GAYLETTER

Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race created a few new legends for us to sop up and argue over. Kim Chi, Naomi, ChiChi (hey girl!) and Bob make up my personal set. However, a 13th queen snuck in who is on everyone’s lips and won the coveted catch phrase crown. We snagged the one and only interview with Bob the Drag Queen’s #pursefirst purse. She has a lot to say for a bag. A big thank you goes out to Bob the Drag Queen for translating.

Purse, do you have a name? My name is Purse Purse Imfurst. I’m named after Mimi Imfurst.

How old are you exactly? I was born on the set of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 on the very first episode. That was somewhere around the 4th of July. Technically I’m a child star.

A child star, that says a lot about you. Do you consider yourself a millennial as well? I don’t think I am. As you can see, my style is very old lady. My aesthetic is very vintage. Young kids these days love walking in Purse First and acting older than they actually are.

So you think you’re above it? I’m above it.

Did you see Anna Kendrick doing Purse First at the Met Gala? How did you feel about that? Yeah, I mean, Purse First has taken on a life of its own. Bob started doing it as a bit of a joke and the girls thought it was funny and then everyone else started saying it. And then RuPaul started saying it!

Oh it got up to RuPaul? Yes, it got all the way up to RuPaul. Even RuPaul did Purse First. Everyone was doing Purse First all over the place. And it’s really exciting that it’s gone past the normal audience Drag Race is reaching. Weirdly it’s become a mainstream thing.

If you could meet any bag from history who would it be?  I would love to meet the bag that Harriet Tubman carried on the underground railroad. I also want to talk to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s bag.

Have you ever met a Michael Kors bag? Haha, no. I don’t get out much. Bob is my only friend.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve carried? How about the most exclusive thing? Inside me at all times are RuDollars that Acid Betty used for her first look. There’s about 3,000 RuDollars inside me at all times.

Have you ever been stolen? No never! I’m guarded really heavily, actually. I’m a hot commodity.

Does Bob ever get on your nerves? No, I think he’s clever and really funny…and really smart. And dare I say, there might be a romance there.

Bob has auctioned a number of his looks from the show. Has he threatened to put you up for auction if you misbehave?  Well, he has threatened to put me up for auction a couple of times. And there’s a chance that I might be auctioned off at DragCon to the highest bidder [Editor’s note: this happened, see me at the end.]

We’re going to be at DragCon, but we’re not that rich. I assume you’ll go for a pretty high price? Well, I will say this…when you see me in person…I’ve had a rough life. I have not aged well. I do not look how I look on TV.

Are you even lined? With cardboard, yes. I am lined with cardboard.

Have people thrown the ratchet label at you too? No! I’m really classy actually. Bob and I, we really have different personas. No one really thinks that I’m ratchet, but I am a showboat.

UPDATE:

Since our sit-down with Purse Purse, she was, in fact, auctioned off at RuPaul’s DragCon for $400. She could feel it coming. We wish her all the best with her new life. You’ll always be first to us girl!