Introducing…
For the master elective Lifestyle Research & Design we were to choose a lifestyle to research and design for. The Drag Queen lifestyle immediately appealed to us because of its extravaganza, edginess and the mystery around it. It is a lifestyle that “regular” people do not get in touch with a lot, and therefore we were triggered to take a deep dive into it. Our main goal was to learn everything about this lifestyle and above all: feel what it is like to live the life of a drag queen. We did that by creating a mini documentary, where I got to feel the drag queen lifestyle by getting a makeover by Miss Skyla Versai!
The drag scene
The Cambridge Dictionary (2021) defines drag queen as: ‘A man, often a gay man, who dresses as a woman for entertainment’. However, the lifestyle of a drag queen involves a lot more than just putting on a wig and a dress is what we found out by interviewing six drag queens about their lifestyle.
What a drag performance entails, depends entirely on the queen herself. A queen’s talents may include dancing, singing, acting, doing standup comedy, lip-synching, hosting/presenting, fashion design, modeling or anything else. Many queens have a background in theater, dance or makeup and just happened to find drag as an outlet for their previous expertise.
The queens who participated the project (from left to right, top to bottom): Miss Reggy B, Juicy Kutoure, Megan Schoonbrood, Miss Skyla Versai, Lady Galore, Diva Mayday
From insights to ideas
After having interviewed our six fabulous queens, we found a common issue: transporting their precious, expensive wigs in a safe manner to performances. Often they need more than one wig for a show, since their changing appearance is part of the show. All queens have their own innovative yet inconvenient ways to transport their stuff, so we as a team felt the urge to design for this problem. And that’s how we got to “The WigShow”.
The WigShow
The WigShow is what drag queens need. All of our six interviewed drag queens had problems with transporting their expensive and excessive wigs. Moreover, there is nothing like it on the market currently. And, they loved the idea.
The main purpose of the Wigshow is transporting wigs in a safe and easy way. At home, the Wigshow can be used as a storage product or even a display for beautiful wigs. In short, the use of the Wigshow would be as follows:
1. Collect the wigs needed for a gig
2. Screw the necessary parts of the Wigshow together
3. Carry/pull the Wigshow(s) to the transportation vehicle (car, taxi)
4. Place Wigshow(s) in transportation vehicle
5. Carry/pull Wigshow(s) to the event location
6. Place Wigshow(s) on the floor
7. Unscrew see through bulb to get the wig
8. Use mirror to prepare for the gig
The WigShow in use, storing and displaying two different wigs, with a mirror on top
The WigShow in use, by a queen in transformation
“I think it is genius. It’s a great idea, it really is. I love the fact that it is stackable. I don’t understand why nobody thought of doing something stackable. It really makes sense, because now you can carry everything that you need.”
- Miss Skyla Versai
The team (from left to right) - Miss Velvet D'Rama, Miss Lil' Spicey, Miss Skyla Versai, Miss Halo Mary
