#DragQueenHistory during 1954 02 February

Oh darlings! It’s Emma here, your resident time-traveling drag queen, bringing you the hottest scoop from the history of fabulous!

This month, we’re taking a little trip back to February 2nd, 1954, because honestly, darlings, it’s the day that every single pink-tutu-loving, history-obsessed drag queen should know.

Let me paint you a picture, with all the juicy details and the full drama. Imagine, if you will, a young, sassy, Derbyshire drag queen (that’s me, honey!), in a glorious pink tutu, ready to be swept away by time itself. My pink tutu? It’s magical, you see. Like something out of a fairytale! It sparkles, it shimmers, and it whisks me off on incredible time-traveling adventures – a tutu so fabulous it makes even the most dramatic runway look like child’s play.

I’ve been saving up for this particular time jump for ages! I know, I know, I’m dramatic. But 1954 – the year that history almost forgot. We’re going to revisit a time where the drag scene was about to erupt, bubbling with exciting change and the very, very beginnings of our fabulous future. We're about to walk into the first flicker of what was to become the world's love of drag that continues to dazzle today!

The year 1954 saw the world still clinging to traditional values, trying to forget the wartime turmoil. There were stirrings, whispers of something exciting, bubbling underneath, but everyone still seemed a little scared to go too far outside the box. A perfect time for our darling pink-tutu queen to step in and unleash her inner fierce, wouldn’t you say?

I landed on this beautiful, sunny February day in Greenwich Village, New York City, with a flourish that made even the pigeons on the street raise their feathery brows.

“Is that a REAL pink tutu?” they all seemed to be gossiping, as I pirouetted down the street. “Oh, darling,” I purred back, my eyelashes batting furiously. “Of course, dear! Isn’t it simply divine?”

They were speechless. And so they should be! Now, honey, you just know that there was nowhere else to be on February 2nd, 1954. Everyone who was anyone in the drag world was about to have a legendary night. That's where the magic begins.

I floated (oh darling, it was a float, literally! My pink tutu allows for the most dramatic of entrances!), down a small cobbled street. Suddenly, I saw a beacon of fabulousness, calling to me with a promise of glitter and gossip. A small, but bustling nightclub – “The Jewel Box”. Oh, my darlings! This place was like a siren’s song! I knew right away I was exactly where I needed to be.

You know that feeling, dear. The butterflies fluttering in your stomach. The undeniable need to grab the biggest, glitziest cocktail you can find. Well, darling, the atmosphere was electric. It felt like the heartbeat of drag history! I just had to shimmy my way into this incredible scene, shimmying past the patrons, feeling the anticipation building, knowing that I was on the edge of something incredibly special.

Inside, the air was thick with smoke and laughter. It was almost smoky, but in a sophisticated way, honey! Like someone had sprinkled Chanel No.5 in the air to top it off, but they’d gone a little heavy handed on the bottle.

It was truly captivating.

A big band, complete with snazzy trumpets, thumping saxophones, and drums, filled the air with infectious music, that sounded like it could’ve stepped right out of a Doris Day movie, but just a little more rebellious, with a hint of naughtiness.

Now, my darlings, let me tell you a little secret. There’s something electrifying about the music of 1954. There was a freedom and a kind of almost-forbidden excitement to it, you see. It made me want to do a triple-turn in my fabulous tutu. It really just makes you feel…well, alive!

On the stage, dazzling performers twirled and gyrated, and let me tell you – the drag queens there? They were fierce. But what was extra exciting, honey, was that they weren’t doing a “copy” of traditional femininity. No. They were taking inspiration, taking what was fashionable on the streets and making it into a spectacular show for the ages!

Now, darling, there's nothing like getting close to a legendary performance, but it's always best to watch it all with a bit of caution. Don't worry, though, honey, because the fabulous pink tutu has special "paparazzi goggles" that tell me the history of every performance - it’s magical! That’s right. They come in handy. They make me look totally “normal” for any given period in history, but they have that incredible feature for seeing history with super-clear vision.

I, darling, am like the modern day historian of drag. My motto, "Research through fabulousness!" I even get special glimpses of private stories - some scandalous, some heart-warming - I get to write it all down in my special diary so I can keep this blog fresh with all of the best bits. And oh, darling, I am about to tell you all the best bits!

Right, I'm going to stop giggling at how good this diary is, and focus back on the story... I spotted some amazing queens in the crowd: a young Divine just starting out, and let me tell you - already oozing a kind of comedic drag royalty, already full of that wonderfully absurd, charismatic flair that made her an icon. Divine! Darling, a real ray of sunshine, full of glitter, sequins and all things bright. A genuine star already, a force of nature, even in the early stages of her journey.

The legend herself! Varla Jean – an icon in the making! Varla was like a powerful storm of feminine energy with an unparalleled voice. Her performance had everyone spellbound. She moved across the stage like a shimmering dream, and the energy was contagious! I felt every one of those shivers of excitement when Varla Jean poured her heart and soul out onto that stage.

I could tell that she was going to be a force to be reckoned with, honey! Just one glimpse and I knew that her star was about to shine like a million diamond jewels.

One look, and I knew that night was destined for legendary status. A perfect mix of glamour and chaos. The Jewel Box, in the middle of an electrifying performance by some of the most exciting queens of their time.

There were these incredible stories that just floated in the air of that club. Whispers of amazing shows, rumours of fabulous gossip - I got the feeling that every night was a wild adventure, where every guest became part of something utterly unique.

That’s when my own pink tutu whispered, darling, it had secrets about these incredible queens, secrets only I was meant to know! So, honey, I slipped out of the nightclub and off to meet these legends to get all of their juicy stories… but darling! What adventures do we have in store? Tune in next time as I embark on a night with one of my absolute favourite icons, Varla Jean… and it's wild!

Until next time, darlings. May your week be as fabulous as your tutus!

With all my love, Emma xx