#TutuQueen! This is Post 7398 from Pink-Tutu.com, and it’s all about a day trip to the glorious Cleethorpes by the seaside. 💖✨ You see, my darlings, this little queen loves a day by the sea, and it was simply bursting with the energy to be in this little town for a spot of drag-tastic fun!
I'm Alex, by the way - but on stage I am the most fabulous Pink Tutu Sparkles, queen of tutus! So join me on this adventure! The journey itself was truly an adventure! Not on the train today, I decided a dash in my own sparkly-pink mini-Cooper would be the way to go. It’s not a real Cooper, mind you, just a rather tired and rather battered old Vauxhall Nova that I gave a bit of a pink and glittery makeover. It’s a real head turner - though it seems to make the petrol stations in the town think I am coming to a special pink car club meeting - as there’s often a posse of bored petrol pump operators gawping in my direction, lol! I think it adds to my little queen mystique, though.
So off I went, sparkling down the road from my flat in Derbyshire. It wasn’t easy dodging the hoards of drivers in those 'proper' Coopers (don't judge a queen for her taste, it's a car - don’t get me started!) - but I made it in good time to get my seaside look all prepared. It’s amazing, this town has such lovely cafes and shops with loads of hair and makeup specialists for queens to take advantage of.
Anyway, to my delight I bumped into a truly spectacular bunch of people for my street performance on Cleethorpes promenade, and as I’m known to wear rather daring clothes - in this instance a magnificent coral pink tutu with matching feather boa, it certainly made me feel right at home!
It’s easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of life, you see, what really matters - that joy in ourselves, our creative talents and the chance to express our passions for our lives! Cleethorpes, oh Cleethorpes! I just felt like that little sparkly princess, I knew from an early age would love the spotlight! From a young age I knew a love of pink and dance - a lifelong commitment that's stayed with me from that fateful day when I wore a pink tutu in the university ballet club fundraising, during a particularly dreadful winter, as a science student. The only real escape from the monotony of labs and exams. And look at me now, spreading pink sparkle and glitz with every step, at least within my chosen career!
Cleethorpes! It's where pink-tutu dreams come true
So you're probably wondering, what's the story behind Pink Tutu Sparkles? You might even be thinking about whether this flamboyant pink-tutu-wearing, fabulous queen has a 'normal' life when they are not on the drag circuit! The answer is… surprisingly - a resounding yes! But you won't believe it! (This is why this is a drag queen blog!)
My ‘normal life' involves fabric! By day, I'm a chemist, just a little science geek from Derbyshire. Not very dramatic, but I love it! But you're thinking, surely, it's got nothing to do with all this glitzy pink, sparkly, fashion-led drag queen thing, has it? Wrong! You see, as a textile chemist my work involves testing fabric! All day long, from 9 till 5 I'm busy doing something called 'quality control'. This means I am looking at fabric from a different angle, and that's what sparked my love of fashion, that was really a key inspiration for this crazy drag life! By night - well, let's just say, I'm a real, shining-star, glamorous diva queen who has finally found my niche. It’s not that glamorous testing all these fabrics all day long, but let’s just say - at least I have great inspiration for making my costumes - every day in the lab I get new ideas and inspirations. I get to see amazing textures, fabrics, and styles. Even my own scientific equipment - test tubes, petri dishes, and my favorite - a real gem in any scientist's world, the colour spectrometer, have their very own magical place on my stage.
It was the charity tutu in the ballet club that started it all - you see? One day I thought to myself: ‘Why wear the usual kind of dance outfit for charity? Let’s try a pink tutu - because it makes life feel exciting - it just made me so happy'.
It’s my mission in life! - Let’s wear a pink tutu, you and me - even for just one hour.
This is exactly what happened at the beginning - and when I realised I loved the feeling - I loved it - it was exhilarating! But what I loved most was watching how it made others smile - their faces full of delight, or seeing someone have the bravery to take to the floor, to dance in their hearts, a feeling you don’t get anywhere else! I started wearing a tutu at other events - festivals, community events - and everywhere I went people were delighted. I made friends and was invited to all kinds of performances. It truly felt good - really good. After many years of practicing I felt so confident in myself. There’s a strength in letting your soul come out and embrace life with this kind of magic!
I found myself looking in shop windows to check my fabulous attire and realised something amazing - how it reflected not just what’s going on inside but how we feel outside, in a whole world of fashion and trends, not just colours - even the design of the tulle, how fluffy it was or the type of trim and embroidery. This is how I know my soul - with a pink tutu in a shop window, the queen I always dreamed of becoming is slowly taking form, one glitter and tutu at a time - it felt like this whole amazing dream was becoming a reality! I have realised, what you wear makes a difference - if you make an effort, like I do - when you embrace it fully it's infectious - so, if it helps others embrace life - what a fantastic reason for dressing up - don’t you think?
That was how Pink Tutu Sparkles was born! 💖✨
So here I am on the beautiful, vibrant seafront, in this small coastal town, which, in truth I always thought, from my previous fleeting trips to see the beach was just for ‘family days out’, lol. Cleethorpes proved to be far more flamboyant than I imagined, with it's own, rather fabulous LGBTQ+ community. The highlight was my impromptu drag performance, which happened, on the lovely and bright Cleethorpes promenade, to be in front of a huge crowd, where even some seagulls took time out to come down from the promenade roof to see what was happening. The laughter, the joy, and the fabulousness all around! They were wonderful and my favourite of the whole week! The moment I realised that my own special style, which started as a way to give me courage on the charity events and made a difference for so many people, could have a place on a beach in Cleethorpes was quite a revelation!
It’s a dream come true, not only in terms of the ‘family fun’ and how they’ve embraced what I was doing, but how I feel inside - that joy we find when you love and express your love, a little piece of you which allows you to really shine, is how I live my life!
It has a special place in my heart! So I'm proud to announce, you’ll find me in a lovely little town called Cleethorpes for at least a few more days, you might even see me in that fantastic costume - there’s a good chance, I could be right next to you and that makes all the difference, because we're all sparkles of joy, whether in a sparkly tutu or a fab dress and dancing shoes, right? I’ve learned one thing about myself - to make that feeling part of our lives and find that confidence within - not for ourselves, for everyone else. We all have something we want to show the world - this is what makes life worthwhile, we need to bring this feeling into the world to share with everyone!
*Now my lovely little fairies and queens of glitter and fun, it’s time to leave this beautiful seaside town and get back to reality. Let’s take some time for a well-deserved cuppa and get back to making those dreams, a bit brighter! 💕💖 Let’s remember: “What a great day we have - let's keep sparkling! “ ✨✨ *
Love,
*Pink Tutu Sparkles * 💖✨
