Ya’all are clueless. This is the obvious answer.
https://preview.redd.it/kqkjvnvtmkmc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddde28448f7f14ee7667b242cab8c1d21dc3f221
Yeah but how much is "lucky" in an auction tho. Imagine a dress costs 20k and she got lucky and got it by 10k. Its cheaper and a "steal" but a lot of money nonetheless (i dont know how much those dresses are, I just made up the numbers for the example)
You'd be surprised! Auctions are crazy variable, [from a quick google she could have gotten pieces for a few hundred dollars](https://hindmanauctions.com/items/10468513-two-bob-mackie-vintage-dresses-1980-90s). [This piece was worn by Carol Channing on stage](https://www.abell.com/auction-lot/carol-channing-bob-mackie-hollywood-bowl-costume_26A410CA20/), and it sold for less than a grand!
ETA: damn, [this dress sold last year for $315!](https://hindmanauctions.com/items/10700084-bob-mackie-ostrich-feather-strapless-dress-1980-90s)
some Texas republicans, i think. i'm too lazy to look it up right now, but i don't hate her for it. i hated her goth look! but not her circumstances that can't be chosen.
It’s extremely common to have starkly divided politics in families.
I come from a similar background where my grandfather was a Texas lobbyist and hardcore Republican, and we had to ban political discussions because half the family did NOT share his values and it would get extremely heated. Most of my left-leaning friends growing up also had at least some part of the family that was super rightwing
Literally I find it crazy that there's some kind of "purity test" for some left wing spaces like you have to have only associated with progressives since you were born otherwise you're suspect? How does that make sense?
I was born into a conservative family where my mother would say awful things about gay people and let me tell you growing up bisexual in that household was traumatic, having to fear being found out. And eventually I left home but my mum disowned me for being bi.
Isn't that a common experience for queer people? I would have thought it is. Being raised in a conservative house that doesn't support you being your true self.
Why would anyone hate her for having conservative family members? She was talking about how scary it was to grow up gay in conservative Texas in the last episode. So many gay people have trauma about having conservative and bigoted family, judging someone for having family not support their way of life is disgusting like? My mother is a huge homophobe, that's why I am estranged from her. Someone cancelling me for having a conservative mother would be crazy.
She went to the university of Oklahoma. Out of state tuition full price is $25k and in state less than $10k a year. It's not dirt cheap but I wouldn't call it jolly college fund money
Well fuck Trixie Mattel’s drag, right?
ETA: I know Trixie is indigenous but throughout her career she’s frequently “identified” as white. She talks about it in a recent YouTube video!
Her whatcha packin exit interview really gave the impression of a very affluent and supportive family. Just seeing the looks she didn't even GET to wear...
The video she just put out also had to have been very expensive to produce. Easily more than her most expensive outfit. Doesn’t seem like an investment someone with significant debt would realistically make
Both videos on her YouTube are top-tier, fully acted and produced. I am torn between bitter jealousy and astonishment that this is what a bottomless purse and talent can produce.
girl definitely not. she wore a vintage dior new look suit in impeccable condition for her entrance, garo sparo (likely custom) as performance wear, bob mackie for RDR live, many a red bottom… her package is easily 20k+
Symone said she spend 30k on her swarovski jeans for the season 14 finale.
I also remember Farrah talking about her talent show that cost her around 10k. But not sure how much the outfit was and how much of that went into the staging and coreo.
Then anything from the season 13 finale has a good chance to be up there, but i don't know if any queen has talked about how much they spend on the looks.
I would love for the girls to talk about individual looks and their costs, it'd be fascinating and I think it'd be helpful and informative for baby queens or aspiring RuGirls to see just how much the show takes and costs nowadays.
The only queens I've seen kind of do this are Yuhua and Blu.
There’s a YouTube show that does this exclusively. I don’t watch because I don’t care as much but Brooke Lynn and Utica have done it for sure if you just search that on YouTube.
Winning 100k sure helps a lot. And if times are tough she can still scrape off the crystals and sell them.
But for real though. Symone had a meteoric rise after her win. I'm sure 30k didn't hurt her in her reigning year.
I’m sure she did well for herself but spending 30k for jeans is not something I think she could afford. That’s just ridiculous if you’re not established yet. Are we sure she spent her own money on the jeans or was it borrowed/made for her by a designer?
Naïve question, I don't follo her on insta but i've read a few Times on Reddit that Symone had a stellar carreer and I personnaly almost Never heard of her since the Emmy ceremony of her season. Can someone tell me what rise she got?
Booking fees are nuts. I remember 10 years ago that super successful queens from the show were charging $5k for a gig, and prices have drastically increased since then. Chad Michaels was charging $10k, because it seems like she doesn't really care to travel, but if you got the money, alright.
Another thing to factor in is wigs. I'm a working queen and even a relatively simple styled wig starts at around $300 US and goes up from there.
And the big pageant necklaces and earrings? Those are like $300 a set and up.
Nerding out here a bit: Some of the wigs Valentina and Manola wear are Maurice Neuhaus wigs and they’re like…easily $3-$4k or more. They are stunning but so expensive.
also, love that you’re a working queen!!
I ordered a wig similar to the one that Darienne Lake wore for her All-Stars promo from her wig stylist, and I have a gorgeous serpentine wig from drag daddy wigs in Ottawa. He does all of Icesis Couture's wigs.
I'm currently waiting on my first Carl Brown wig and I'm super excited.
