Step #6: The clothes & the body
In reality these two steps should be reversed: the body & the clothes, but if you're like me (you know, shopping addiction), you can fit your body to the outfit if you really need to.
SHOPPING FOR WOMEN'S CLOTHES
I know a few drag queens who refuse to try
on women’s clothing in stores, and I understand. It never fits quite like it
will when you have your body done up, and your hair did, and your face
transformed into its look. There’s also the baseline awkwardness and social
stigma against men who dress as women. While I hope this goes away, it is still
present, and some queens try their best to avoid those situations that promote
it.
However, I am not like those queens. I take
no shame in trying on women’s clothing at a store, despite all the side-eyes
and full comments I get from people, especially women, who see me perusing the
aisles of the women’s discount sections at Winners and Value Village.
The other day I was looking for an evening
gown to wear to the theatre (yup, drag in public, whoo!!!) and took a few
potentials to the clerk at the dressing room. This kind, but naïve short older
Chinese lady looked at my selections, and back up at me, looked back down, and
said “But these are women’s clothes?!?” I said yes, to which she replied with the
obvious: “But you’re a man?” She then proceeded to look awkwardly back and
forth between the men’s and women’s changing areas and asked, “Where do you go
to change?”
I just smirked at her, took the dresses,
and walked into the men’s changing area.
Thankfully she was gone when I got back, and I found a very nice black
evening gown (pictured below).
An amazing outfit can been found just
because you’re willing to take 5 pieces of clothing into the dressing room and
come out with a creation you wouldn’t have tried had you been shopping only for
those things you would immediately buy.
But, as I said before, nothing in the store
is going to fit quite like it will when you get your silhouette together. For this reason, checking return policies is
ALWAYS a smart plan.
CREATING YOUR SILHOUETTE
I feel like I say this a lot, but this is
another area that is really up to you.
Just please, so that no one can blame me for advocating it, DO NOT show
up with a hog body. Adore Delano got blasted for it, and you know when RuPaul
says hell to the no, it’s a big no no.
Cinching doesn’t have to be extreme.
Corsetry can be as little as slimming the waist to reduce bunching, or as much
as pushing it all away to get Violet Chachki’s 18 inch oh my god you’re going
to die, waist.
But to get that perfect hourglass figure,
cinch your waist and pad your hips. Women naturally have hourglass
figures. Men do not. Women have wide
hips, thin waists, and wide chests. Men
have broad shoulders, and straight bodies down to their hips and to the floor.
With this in mind, you will probably have
to do three things (or some combination of these three depending on your body
type).
1. 1. Cinch your waist. If you’re new
to corsetry, start small and work your way up.
Start with a corset trainer.
These are generally
latex or nylon, can vary in their breathability, bone number, and bone
material, but will gently introduce you to the world of tiny waists. I strongly
recommend something steel boned and breathable. You will sweat in it. They are
hot (your midsection generates most of your body heat). Plastic boned corsets are cheaper, but
because they’re cheaper, they’re more prone to broken boning, popping through
the fabric (and stabbing you), and general deterioration. You can get a good steel-boned corset trainer
on amazon for less than 40 dollars.
Corset trainers tend to be
more flexible, as they are meant to be worn when exercising, and will allow a
freer range of motion. They tend to be
worn under the clothes, so are a good choice for giving you the figure of a
woman without actually having a corset as part of your look.
Size-wise, you want to
measure your natural waist (not your hips) around your belly button (the
smallest point). If you get a corset to match your waist size, it will maybe
cinch one inch off. Go one size smaller if you’re just starting out and trying
to work towards a slimmer size. After that, cinch as small as your queenly heart
desires, but remember, a corset should NEVER hurt. If it hurts, stop.
The style of corset also
matters. You can get an underbust corset, which is slightly shorter, and
generally reaches just under the natural cleavage line of a woman’s body. If
you have a lot of upper body, this may just reach over your bottom ribs. If you
have a shorter body, this will give you a little lift to your natural breasts.
An overbust corset will
extend past the rib cage to the chest, where you can then follow step 3 to
enhance your cleavage.
Here is a very good source
for information on all types of corsets, including underbust, overbust,
trainers, etc…
2. 2. Pad your hips (and butt)
Sooooo, I am lucky in that
I don’t have to do this step if I don’t want to. I have wide hips, a big butt,
and legs to match. This means that when I corset, and slightly pad my breasts I
get that perfect hourglass figure (albeit with muscles, but I kind of like
being muscly as a guy, can you blame me?).
You might not be not be
this lucky, but don’t fret, there’s an easy solution, and there are more
complicated solutions.
Grab some shapewear! If
you only need a small boost in booty to put some junk in your trunk, some
padded spanx will probably do the trick. Products are available online and in
most department stores or lingerie stores that will pad your butt or hips.
If you are going for a
more extreme look (imagine BenDeLaCrème), then you will either need to shell
out the dough (getting the picture about the whole ‘drag is expensive’ thing
yet?) or build some yourself!!
Check out this article and
video by Misty Maven for more info:
3. 3. Accentuate your breasts
As you are
probably a man (if you are not, please ignore the last statement), you do not
have the naturally provided wonders that are breasts. While I am a gay man, and
not usually interested in the female body, breasts are the exception. They are
lovely creations, and make excellent pillows.
Anyhoo, since you might not have any, you’ll have to make some! If you
DO have breasts, this part will be all the easier, but you might still want to
make some!
The simplest way
is to use a push-up or padded bra. Done.
However, some
queens desire the massive breasts of Dolly, or the lack-there-of a la Naomi
Campbell. Anything in this range is
acceptable! If you are a thrifty queen, and fake breasts or realistic padding
is too expensive for you, consider the following:
Take an old (but
clean) pair of nylons, and fill them with rice or oatmeal (something that
doesn’t expire rapidly). Twist the
nylon, and invert it back onto itself. Repeat this process until the nylon is
all used up or until you’re satisfied with the seal (no need for a knot if
you’ve done it enough times). These are
your cookies! Stuff them in your bra, and be on your way.
I like this method
because it is easy to adjust the size of your breasts simply by adding or
removing the filling. This makes it
adaptable to differently sized or shaped bras, and they are compressible to
fill out the whole of the cup.
After that, all
you need is to contour on some breasts (tutorial to follow) and voila, you’ve
become a well chested, cinched, and curvy woman! In appearance at least.
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