Season 7
The Validity of the Old and New Styles of Drag
Season 7 proved to be one of the least friendly seasons in the show’s history, despite the new and more personal format of Untucked. As the competition heated up and the number of girls began to dwindle down, a divide formed between the older queens, who were highly seasoned entertainers, and the younger queens, who were ready to make daring stylistic changes to the art of drag.
The older queens, or Bitter Old Lady Brigade, as Ginger has called them, were used to the classic styles of drag, from lots of padding, big hair, over the top garments. With many coming from pageant backgrounds, they valued competitiveness and the ability to take on a wide variety of performance challenges.
On the other hand, the modelesque younger queens were ready to take the world of fashion by storm with their brand of drag. From Violet Chachki’s corseted 18 inch waist, to Pearl’s minimalistic flowy garments, to Max’s modern take on vintage garments, to Miss Fame’s revolutionary makeup methods, this season was full to the brim with memorable high-fashion moments. But many of these girls struggled during performance-based challenges and ultimately their fashion sense couldn’t save some of them from the chopping block.
The girls battled it out all season long, trying to convince those of the other team to see value in what they do. The older queens constantly put down the younger queens for not padding their bodies enough, not being more cut-throat or passionate in the same way as them and not having as much range in performance value. While the younger queens felt that the Bitter Old Lady Brigade were so focused on the competition that they weren’t focused enough on being artistic or creative.
While there’s right and wrong in the arguments of both sides, there was a recurring and sensitive theme throughout the entire season: Body positivity and representation. Jasmine Masters made negative remarks about Violet’s ultra-slim figure, Ginger and Jaidynn did their damnedest to be a positive and fearless representation of full-figured individuals and people constantly criticized Pearl and Violet for not padding their bodies “enough.” The topic always arose and begged the question of what body type was ideal for the artistry of drag. Ultimately, we got our answer when the top four included full-figured pageant queens Ginger and Kennedy Davenport, and modelesque Pearl and Violet. That all along, there was no right or wrong body type for drag. It was all about finding the garments that worked for you…and not dressing up like a bedazzled chicken on fire.
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