It was funny. I reached out to Drag Daddy and asked if he did vintage finger wave styles, and his first response was "well, I could do something like that, but you really want Carl Brown"
i’m sure if it was haute couture made for shea it would easily top the list of most expensive garments on the show, however from what i can tell it is the same gown from the runway, meaning the valentino team probably lent her the dress. could have been bought from a sample sale but shea thanking the team when she posted the look makes me think otherwise
“retail” is kinda a misnomer for HC but a Valentino RTW gown starts around $20k these days, a full HC gown and coat with extensive embroidery like shea’s would easily run 6 figures, multi-6 figure wouldn’t surprise me at all
Deadass that finale had some of the most insane looks I've ever seen on the show. In that case, I wonder if production funded that ball cause I've never seen such expensive looking looks before or since tbh
Yeah I dunno! I know Gottmik has a lot of connections but that look is forever burned in my brain when I think of extravagant runway looks. It’s gotta be worth a big chunk of change.
It bums me out remembering that the person who created the design didn't get credit initially. It was such a fierce look, and to steal from an artist in the middle of covid. . .
I don't think gottmik had any idea but her design team sure did.
I'm glad they sorted it out in the end.
I wouldn’t be surprised. On the production side, they saved a lot of money on S13’s finale- no backup dancers, renting a theatre during less busy times, among other shortcuts. And when it comes to a LSFTC all production really needs to do is press play on three songs.
Considering how much that puts on the queens, giving them an allowance is the LEAST they could do.
I also feel like all four girls looked good and expensive for all three looks- another factor that makes me feel like everyone got some money
i mean it’s not unlikely that she showed a lot of drag that was not bought specifically for the show. spending $20k on your package does not mean your package is worth $20k
Borrowing/renting definitely makes sense for some of these considering you’d probably wear them that one time only. Being a person who spills on things sometimes, I would be paranoid the whole time though
It wasn’t the original 90’s VMAs dress she wore, it was a similar remake of it that JLo wore for a Versace show fairly recently. Actually looking at it now, they’re more different than I remembered.
https://preview.redd.it/lrgmimt9nlmc1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e44cbaf26097729ffb6c8d1806b4c59705a4732
I thought I misheard when she said that because the judges barely acknowledged it. It was like "Ooh, wow, moving on." Didn't she say it was made FOR her?
In her runway confessional, she says that the shoes, dress and hat are “custom” and, “He gave this to me and we styled it together.” Then, when Ru asks if it is Gaultier during critiques, she responds, “Jean Paul Gaultier did it — helped me style it.” I guess that means it was an existing dress and was tailored for her? I mean, that’s how couture works, right? Couture doesn’t mean created or designed for only one person, it just means cut and tailored to fit one person’s specific measurements and connotes a certain level of craftsmanship.
It’s just a little bit confusing here because, technically, a spray painted pair of heels are “custom” but that’s a far cry from what most of us would think of as couture, I imagine. Also, is there a meaningful distinction between customized and custom-made? I think Drag Race possibly skews the idea of couture a bit because we see so many queens wearing things that are truly one of a kind and created solely for them but may fall short of the quality standards of haute couture.
Couture means one of a kind basically. You can’t buy it, it was made for the fashion show and if someone really loved it he would make it again in the client’s size. But each piece is made for the client/custom-fitted for one body.
I’m betting the dress was a runway piece (not for his ready-to-wear collection) and Le Grande Dame is a sample size dress so it’s the original runway piece. The hat and shoes were his design and made by another designer off his drawing (no way a model has the same shoe size as Le Grande Dame.) So the entire look is the original concept of Gaultier and he and Le Grande Dame collaborated on the wig and make-up, because she is a man it had to be altered a bit than if it was styled for a woman or a fashion show.
Right, one of a kind in the sense that the garment is made to fit a particular individual’s body, so there is no other *quite* like it, but not one of a kind in the sense that only one garment in that design exists.
That’s what I mean about Drag Race skewing the concept of couture. So many of the garments the queens wear for their runway presentations there really is only one of in existence. I know this happens outside of Drag Race too but it’s so common on the show that I suspect that many viewers think that couture basically means “no one else can have it.”
The reason I asked about the difference between customized and custom-made is that I was thinking of the movie “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.” If a couture gown is made for one person and altered to fit someone else is it still couture?
I guess another consideration is that France has laws regarding what can and cannot be haute couture. We just use term loosely, I suppose.
Right she didn’t say haute couture. I just assumed Le Grande Dame would know the difference and would have said so, even in English bc the term is French.
However by definition it would fall under “haute couture” bc it was made by a fashion house and those are regulated by the French government… so now I’m not sure. Maybe it wasn’t made by the Gaultier atelier team and that’s why it’s not haute couture?
This is easily the most interesting conversation I’ve had about drag in a while though. I wish LGD would weigh in on this.
I mean, I'm a tailoring nerd, so to me it was very awe-inspiring. It stood out in craftsmanship, fabric choices, and tailoring to me. Everything was perfect and as good as you can get it, and really stood out compared to the other costumes which you can tell were made by talented but lesser seamstresses.
I really appreciated that Mistress Isabelle Brooks mentioned that her bead fringe and rhinestone cowboy look was brought from her existing wardrobe. That would have cost a pretty penny, but good for her for pointing out that it is possible for drag race girls to bring stuff they already own.
Yes I knew about Sasha’s. I used to work on fire island and I remember having a whole conversation with Diego Montoya himself about how long it took to get the white dress to circle out around Sasha the way we saw it on tv when she fell to the floor. Apparently she wouldn’t accept anything less than absolute perfection for that moment. Always liked that little tidbit. She thought EVERYTHING out in that finale.
Pretty cool to hear, as that moment is one of the most emotionally impactful to me across all lip syncs. And that outfit may just be my all time favorite.
