DRAGS TO RICHES
Fashion is undoubtedly one of the greatest tools for self-expression known to exist. In the words of Alternative Miss UL 2018 champion, Ryan Hanton “clothes give you an opportunity to create a character and make a statement”.
However, when people discuss fashion, more often than not they put people into boxes.
Black? Goth.
Pink? Girly-girl.
Mini-skirt? Slut.
So much attention is given to the divisions created by fashion, we forget about the bridges made.
Nowadays fashion and social media seem to go hand in hand, without one the other wouldn’t survive. A world without Instagram would mean no bloggers down your neck telling you to buy another cute outfit you don’t need. A world without that cute outfit would mean no cute Instagram post. Point proven.
So, what are all these influences achieving? Aside from the obvious increase in vanity and decrease in your bank account funds, they’re also creating communities. Communities where as Ryan, put it “the focus isn't on who's a man and who's a woman but who has the most fire look”.
“Gay, straight, male, female, drag queen, MUA it's not a diverse group. It's a group of artists and people interested in fashion”.
This new “fashion community phenomena” as I have christened it, can clearly be seen in the now popular Drag culture rising worldwide. Through the infusion of Ru Paul’s Drag Race into mainstream media, drag has taken a massive increase in popularity attracting a large following of people irrespective of genders and sexualities.
Recently, Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD) hosted their second annual Drag Show. I managed to pin down co-organizer Stevie Cody to get an insight into the reasoning behind this drag show and the importance of fashion to him.
Needless to say, as a fashion student, Stevie reveals that fashion plays a huge part in how he expresses himself: “I started making clothes because I couldn’t afford to buy the clothes I would feel comfortable in”.
The student even refers to fashion functioning as a “voice”:
“Someone so quiet you’d see in college would never even open their mouth and then you see them on a night out with this get up that makes your jaw drop to the floor and your just like this is where all your expression is. This is where your voice is, it’s not lost”.
However, not all of these “voiceless” youths are the product of a tactful attempt to allow their outfits to speak for them, but rather out of unacceptance of themselves and fear of the opinions of others. Despite being in a college where “straight people are the minority”, Stevie explains: “There’s still new young gay teenagers coming here from small places. I know people who would be totally different here then they are at home”.
It is for this reason, amongst others, that Stevie and co-founder Emily Conlan decided to give the LGBTQ society a new lease of life: “We wanted to make a safe space where people can come and enjoy themselves”.
Ryan reiterated much of this, reflecting on his own coming out and how his discovery of Ru Paul’s Drag Race brought him to a greater acceptance of himself.
“Just knowing that you're not alone, you're not a freak to everyone is such a powerful thing for any outcast”.
The drag show functions as a “hub” of LSAD talent with all models, drag queens and clothing sourced from within the college. The theme of inclusivity stretches further than keeping it in the LSAD family, also including queens of all genders with bio-queen Laura performing in the show also.
Bio-queens are growing in popularity along with the general support of Drag across all walks of life, which may be attributed to the well-known show Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
“I think drag queens remind women they are valuable and worth talking about outside the context of getting a man and that's why so many women straight and gay alike find themselves gravitating towards drag”: Ryan Hanton.
According to polls conducted via Instagram, 38% of people who answered were fans of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Of this, 27% were fans of drag prior to the release of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Stevie is thankful to the media for bringing gay representation from a place of “here’s the gay storyline and here’s the disaster ending” to “here’s the gay story line, I hope you can enjoy it and live through this experience”.
In addition to this, Ryan highlighted the importance of the male MUA functioning almost as a reversal of drag: “While in the drag scene we're seeing women celebrate how gay men traditionally expressed femininity and trying it themselves, we're seeing gay men step into the beauty blogger world and celebrate how women traditionally expressed their femininity”.
“I think the wall between those two walls is crumbling and it's becoming one community where all people are coming together to express themselves with makeup and sequins and it's beautiful and uplifting to see”.
With cheerful laughter, Stevie recalls the many times he’s been approached by, what he referred to as “straight big UL lads” complimenting him on nights out with comments such as “you look class” .. “this is so cool”.
Although, the proud young man admits it’s not always this sunny being an open member of the queer community, he is quick to note: “I do definitely think fashion is better at bringing people together then separating them, I think that everybody can appreciate like “that’s a look oh my god yass”.
“People are serving looks constantly and I think that’s amazing like it’s so common now to have people coming up to you like “I love your outfit that’s amazing”.
One thing all parties can agree on is that fashion isn’t about “who's a man and who's a woman but who has the most fire look”.
By Enya McIntyre
