Here’s how much Bob, Heidi, Aquaria, Yvie and more spent preparing for Drag Race
"Some girls spent even $50,000 on garments,” says Heidi.
Words: Jamie Tabberer; pictures WOW
RuPaul’s Drag Race queens including Bob the Drag Queen and Aquaria have opened up about the financial burden of appearing on the world’s biggest drag show.
They were joined by the likes of Yvie Oddly and Sasha Velour in tackling the tricky subject – a huge talking point since H&M-gate on Drag Race UK series two this year.
The Vice deep dive from journalist Rachel Millet includes self-disclosed rough estimates of what several queens spent merely preparing for the show, including Monique Heart ($1.5k for SE10), Heidi ($4k for SE12), Sasha ($4k for SE9), Aquaria ($5k for SE10), Bob ($6k for SE8) and Yvie ($14k for SE11).
“White homos tend to know other rich white homos”
The actual figures are undoubtedly higher, however, as some queens had help from friends in the fashion industry and beyond.
As noted by Monique: “White homos tend to know other rich white homos with money… or if they don’t have money, they know someone who does. If you’re a Black girl, that’s generally not what’s happening.”
Heidi added: “I’m sitting up here spending between $4,000 and $5,000 on everything. Whereas some girls spent 20, 30, 40, even $50,000 on garments.”
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