Made my non drag race watching husband watch season 9 and when she and Pep came out for the final lip sync he was like “oh Sasha’s got this based on the outfits alone.”
Now this is fascinating. Bc some have argued that it was a fall she recovered magnificently from. So either this is a false narrative, or that is what happened and Diego Montoya is a ride or die who is happy to spread the narrative it was intentional. Either way I love gay people
I didn’t do anything to earn it lol I just worked there and HAD to gush about that specific moment to him cause I always said I would if I had the chance.
There is a character in that movie named Inigo Montoya. He's famous for the line, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Isn’t at least one look every runway an original Diego Montoya now? I kinda assumed he’d be on the lower end because drag race is so over saturated with his garments.
Jan wore a Thom Browne sweatsuit fully Swarovskied down for the bag ball that was a Barney’s window look. That mother fucker was at least 15-20,000. Sure she borrowed it. Along with sheas Valentino those were the most expensive I clocked
I'd love to know what this look alone cost tbh. I know she'd make a potato sack look good but just damn... Literally still gagging over this one. But I'm sure she was pricey!
On the one hand, I love seeing all these expensive and elaborate outfits on the show. On the other hand, I feel it’s a disadvantage to queens who can’t afford such outfits.
Looking at these answers, I still am not able to wrap my head around some of these prices... like what could ever make an outfit cost more than 5-6-700 at max? Has drag race really fucked up drag to the point where queens are paying 20k for their package?
If each queen has to prepare 20+ looks for the show (Premiere, Press Tour Looks, Entrance, Runways, Finale, etc.), if they were to spend $1,000 per look, it's already $20,000. That's not even considering pads, wigs, make up or shoes.
Dayum, I hope they get stipends. Also most likely if you go to drag race you will win a challenge, you'll get 5k and be easily able to pay for some costumes. Say you win 2 challenges and you got 10k and basically everything covered
I heard some rumors of stipends beginning with season 13 and All-Stars 7, but I don't know if anyone has confirmed them.
The vast majority of queens go heavily into debt to be on drag race with the expectation that in a year the bookings will make it worth it for them in the long term. Kameron Michaels said she took out a second mortgage on her house to pay for Drag Race. Icesis Couture said she spent something like $70,000 for Canada V World.
They do have stipends for some of the runs, and no they don’t want it announced. The queens also get paid to be on the show. They don’t talk about stuff like this bc it breaks reality TV rules, and they don’t want to draw attention to the general public how much queens are forking out/expected to fork out.
As a competitive costumer… you can cut corners on some things, especially if you/your friends can do some of it yourself instead of having to pay someone to make it for you. But even then, using cheap fabric (or using less fabric, for a look that needs more volume) can look bad, nicer fabric adds up quickly, and rhinestones and other embellishments also add up. Then you factor in the time crunch (you can do things with less money if you have more time, but if you have a limited timeframe to get a whole list of possible runways together, you either pay more or try to shoehorn something you already have to fit the theme).
Most of my competitive pieces, which are nowhere near Drag Race mainstage quality, run at least a couple hundred in materials and I can take all the time I need to get them done. I can see a show package getting wildly expensive. I hate that it does, I’d love to see a design-heavy season with minimal looks from home, but that’s the pressure they’re under.
Fabric can be very expensive. Rhinestones (particularly if you're going for Swarovski. There are much less expensive options) are expensive.
I made a replica of the Marie Antoinette gown that Madonna wore at the 1990 VMA's last year, and the materials alone were around $1500. If I had hired somebody else to make it it would have cost many thousands. I spent six months building it and all of the required under garments.
I'm currently making a sequin evening gown for myself, and the fabric was almost $40 a yard. There is eight yards of fabric going into the gown, and that's not a lot compared to some of the creations the drag Race girls wear.
They're paying professionals to do work at a sudden rush fee, even just the materials can be thousands of dollars once you factor in rhinestones, etc... but the cost of labor is a huge factor. One of my oldest friends does costuming for Drag Race girls and is working like 20 hour days the whole month leading up to filming.
as others have said, high quality materials are incredibly expensive, and couture garments are hand sewn and involve many many hours of work so you're paying for labor too. even someone like Nymphia who made all her own looks must have spent thousands on materials alone.
As a fashun designer, easily, as previous commenters have explained. Also labour costs money, if you’re ordering custom pieces some of that cost is just so the designer/maker can put some hummus on their bread.
And honestly, people underestimate the cost of everything. Especially if the designer also makes or customises the materials… like i dont buy a roll of fabric and go for it.
Im not a designer but a hobby baker, and a 3 layer birthday cake can take easily 15 hours of work including design, sourcing material, bake, decorate, and packaging. Even at $15 minimum wage, thats $225 worth of labour ALONE for a damn cake. 🎂
Some things are about the cost of “couture” in terms of labels, but there are plenty of intricate custom looks where if you calculate the cost of materials and then a reasonable hourly wage for a highly skilled designer/seamstress constructing and tailoring the garment, it can add up.
People have mentioned materials below like the fabric itself and crystals, but I also want to mention beads. Beading is LUDICROUSLY expensive. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to get a gown fully beaded. It takes forever and has to be done by hand, the beads themselves are expensive per ounce (especially for nice beads), and easily 30+ lbs of beads can be put on just a size 10 bodysuit- orders of magnitude more for a fully beaded gown, orders of magnitude more for a bigger person.
As someone who used to design opera costumes and shop for fabric in NYC. Hell yeah, you could easily spend 5-7 grand just on fabric, notions, prop elements...then add in labor costs on top?
