Where I wear Big
Huge Hair
“You’re never naked when you’re wearing a wig”
There’s a lot of things that I bargain hunt for in drag. I love to thrift for clothes and to mix and match separates in unexpected ways. It’s a great way to get affordable pieces that are durable and interesting. I like to keep my makeup bag simple too. I wouldn’t recommend dubious dollar store eye shadows, but past a certain price point you’re mostly paying for names.
Budgeting is crucial if you want to sustainably do drag long term. Whether you’re doing this as a hobby or full time, you need to understand how much money and time you’re willing to spend before you start a look. It’s not worth it for most people to spend hundreds of dollars or countless hours on something that’s only going to be worn on a few special occasions. Be fair to yourself!
One thing I’m willing to spend more on is luxurious long-lasting locks. That’s because I’ll wear them over and over. When it comes to wigs, I believe in quality over quantity. It’s tempting to want new hair for every single outfit, but this approach could be worse for your budget and your brand. Let’s look at some iconic pre drag race queens. Lady Bunny, Varla Jean Merman, and Coco Peru:
Part of what made them stand out is signature hair. This is true for mainstream celebrities too. From Marilyn Monroe to Ice Spice to countless others, hair is part of what makes famous personas. It doesn’t have to be as literal as always wearing the same color and/or style, but your wigs should have a distinct feeling. If there was a lineup of wig heads, someone should be able to point out which hair belongs to you.
I’ve tried styling wigs myself, it’s difficult! The more skills we have at our disposal the better, but it’s ok to pay for someone else to help you realize a vision. Styling hair, real and fake, is a skill people go to school for years to learn. It’s possible to learn on your own, and some queens do. In the past I’ve gotten great hair from my drag sister Ambrosia or my friends Indica Fontaine and Sativa Sarandon. Lately I’ve been having all my wigs done by professional hairstylist and wigstress Jacqueline Valentino.
She works out of the Hair Spa & Wig Loft in Plainville. It’s reassuring going to an established salon. The owner, Lee Longo, founded the place in 1980 with her sister. Wigs may seem simple, but there’s so much variety. Lee specializes in more realistic styles for chemotherapy patients.
Jacqueline has been working with real hair and wigs since 2006. She has the industry training to produce elegant classic styles, and she knows us divas well enough to make wigs at larger scale for our big heads! Check out this timelapse of her creating the beautiful French beehive I wore for my centerfold photo this month.
I had a chance to see how the wig looked and get some finishing touches done at the Hair Spa Jacqueline. She gave it some more spritzies and some zhuzhing.
I loved it, but I wanted to make the roots darker to match my natural hair color and give the wig some more dimension. We talked about it and came up with a solution. She went in with some hair chalk along the roots and voila, I was ready for my closeup!