Media Inspiration: RuPaul

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
With the drag queens out prancing
And in the street dancing 
Yes Pride fest is here!
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Now if you're all ready to forgive me for getting sexy Christmas carols in your head, we can move on with the post!

In case you didn't already know, it's officially the two week Pride festival in Toronto! R.E and I have been going to the celebration for three years now, and the energy in the air always leaves us with a sense of overall well being, fabulousness and love for our fellow man. Whether you're L, G, B, T or any other letter of the alphabet, Pride is a time to feel a sense of overwhelming community, meet all kinds of different people, and oh yes, dress as glamorously as you possibly can. After all, the sun is shining, the rainbow flags are flying and the drag queens and kings are out in their full regalia!

In honour of Pride, glam, and all things completely showy, this week's media inspiration is brought to you by none other than international drag icon RuPaul, otherwise known as the man who wears stilettos better than I do. As much as I'd love to invite each and every one of you into my house for a pre-Pride bash and a marathon of his hit reality TV series, Drag Race, the video tells the story I can't. We don't have the time, the resources or the mental capacity to handle all of the amazing that it  would rain down upon us.  Gaze in awe upon those metallic gilded curves. 

 

Bold, beautiful, off the charts style and FABULOUS.  These are the reasons RuPaul is inspiration of the week! (Although, I think if you wanted to use him as a mentor for your life or maybe a spirit guide, that is also something that I could get behind.)

As a special treat, this week's outfits also include some makeup suggestions for an over the top drag show look as suggested by our cosmetician resource Sarah, who blogs over at A Brush With Beauty.

Stripes

This airy looking floor length gown is striped with bright vertical stripes, a large white belt and warm pink makeup. I thought the dress was pretty unique and the look channels something like an ancient Roman muse, punched up with warm summery pastels that obviously worked for inspiring yours truly!
DIY

Dress: Modcloth Eyeshadow: Smashbox 'Shades of Fame' Envelope Clutch: Dorothy Perkins Eyelashes: E.L.F Armor Ring: Forever 21 Eye Crayon: NYX Cosmetics

Bling

Ru also loves all over metallic, which we can totally get behind. The more bling, the better! However since Pride is a (mostly) outdoor June and July festival, I went for a shorter more summery interpretation of this blinged out ensemble.

DIY

Dress: ASOS Heels: ModCloth Cuff: Forever 21 Headband: Sephora 'Melange' Lip Tar: OCC Cosmetics Glitteratzi Eye Glitter: Hard Candy

This sequin and mesh masterpiece from ASOS mimics the idea of the dress, covered in gold, right down to the v neck cut. Instead of the tie around the waist, the cut outs (in season, hollah!) work to emphasize the waist and the curves of the body. It's blinged up with long lasting OCC Lip Tar (which  comes in a literal rainbow of colours including green, blue and purple) as well as dramatic red eye glitter to pair well with the gold in the outfits.

I can only hope that these outfits would be Ru approved! Sorry to be a drag, but I've got no outfit pictures today... However, R.E. and I are planning on having a blog post of our Pride outfit escapades next weekend, so stay tuned for that!

-Riley

The Velvet Team