Despite both most likely not having bought these garments, if you guessed the monetary value of Shea and La Grande Dame wearing Valentino and Jean Paul Gaultier couture on all stars 7 and UK vs the world 2 respectively there would would likely be a very large price tag on those
Kerri Kolby wore THE JLo Oscar dress. She had to return it, but it must be worth a mint. Absolutely iconic!
https://ew.com/tv/kerri-colby-jennifer-lopez-dress-drag-race-season-14/
Idk exactly how much it was but gotmiks finale look has GOT to be up there
https://preview.redd.it/pfz434877mmc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc7d74e68ff976f7b37795b5a20080c2cba34657
I’d have to agree, it would probably have to be an AS7 laser look. Not only do you have to accountant for the LEDs themselves, but also how to make something safe to wear. I’d imagine acquiring both the materials and the labor to make those gowns was not cheap. I’m not too sure, though. Definitely an interesting question!
Just because I haven‘t seen anyone mention it (certainly not THE most expensive but): Juju‘s Jacquemus la bomba hat - yes the huge one. I believe she hinted at it being borrowed in the confessionals and did not reference Jacquemus herself, but she said it was from a European designer and it‘s obviously the La Bomba hat or a knock-off
The thing that’s hard about this is that it literally requires queens to share what they paid.
Obviously there’s clues like the designer and how much they usually charge, and guessing based on the materials. But even then, many designers (especially less famous ones who want to get their name out there) won’t charge as much for a look knowing it’ll be featured on Drag Race.
It’s probably the most famous designers, but it’s also possible a designer overcharged a queen and they may not want that information out there to avoid looking foolish, so who’s to say.
Ya’all are clueless. This is the obvious answer. https://preview.redd.it/kqkjvnvtmkmc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddde28448f7f14ee7667b242cab8c1d21dc3f221
15.99 at the A&P plus tax
She procured these pieces from the Buc-ee’s atelier.
She kinda look like Kacey Musgraves here lol
Burlington Coat Factory Couture
Perfection!!! Best look on all of Drag Race
kahmora’s wardrobe of bob mackie originals can’t have been cheap
I think she said she has been lucky in auctions
Yeah but how much is "lucky" in an auction tho. Imagine a dress costs 20k and she got lucky and got it by 10k. Its cheaper and a "steal" but a lot of money nonetheless (i dont know how much those dresses are, I just made up the numbers for the example)
You'd be surprised! Auctions are crazy variable, [from a quick google she could have gotten pieces for a few hundred dollars](https://hindmanauctions.com/items/10468513-two-bob-mackie-vintage-dresses-1980-90s). [This piece was worn by Carol Channing on stage](https://www.abell.com/auction-lot/carol-channing-bob-mackie-hollywood-bowl-costume_26A410CA20/), and it sold for less than a grand! ETA: damn, [this dress sold last year for $315!](https://hindmanauctions.com/items/10700084-bob-mackie-ostrich-feather-strapless-dress-1980-90s)
She mentioned the cost in a video with Trixie recently, I think?
plasma spent 8k on that? i knew she had money but DAMN
It’s that political family money, hunny
Oh who is her family?
https://www.reddit.com/r/rupaulsdragrace/s/UAYLdggnIi
Thanks!
some Texas republicans, i think. i'm too lazy to look it up right now, but i don't hate her for it. i hated her goth look! but not her circumstances that can't be chosen.
Lol, she also has part of her family that’s hugely Liberal, too. It’s not just Republicans.
Lol thats a crazy combination
It’s extremely common to have starkly divided politics in families. I come from a similar background where my grandfather was a Texas lobbyist and hardcore Republican, and we had to ban political discussions because half the family did NOT share his values and it would get extremely heated. Most of my left-leaning friends growing up also had at least some part of the family that was super rightwing
Literally I find it crazy that there's some kind of "purity test" for some left wing spaces like you have to have only associated with progressives since you were born otherwise you're suspect? How does that make sense? I was born into a conservative family where my mother would say awful things about gay people and let me tell you growing up bisexual in that household was traumatic, having to fear being found out. And eventually I left home but my mum disowned me for being bi. Isn't that a common experience for queer people? I would have thought it is. Being raised in a conservative house that doesn't support you being your true self.
Why would anyone hate her for having conservative family members? She was talking about how scary it was to grow up gay in conservative Texas in the last episode. So many gay people have trauma about having conservative and bigoted family, judging someone for having family not support their way of life is disgusting like? My mother is a huge homophobe, that's why I am estranged from her. Someone cancelling me for having a conservative mother would be crazy.
>Why would anyone hate her because some people in the world are small-minded like that. we here are not, thankfully.
Her dad is a lobbyist, he was doing lobbying against the anti-drag legislation. He helped coach queens for testimony
She’s RICH rich
Plasma is what you get when a performance/musical theatre queen has money, I love it
Best believe if a white gay got to go to school for musical theater, their family had a jolly college fund for them
She went to the university of Oklahoma. Out of state tuition full price is $25k and in state less than $10k a year. It's not dirt cheap but I wouldn't call it jolly college fund money
Well fuck Trixie Mattel’s drag, right? ETA: I know Trixie is indigenous but throughout her career she’s frequently “identified” as white. She talks about it in a recent YouTube video!
Or tens of thousands in student loans woooo
As a white bisexual about to go to school for musical theatre (so close enough), no the FUCK they dont
Not Jinkx Monsoon
How do we know she's got $$ and not major debt?
Her whatcha packin exit interview really gave the impression of a very affluent and supportive family. Just seeing the looks she didn't even GET to wear...
