18T18:36:42","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T01:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trystancraft.com\/costume\/?p=5230"},"modified":"2022-06-13T13:39:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T20:39:25","slug":"rupauls-dragcon-2018-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trystancraft.com\/costume\/2018\/05\/18\/rupauls-dragcon-2018-report\/","title":{"rendered":"RuPaul’s DragCon 2018 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

My motto for this website and all my dress-up endeavors has long been, “We’re born naked, everything else is a costume,” which is a paraphrase of RuPaul’s “We’re born naked, everything else is drag.” Because Mama Ru and I have the same philosophy that all the clothes \/ makeup \/ hairstyle \/ etc. we garb ourselves 24\/7 are just a pose, an affect, a mask, a show that we stage to express something to the world. Whether it’s jeans and a T-shirt to say “I’m casual and cool” or a suit to say “I’m serious business,” clothes always carry a message, and I’m fascinated with how we construct that message, whether subtle or broad. Fantasy-historical costumes and cross-dressing drag are simply the most obvious forms of that message signal construction.<\/p>\n

So it was about frickin’ time I made the pilgrimage to RuPaul’s DragCon, the fan convention for Ru’s TV show Drag Race<\/em> and the queens he’s made famous. Held in Los Angeles over Mother’s Day Weekend, this was like a combo of Comic-Con and the biggest drag club show imaginable.<\/p>\n

Because I am physically incapable of attending a con in mundanes, I had to plan outfits! For daytime, category was CorpGoth Realness on Friday and Sunday and Historical Drag King Realness on Saturday. For evening, category was Gothic Eleganza Extravaganza.<\/p>\n

Friday was a half-day where I powered through the lines and saw as many queens as I could. Also, some shopping.<\/p>\n

\"With <\/a>
With Michelle Visage <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"With <\/a>
With Sharon Needles <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"With <\/a>
With Chad Michaels <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"With <\/a>
With Jinkx Monsoon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"With <\/a>
With Ongina <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Drag <\/a>
By Amped Accessories <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

My OG\u00a0Historical Drag King is, of course, Leonard Autie, Hairdresser to Marie Antoinette<\/a>, who I wore pretty much as usual, though with the long curly wig that I first wore at Costume College 2015<\/a>, but I restyled a bit.<\/p>\n

\"Drag <\/a>
Judging you… <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Drag <\/a>
With Miss Tosh <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Drag <\/a>
Closest I got to Latrice Royale \ud83d\ude41 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Drag <\/a>
With drag Chewbacca! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

On Saturday night, I wore a new black sequin gown bought off Amazon and a bit o’ bling I just had laying around the house, as you do.<\/p>\n

\"Drag<\/a><\/p>\n

For a new CorpGoth outfit, I made a short skirt out of this awesomely tacky fabric bought at the LA Garment District last year — it’s printed with vintage sex-work ads like you’d see in the backpages of ’60s and ’70s newspapers. I even set a zipper in it, which I haven’t done in a dozen years (since all I ever do is pre-19th-century sewing). Not an invisible zipper though, because ain’t nobody got time for that.<\/p>\n

\"DragCon <\/a>
Zipper! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"DragCon <\/a>
Terrible mirror pic is all I got <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"DragCon <\/a>
Obligatory selfie <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

It was a really fun event and a must-see for fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race<\/em> and for current drag culture. Some tips for anyone planning to attend DragCon in New York this fall or next year in Los Angeles…<\/p>\n