GAYLETTER

You are probably wondering what queens of the pink carpet are. Well, let us explain this to you right away. For those of you who haven’t attended RuPaul’s DragCon, upon entering, your day is made all the more fierce by a pink hand-tufted carpet that doubles as both a runway and a stage and is the length of a football field. Yeah, it’s gaggy!

While we were excited to see so many familiar Drag Race faces within our midst, the queens of the pink carpet are those who arrived in full looks and wore determined expressions on their painted faces. Traveling from all over the northeast corridor and some from across the globe, these girls nearly stole the show from the queens we’ve come to love and hate from their time on TV.

Violet Chachki, Miss Fame, Vander Von Odd, the Boulet Brothers, Trixie Mattel, Michelle Visage and T.S. Madison were all in attendance, plus RuPaul Charles himself and reigning Miss Drag Superstar, Sasha Velour. Queens offered photos, merchandise, or limited edition products at their booth, and though we were really impressed by the many talented artists exhibiting and selling at DragCon, we were most impressed by some looks.

New York has a large drag community, with countless hometown girls having walked their tucks onto Ru’s runway, so for the convention to finally touch down in the city was — for many attendees – a toot. After taking an hour or two to see who was hot and who was not, plus a brief run in with our favorite punk from season 8, Laila McQueen, we hit the convention grounds with our photographer Connor Atkins to stop a few queens of the pink carpet and pick at their brain beneath the wig to see what was up in their wonderful, international world of drag.

MYNX MOSCATO
Sydney, AUS.
@mynxmoscato

What are some of your favorite drag slang words? Slay me. Who are some of your favorite drag queen that haven’t been on RuPaul? There’s so many amazing Sydney queens like Hannah Conda, she’s the top girl in Sydney, and amazing club kids like Cherry Kills (my best friend), Ally Vesta. There’s so many queens in Australia that no one knows of. What’s the best season to do drag? Winter. It’s too hot in the summer. Cut or uncut? Uncut.

MR. HE FEMANON
NYC.
@mrhefemanon

What’s the fastest you’ve ever got into drag? Probably 10 minutes. Do you prefer a conceptual look or a beautiful look? Conceptual because it takes wit. What do you hope trends next in makeup? I love a good trend, I think they’re funny. Obviously the new trend is squiggle everything, and I’m like where is this going to go next though. Who are your drag inspirations? Peewee Herman and Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Cut or uncut? I’m vegan.

PEROXIDE FEMANON
NYC.
@peroixde_femanon

What is Femanon? When [Femanon] first started doing drag together one of our house members had to keep it a secret that we were doing it, so that’s where the “anonymous” comes from, and we just wanted to embrace more of our feminine side. What’s the fastest you’ve ever gotten into drag? 7 minutes. Cut or uncut? It don’t matter! Who are your drag inspirations? Polygons, like the shapes.

JACKIE COX (left)
NYC.
@jackiecoxnyc

How is drag political to you? My show “I Dream of Jackie,” is an Arabian fantasy and I do a whole sequence about the Syrian refugee crisis. You can make it as political as you fucking want to. Who are some of your drag inspirations? Jinkx Monsoon. Do you prefer a conceptual look or a beautiful look? Conceptual, a beautiful look will last as long as it takes to look at that look. What do you hope trends next in makeup? I like putting glitter on my eyebrows. Cut or uncut? Both.

JUICY LIU (right)
NYC.
@missjuicyliu
How is drag political to you? Being in drag is an act of revolution. People think “You shouldn’t do that,” but we’re sitting here still doing it. Do you prefer a conceptual look or a beautiful look? Conceptual. It tells a story! What do you hope trends in makeup next? I like putting glitter on my mouth.

DEAN MODAH
NYC.
@modah

How many products do you use on your face? 7,227. Who are your drag inspirations? Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element, RuPaul, and Madonna. What are some of your favorite drag slang words? Okurrr mama yas bitch god! Who are you some of your favorite queens who haven’t been on Drag Race? I’m really feeling this queen from Brooklyn named Modah. She serves these intergalactic looks! Another queen I’m into is Hungry. I’m hungry for whatever she is serving! Cut or uncut? I used to be preferential to the cut, but I opened up my horizons, girl! I learned that all different types of situations are okay.

LAILA McQUEEN
CHI.
@misslailamcqueen

Cut or uncut? Cut. Who are some of your drag inspirations? Divine, Candy Darling, and Andy Warhol. How is drag political to you? I have some sort of following and like some sort of rock star and with the drag race thing it speaks to the younger community, so I have the ability to be like ‘Hey kids do this, don’t fuck up so much like we all did. Vote, and don’t be an idiot.’ What are some of your least favorite makeup trends? Squiggly eyebrows. What is that? Waste of time. Stupid.

DONNA SLASH (left)
D.C.
@donnaslash

Cut or uncut? I feel like I’m gonna get shit for it, but I like cut. Who are some of your drag inspirations? Marilyn Manson, 70s/80s London punk. What is the fastest you’ve ever gotten into drag? 20 minutes in a minivan. What are some of your favorite drag slang terms? I just like to yell “bitch!” at everyone, it’s great. How is drag political to you? Especially now in the Tr*mp administration, I think they want us to go back in the closet and they want to tell us whenever we’re out at a bar dressed [in drag] that we deserve whatever happens to us. Well, someone wants to mess with us, they deserve whatever happens to them too. Drag is a big fuck you to anyone who wants to tell us to tone it down.

JAX KNIFE (right)
D.C.
@jaxknifecomplex

Cut or uncut? I like a turtleneck. Who are some of your drag inspirations? The dumpster fire that was in the Stonewall Riots and Nosferatu. Who are favorite queens who have not been on Drag Race? Lady Bunny, Salvadora Dali, and Pulp Friction. What are some of your favorite drag slang terms? I’ve been saying them all week — Work! and Bitch!

SHONTELLE SPARKLES
TN.
@shontellesparkles

Cut or uncut? Cut. Who are some of your drag inspirations? Plastique Tiara, Shea Couleé, I love her style, and Sasha Velour because she’s true to herself. What’s the best season to do drag? The winter because bitch, drag is a sport. People think that its all glamorous, but when we’re putting all the shit on backstage its dirty as fuck. I’m sweating.