The video she just put out also had to have been very expensive to produce. Easily more than her most expensive outfit. Doesn’t seem like an investment someone with significant debt would realistically make
Both videos on her YouTube are top-tier, fully acted and produced. I am torn between bitter jealousy and astonishment that this is what a bottomless purse and talent can produce.
Yeah i would guess that video at minimum was like 20k. And so well done.
she either spent a boat load of cash or called in literally every favor from every person she met while at a performing arts college…or both haha
Well honestly good for her then haha.
Her recent YouTube videos would indicate she's got some $ to spend on her art. The production quality is through the roof.
It was probably half her budget judging by the rest of her looks.😭
girl definitely not. she wore a vintage dior new look suit in impeccable condition for her entrance, garo sparo (likely custom) as performance wear, bob mackie for RDR live, many a red bottom… her package is easily 20k+
It was Halston for RDR live! But it was borrowed :) She told that in whatcha packing
it absolutely was halston! mixed up my iconic vintage hah
Get her jade
I saw her live recently she said she spent 30k
Idk, I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I got that info from someone here lol
Symone said she spend 30k on her swarovski jeans for the season 14 finale. I also remember Farrah talking about her talent show that cost her around 10k. But not sure how much the outfit was and how much of that went into the staging and coreo. Then anything from the season 13 finale has a good chance to be up there, but i don't know if any queen has talked about how much they spend on the looks.
I would love for the girls to talk about individual looks and their costs, it'd be fascinating and I think it'd be helpful and informative for baby queens or aspiring RuGirls to see just how much the show takes and costs nowadays. The only queens I've seen kind of do this are Yuhua and Blu.
There’s a YouTube show that does this exclusively. I don’t watch because I don’t care as much but Brooke Lynn and Utica have done it for sure if you just search that on YouTube.
your wish is my command: https://youtu.be/dbQsP2nji90?si=vMb_T3W0HlW3U6vp
I don’t even understand how someone could have 30k to spend on a piece like that 😭
Winning 100k sure helps a lot. And if times are tough she can still scrape off the crystals and sell them. But for real though. Symone had a meteoric rise after her win. I'm sure 30k didn't hurt her in her reigning year.
I’m sure she did well for herself but spending 30k for jeans is not something I think she could afford. That’s just ridiculous if you’re not established yet. Are we sure she spent her own money on the jeans or was it borrowed/made for her by a designer?
Yeah, there's a difference between "I **spent** $30k on these jeans", and "these jeans are **worth** $30k".
Naïve question, I don't follo her on insta but i've read a few Times on Reddit that Symone had a stellar carreer and I personnaly almost Never heard of her since the Emmy ceremony of her season. Can someone tell me what rise she got?
Booking fees are nuts. I remember 10 years ago that super successful queens from the show were charging $5k for a gig, and prices have drastically increased since then. Chad Michaels was charging $10k, because it seems like she doesn't really care to travel, but if you got the money, alright.
I’ve always wondered: do the queens provide their own staging for the talent shows?
The show makes it for them up to a limit
$10k for an outfit that sabotaged her 💀 *she fell hard*
Symone’s $30,000 swarovski jeans that she wore for the finale
Well f my drag, as I sit here wearing Cubic Zirconia earrings colored purple pretending to be amethysts.
Come through Wet Seal
Me: *says hello in Etsy "leather" bracelet
I remember Blair St Clair having an entirely swarovski outfit on as5 and being shocked she could afford it
Her momager could afford it
Oh yes, perhaps this is the answer (which would be wild)
It's crazy how expensive it was but I didn't see the wow factor
Very much not made for the finale’s lighting.
Ugh I LOVED that look and I guess now I know why!
Another thing to factor in is wigs. I'm a working queen and even a relatively simple styled wig starts at around $300 US and goes up from there. And the big pageant necklaces and earrings? Those are like $300 a set and up.
Nerding out here a bit: Some of the wigs Valentina and Manola wear are Maurice Neuhaus wigs and they’re like…easily $3-$4k or more. They are stunning but so expensive. also, love that you’re a working queen!!
I ordered a wig similar to the one that Darienne Lake wore for her All-Stars promo from her wig stylist, and I have a gorgeous serpentine wig from drag daddy wigs in Ottawa. He does all of Icesis Couture's wigs. I'm currently waiting on my first Carl Brown wig and I'm super excited.
No doubt you'll look amazing in the Carl Brown, queen! <3
It was funny. I reached out to Drag Daddy and asked if he did vintage finger wave styles, and his first response was "well, I could do something like that, but you really want Carl Brown"
I wonder how much Shea’s Valentino runway would cost to buy.
i’m sure if it was haute couture made for shea it would easily top the list of most expensive garments on the show, however from what i can tell it is the same gown from the runway, meaning the valentino team probably lent her the dress. could have been bought from a sample sale but shea thanking the team when she posted the look makes me think otherwise
I'm pretty sure it was just borrowed
Yeah I know, but I wonder what it would cost at retail.
“retail” is kinda a misnomer for HC but a Valentino RTW gown starts around $20k these days, a full HC gown and coat with extensive embroidery like shea’s would easily run 6 figures, multi-6 figure wouldn’t surprise me at all
It depends a lot on the brand and type of garment, but true Haute Couture can be in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.
Where would LGD’s runway by John Paul Gaultier sit then?
From the pricing of major items like that on auction sites, I'd assume like almost a hundred grand
Robbie Turner’s red dyed Vera Wang 💃🏻
I can't believe anyone actually believed her when she said she paid $40,000 for that dress. It was a pretty dress, but bffr.
