Hello darlings! Emma here, your favourite Derbyshire-born, pink tutu-wearing, drag history aficionado, and of course, time traveller extraordinaire!
Welcome back to www.pink-tutu.com, where we take a peek at drag's glamorous, glittery, and oh-so-fabulous past. This month, we're twirling back to July 2001! I'm feeling a little bit whimsical today, so let's slip into my sparkly time-travelling tutu and shimmy off to…well, everywhere!
From Peak District to Drag Capitals
Last month, we were all about the glorious glory of the late 90s. But oh, darling, July 2001! This was a time of change, a time of experimentation, a time where drag started to truly shake off its velvet ropes and shimmy onto the world stage. Remember, just a few years before this, the word "drag" still whispered with a hint of scandal. Now, oh honey, the world was embracing this vibrant art form with open arms (and even more open pockets!)
Imagine my excitement! I could hardly contain my fuchsia fascinator as I popped out of my time machine – right in the middle of…Derbyshire! Now, I'll be honest, drag wasn't exactly a scene in my lovely home county back then. We had our lovely pubs and community theatres, and we certainly had our own brand of drag queens with a passion for theatrics, but a lot of it was still behind closed doors. So, after I had a nice afternoon tea with a bunch of local mums, it was time to set off to explore the truly vibrant scene that was blossoming outside of the Derbyshire border!
New York, New York...and Everywhere Else!
It seems impossible now, but in 2001, a true global drag movement was still in its infancy. So, off I sashayed, my trusty pink tutu and shimmering ballet shoes carrying me through time and space! We're talking New York, darlings! The epicentre of drag culture, buzzing with new energy. Imagine it! The drag queens on stage, bigger and bolder than ever before, pushing boundaries and defining the future of the art form! I felt a thrill so electric, I nearly dropped my glitter compact.
But I wasn’t stopping there! I bounced between London and Paris, where a different kind of drag magic was happening. Drag in these cities, darlings, was all about high fashion, daring looks, and captivating performance. Imagine strutting your stuff on the catwalk, dazzling the crowds, leaving them breathless! Oh, I had to remind myself, I was in the past…and this time-traveling tutu wasn’t magically changing my wardrobe.
From there, it was onward to Amsterdam, Berlin, and beyond! It was absolutely electrifying! I remember seeing performances, darling, where the queens were redefining beauty standards. Some queens, a bold rebellion of sequins and fur, celebrating their curves and rocking the house with the fiercest drag makeup ever imagined. Others, with delicate details, intricate costuming, and graceful performances that took ballet to a whole new level!
What was Hot in 2001?
Now, you’re asking the real question, my darlings! Drag queens in July 2001? It was all about innovation, creativity, and breaking the rules!
Remember the queen of the club scene, Divine? In the early days, her drag style - camp, flamboyant, and utterly unconventional - pushed boundaries and redefined the limits of what could be done. Her legacy still reverberated strongly through the queens I encountered in 2001.
Queens like RuPaul were already household names, showcasing that drag was moving out of underground clubs and into the mainstream media. We were in the midst of a golden era of television, with shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” starting to make waves (or should I say, waves of glittery eyeshadow?). These shows weren’t just about entertainment; they were powerful tools, bringing drag to the masses and celebrating the art form with unparalleled gusto.
And remember, this was the age of the "Glitterati." Glitter, feathers, jewels - the more, the merrier! Think oversized, glittery dresses, feather boas longer than your armspan, and platform shoes that reached for the heavens. There was a sense of liberation, a yearning to be free from convention, a fierce declaration of self-expression, and the world was listening!
My Inspiration
You’ve probably gathered, my darlings, that 2001 was an inspirational journey. It ignited something inside me! The passion I felt that July, the rush of discovery, the joy of seeing the art form blossom - it pushed me to do something. So, I took the leap, I got my pink tutu tailored (it still fits! Time-travelling tutus are special), and started my time-travelling adventures! I started blogging, bringing drag history to life with my quirky anecdotes and passionate ramblings about pink tutus!
You see, darlings, I dream of a world where everyone, from every corner of the planet, dances in their own pink tutu. It’s about acceptance, it’s about celebrating differences, and it's about owning your unique and utterly fabulous self. It’s about the beauty and power of transformation and how that beauty and power can transform the world!
So, until next month, when I'll be dipping into another delicious morsel of drag history, keep those tutus twirling! Keep shining! Keep owning your unique brilliance. And most importantly, remember - life is a stage, darling, so strut your stuff and own every moment.
See you next month, darlings, and until then, happy time-travelling!
Emma
www.pink-tutu.com