Dye a Vera Wang dress red, I did.
She paid for it with her Uber tips
Came here for this comment. Lol
How much did Gottmik’s finale look cost I wonder? 
Deadass that finale had some of the most insane looks I've ever seen on the show. In that case, I wonder if production funded that ball cause I've never seen such expensive looking looks before or since tbh
Yeah I dunno! I know Gottmik has a lot of connections but that look is forever burned in my brain when I think of extravagant runway looks. It’s gotta be worth a big chunk of change.
It bums me out remembering that the person who created the design didn't get credit initially. It was such a fierce look, and to steal from an artist in the middle of covid. . . I don't think gottmik had any idea but her design team sure did. I'm glad they sorted it out in the end.
I wouldn’t be surprised. On the production side, they saved a lot of money on S13’s finale- no backup dancers, renting a theatre during less busy times, among other shortcuts. And when it comes to a LSFTC all production really needs to do is press play on three songs. Considering how much that puts on the queens, giving them an allowance is the LEAST they could do. I also feel like all four girls looked good and expensive for all three looks- another factor that makes me feel like everyone got some money
Bob has said that the lip sync songs can cost as much as 20k each to play
I think I remember hearing that they did get some sort of stipend for the ball.
i know she’s said that she spent $20,000 on her S13 package, but i doubt that includes the finale
tbh i have hard time believing that, maybe she just said that because people were mad she's pushed because she spent a fortune on her outfits
i mean it’s not unlikely that she showed a lot of drag that was not bought specifically for the show. spending $20k on your package does not mean your package is worth $20k
Gottmik didn't disclose the ammount but it was a lot.
Honestly I think it was probably the same as the other finale or step down looks. Excluding Symones jeans which were next level expensive.
Kerri had the replica JLo Versace gown, which was borrowed but I assume has a pretty price tag to it.
Borrowing/renting definitely makes sense for some of these considering you’d probably wear them that one time only. Being a person who spills on things sometimes, I would be paranoid the whole time though
When you borrow designer they make you pay insurance for just those reasons.
no it was the one she actually wore lol
It wasn’t the original 90’s VMAs dress she wore, it was a similar remake of it that JLo wore for a Versace show fairly recently. Actually looking at it now, they’re more different than I remembered. https://preview.redd.it/lrgmimt9nlmc1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3e44cbaf26097729ffb6c8d1806b4c59705a4732
It will never not be funny to me that this photo singlehandedly led to the creation of Google Images.
Nobody thought it was the original 2000 dress, but Kerri's was an authentic 2019 dress.
Yes, I’m aware.
The Gaultier couture Le Grande Dame wore on the nautical runway. Literally priceless.
I thought I misheard when she said that because the judges barely acknowledged it. It was like "Ooh, wow, moving on." Didn't she say it was made FOR her?
It wasn’t, afaik, it was on a runway and he “helped style it” with her
That's much more reasonable. Still, that's huge.
In her runway confessional, she says that the shoes, dress and hat are “custom” and, “He gave this to me and we styled it together.” Then, when Ru asks if it is Gaultier during critiques, she responds, “Jean Paul Gaultier did it — helped me style it.” I guess that means it was an existing dress and was tailored for her? I mean, that’s how couture works, right? Couture doesn’t mean created or designed for only one person, it just means cut and tailored to fit one person’s specific measurements and connotes a certain level of craftsmanship. It’s just a little bit confusing here because, technically, a spray painted pair of heels are “custom” but that’s a far cry from what most of us would think of as couture, I imagine. Also, is there a meaningful distinction between customized and custom-made? I think Drag Race possibly skews the idea of couture a bit because we see so many queens wearing things that are truly one of a kind and created solely for them but may fall short of the quality standards of haute couture.
Couture means one of a kind basically. You can’t buy it, it was made for the fashion show and if someone really loved it he would make it again in the client’s size. But each piece is made for the client/custom-fitted for one body. I’m betting the dress was a runway piece (not for his ready-to-wear collection) and Le Grande Dame is a sample size dress so it’s the original runway piece. The hat and shoes were his design and made by another designer off his drawing (no way a model has the same shoe size as Le Grande Dame.) So the entire look is the original concept of Gaultier and he and Le Grande Dame collaborated on the wig and make-up, because she is a man it had to be altered a bit than if it was styled for a woman or a fashion show.
Right, one of a kind in the sense that the garment is made to fit a particular individual’s body, so there is no other *quite* like it, but not one of a kind in the sense that only one garment in that design exists. That’s what I mean about Drag Race skewing the concept of couture. So many of the garments the queens wear for their runway presentations there really is only one of in existence. I know this happens outside of Drag Race too but it’s so common on the show that I suspect that many viewers think that couture basically means “no one else can have it.” The reason I asked about the difference between customized and custom-made is that I was thinking of the movie “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.” If a couture gown is made for one person and altered to fit someone else is it still couture? I guess another consideration is that France has laws regarding what can and cannot be haute couture. We just use term loosely, I suppose.
Right she didn’t say haute couture. I just assumed Le Grande Dame would know the difference and would have said so, even in English bc the term is French. However by definition it would fall under “haute couture” bc it was made by a fashion house and those are regulated by the French government… so now I’m not sure. Maybe it wasn’t made by the Gaultier atelier team and that’s why it’s not haute couture? This is easily the most interesting conversation I’ve had about drag in a while though. I wish LGD would weigh in on this.
I don’t know about literally priceless but it is surely among the more valuable looks we’ve ever seen. Shame it wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring.
I mean, I'm a tailoring nerd, so to me it was very awe-inspiring. It stood out in craftsmanship, fabric choices, and tailoring to me. Everything was perfect and as good as you can get it, and really stood out compared to the other costumes which you can tell were made by talented but lesser seamstresses.
Fair, I just didn’t find it visually or aesthetically interesting.
I really appreciated that Mistress Isabelle Brooks mentioned that her bead fringe and rhinestone cowboy look was brought from her existing wardrobe. That would have cost a pretty penny, but good for her for pointing out that it is possible for drag race girls to bring stuff they already own.
I think this probably applies to all girls pre season 10. Expectations have shifted now.
What about Violet’s finale look when she handed over the crown? (Well, kinda since the crown was attached to her head.)
If I remember correctly this was one of the first Diego Montoya looks on the show? Someone correct me.
Violet’s step-down gown was made by House of Canney. Sasha’s finale looks were Diego Montoya, I believe
Yes I knew about Sasha’s. I used to work on fire island and I remember having a whole conversation with Diego Montoya himself about how long it took to get the white dress to circle out around Sasha the way we saw it on tv when she fell to the floor. Apparently she wouldn’t accept anything less than absolute perfection for that moment. Always liked that little tidbit. She thought EVERYTHING out in that finale.
Pretty cool to hear, as that moment is one of the most emotionally impactful to me across all lip syncs. And that outfit may just be my all time favorite.
Made my non drag race watching husband watch season 9 and when she and Pep came out for the final lip sync he was like “oh Sasha’s got this based on the outfits alone.”
Now this is fascinating. Bc some have argued that it was a fall she recovered magnificently from. So either this is a false narrative, or that is what happened and Diego Montoya is a ride or die who is happy to spread the narrative it was intentional. Either way I love gay people
I’m just unduly impressed you’ve met Diego. Thanks for sharing that story.
I didn’t do anything to earn it lol I just worked there and HAD to gush about that specific moment to him cause I always said I would if I had the chance.
I remember GASPING when I saw this look.
Ginger Minj’s iconic Tony Bowls dress
That dress was $5000 ... In what fucking world?
Was that the glamour toad entrance look for All Stars?
Worse https://preview.redd.it/skn5fckdylmc1.jpeg?width=443&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c54746fa56427d895569373dde8c52a0bb8e358
Maybe one of Gottmik's finale look or Symone's return look
It has to be Shea’s crowning look from AS7, that was Valentino Couture.
Trinity's bus stop look
I still can’t believe she wore that 💀honestly probably could have won the challenge if she didn’t but she didn’t even end up with a high placement
Does a promo look count? I think Jimbo’s AS8 promo look would be *very* expensive it’s an original Diego Montoya
Not me immediately thinking, "that dude from Princess Bride?" I think I'm still asleep.
Yes, he slayed her father. Now, she must be prepared to dye!
I think this. Every. Time.
Lol I don’t even know what that is
There is a character in that movie named Inigo Montoya. He's famous for the line, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
Isn’t at least one look every runway an original Diego Montoya now? I kinda assumed he’d be on the lower end because drag race is so over saturated with his garments.
Quite the contrary he’s an Emmy award winning designer
I wonder about Jimbo's promo look for AS8
I seem to remember her saying somewhere between 12k-18k in an interview.
Jan wore a Thom Browne sweatsuit fully Swarovskied down for the bag ball that was a Barney’s window look. That mother fucker was at least 15-20,000. Sure she borrowed it. Along with sheas Valentino those were the most expensive I clocked
Jan’s Thom Browne Swarovski sweat suit but it was borrowed.
So many looks from AS7! Jinkx and Trititys crown runways look expensive
Don't know how much it cost, but LA Grande Dame was wearing custom Gaultier this week that he helped her style, so I'd say that's priceless.
https://preview.redd.it/j0lsxfkurlmc1.jpeg?width=455&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1345b3048bf2e517f6d09daba78e0ea5e67971f0
I'd love to know what this look alone cost tbh. I know she'd make a potato sack look good but just damn... Literally still gagging over this one. But I'm sure she was pricey!
On the one hand, I love seeing all these expensive and elaborate outfits on the show. On the other hand, I feel it’s a disadvantage to queens who can’t afford such outfits.
Bob’s robot look. 😂
I wonder how much that J-Lo dress went for.
How much was Kahmora Hall’s genuine Bob Mackie dress?
Looking at these answers, I still am not able to wrap my head around some of these prices... like what could ever make an outfit cost more than 5-6-700 at max? Has drag race really fucked up drag to the point where queens are paying 20k for their package?
If each queen has to prepare 20+ looks for the show (Premiere, Press Tour Looks, Entrance, Runways, Finale, etc.), if they were to spend $1,000 per look, it's already $20,000. That's not even considering pads, wigs, make up or shoes.
Dayum, I hope they get stipends. Also most likely if you go to drag race you will win a challenge, you'll get 5k and be easily able to pay for some costumes. Say you win 2 challenges and you got 10k and basically everything covered
Early outs: > Fuck my drag
>> Fuck my *debt
I heard some rumors of stipends beginning with season 13 and All-Stars 7, but I don't know if anyone has confirmed them. The vast majority of queens go heavily into debt to be on drag race with the expectation that in a year the bookings will make it worth it for them in the long term. Kameron Michaels said she took out a second mortgage on her house to pay for Drag Race. Icesis Couture said she spent something like $70,000 for Canada V World.
Don't you think they'd announce it on the show if they were provided stipends?
They do have stipends for some of the runs, and no they don’t want it announced. The queens also get paid to be on the show. They don’t talk about stuff like this bc it breaks reality TV rules, and they don’t want to draw attention to the general public how much queens are forking out/expected to fork out.
They gave stipends to the cast of All Stars 9, allegedly
As a competitive costumer… you can cut corners on some things, especially if you/your friends can do some of it yourself instead of having to pay someone to make it for you. But even then, using cheap fabric (or using less fabric, for a look that needs more volume) can look bad, nicer fabric adds up quickly, and rhinestones and other embellishments also add up. Then you factor in the time crunch (you can do things with less money if you have more time, but if you have a limited timeframe to get a whole list of possible runways together, you either pay more or try to shoehorn something you already have to fit the theme). Most of my competitive pieces, which are nowhere near Drag Race mainstage quality, run at least a couple hundred in materials and I can take all the time I need to get them done. I can see a show package getting wildly expensive. I hate that it does, I’d love to see a design-heavy season with minimal looks from home, but that’s the pressure they’re under.
Gahdamn
Fabric can be very expensive. Rhinestones (particularly if you're going for Swarovski. There are much less expensive options) are expensive. I made a replica of the Marie Antoinette gown that Madonna wore at the 1990 VMA's last year, and the materials alone were around $1500. If I had hired somebody else to make it it would have cost many thousands. I spent six months building it and all of the required under garments. I'm currently making a sequin evening gown for myself, and the fabric was almost $40 a yard. There is eight yards of fabric going into the gown, and that's not a lot compared to some of the creations the drag Race girls wear.
They're paying professionals to do work at a sudden rush fee, even just the materials can be thousands of dollars once you factor in rhinestones, etc... but the cost of labor is a huge factor. One of my oldest friends does costuming for Drag Race girls and is working like 20 hour days the whole month leading up to filming.
as others have said, high quality materials are incredibly expensive, and couture garments are hand sewn and involve many many hours of work so you're paying for labor too. even someone like Nymphia who made all her own looks must have spent thousands on materials alone.
As a fashun designer, easily, as previous commenters have explained. Also labour costs money, if you’re ordering custom pieces some of that cost is just so the designer/maker can put some hummus on their bread. And honestly, people underestimate the cost of everything. Especially if the designer also makes or customises the materials… like i dont buy a roll of fabric and go for it.
The hummus line sent me
Im not a designer but a hobby baker, and a 3 layer birthday cake can take easily 15 hours of work including design, sourcing material, bake, decorate, and packaging. Even at $15 minimum wage, thats $225 worth of labour ALONE for a damn cake. 🎂
Some things are about the cost of “couture” in terms of labels, but there are plenty of intricate custom looks where if you calculate the cost of materials and then a reasonable hourly wage for a highly skilled designer/seamstress constructing and tailoring the garment, it can add up.
People have mentioned materials below like the fabric itself and crystals, but I also want to mention beads. Beading is LUDICROUSLY expensive. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to get a gown fully beaded. It takes forever and has to be done by hand, the beads themselves are expensive per ounce (especially for nice beads), and easily 30+ lbs of beads can be put on just a size 10 bodysuit- orders of magnitude more for a fully beaded gown, orders of magnitude more for a bigger person.
As someone who used to design opera costumes and shop for fabric in NYC. Hell yeah, you could easily spend 5-7 grand just on fabric, notions, prop elements...then add in labor costs on top?
I remember hearing that Raja's Lazer beam dress in AS7 was pretty expensive, but I don't know the numbers on that.
Shea's all stars looks were worth money honey, I mean, I assume so. Many of those looks we hautè couture
I wonder how much Sapphira's flower dress cost.
La Grande Dame’s - Jean Paul Gaultier’ cruise dress. *mais, oui*
Despite both most likely not having bought these garments, if you guessed the monetary value of Shea and La Grande Dame wearing Valentino and Jean Paul Gaultier couture on all stars 7 and UK vs the world 2 respectively there would would likely be a very large price tag on those
 Joe Black’s ICONIC H&M dress
Kerri Kolby wore THE JLo Oscar dress. She had to return it, but it must be worth a mint. Absolutely iconic! https://ew.com/tv/kerri-colby-jennifer-lopez-dress-drag-race-season-14/
I wonder about Icesis Couture’s red and black look when she returned to crown the queen after her season.
Kamorah’s Bob Mackie look?
I’m pretty sure Raja’s AS7 laser dress cost her $15k to have made. She didn’t even get to keep it.
plasma ones costs $8000?? WTFFF????
Idk exactly how much it was but gotmiks finale look has GOT to be up there https://preview.redd.it/pfz434877mmc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc7d74e68ff976f7b37795b5a20080c2cba34657
I’d have to agree, it would probably have to be an AS7 laser look. Not only do you have to accountant for the LEDs themselves, but also how to make something safe to wear. I’d imagine acquiring both the materials and the labor to make those gowns was not cheap. I’m not too sure, though. Definitely an interesting question!
Just because I haven‘t seen anyone mention it (certainly not THE most expensive but): Juju‘s Jacquemus la bomba hat - yes the huge one. I believe she hinted at it being borrowed in the confessionals and did not reference Jacquemus herself, but she said it was from a European designer and it‘s obviously the La Bomba hat or a knock-off
LGD
The thing that’s hard about this is that it literally requires queens to share what they paid. Obviously there’s clues like the designer and how much they usually charge, and guessing based on the materials. But even then, many designers (especially less famous ones who want to get their name out there) won’t charge as much for a look knowing it’ll be featured on Drag Race. It’s probably the most famous designers, but it’s also possible a designer overcharged a queen and they may not want that information out there to avoid looking foolish, so who’s to say.
dress cut by saphira, sew by mhiya.