‘There's a lot of power in hair’: The importance of wigs in the world of drag
- Published
Professional wig stylist and drag queen Vodka - who has worked with Drag Race UK performers Tayce, Victoria Scone and more - discusses how hair can help performers to celebrate their heritage and even overcome difficult times.
For most of us, our hair can be incredibly important in forming our identity. And the same goes for drag performers, who generally can't live without a few key essentials: fabulous make-up, a stunning gown and, of course, a spectacular wig.
In the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, the series four queens open up about the importance of wigs in forming their identity, celebrating their heritage and overcoming hard times.
“Hair was where drag started for me,” says Dakota Schiffer, Drag Race UK’s first trans contestant, in episode four. “My hair means so much to me.”
And fellow queen Le Fil agrees that hair was central in helping them come to terms with their identity. “When I was four or five I already started experimenting with different ideas about what gender was,” Le Fil says.
“I always wanted to experiment with hair but I never could. [When] I left home that’s the only time I started growing my hair and it was almost like rebellion, in a way, to let it grow. I feel like my drag was an evolution of growing my hair.”
Wig stylist Vodka created Black Peppa’s Diana Ross-inspired, supersized wig for her Neon Nights runway look
Professional wig and hair stylist Vodka, who is a drag performer, also thinks wigs and hair styling can be transformational in forming your identity.
“I know how much better I feel if I'm wearing a style that I love. There's a lot of power in hair.”
Joe E. Jeffreys, a drag historian who teaches at New York University and The New School, says wigs are "foundational" to drag and that they are often interconnected with mainstream fashion and style trends.
Vodka, who is non-binary, started their career sweeping hair at a London salon when they were 18 years old. After many years of training and building up their experience, Vodka’s first time working on a drag wig was for a friend and drag queen called Crayola. “I discovered it was actually quite fun because you get to be a lot more creative,” Vodka says.
After setting up an Instagram page to promote their work, Vodka built up a reputation for colourful, sculptural drag creations and has now styled hair for some of the biggest names in drag, like Tayce, Victoria Scone, A'Whora and Juno Birch.
“Hair was where drag started for me,” says Dakota Schiffer (right) alongside Le Fil (left) who talked about how growing their hair helped them to understand their identity
“Tayce approached me asking if I was interested to do some hair for a ‘special holiday’, which turned out to be her going on Drag Race [UK]. That's when I had my first hair on the main stage.
“I've also worked with A'Whora. I love working with her. I feel like our taste levels are very similar. She usually sends me 10 different pictures as reference, then we somehow always manage to make it into one very memorable style.
“And Victoria Scone always comes up with crazy ideas. She's one of those people who has a very strong idea of how she wants it to look - and she always wants to make it bigger.”
So has working with the queens of Drag Race UK changed Vodka’s career? “Oh definitely! Without these girls I'm nothing,” Vodka laughs.
‘My hair is my image’
Also in the latest episode of Drag Race UK, Black Peppa discusses black hair and paying tribute to her Caribbean heritage in this week’s main challenge.
“My hair is my image,” Black Peppa says. “My hair is my blackness.”
Black Peppa, who grew up in St Maarten in the Caribbean in a religious family who told her it wasn’t “presentable” to have long hair or dreads, spent a long time putting chemicals in her hair to change its natural appearance, causing her to almost lose all of her hair.
“I just felt like I was going through an emotional and physical battle with the genes I was given,” she says.
Vodka adds that they’ve been “really blessed” to work with series four queens Black Peppa and Baby “who are very, very proud of their heritage.” For example, Vodka created Black Peppa’s Diana Ross-inspired, supersized wig for her Neon Nights runway look.
Vodka adds that they’ve been “really blessed” to work with series four queens Black Peppa and Baby “who are very, very proud of their heritage.” Vodka created Baby's wig for her Meet The Queens look
“I am hugely inspired by black hair,” Vodka says. “Afro-caribbean hair stylists are so skilled and so immaculate with all the things they do, so I've been studying a lot of that.”
Meanwhile, fellow series four queen Cheddar Gorgeous talks about their own relationship with hair after being diagnosed with meningitis at a young age, which caused them to start losing their hair.
“It was always an insecurity for me,” Cheddar says. “It just got thinner and thinner and thinner. But then when I shaved it, honestly, liberation. Having no hair is actually now incredibly important to my sense of identity.”
Vodka, too, can relate to this idea after seeing their own mother go through chemotherapy and witnessing, first hand, the importance of hair and wig styling and how it relates to confidence and identity. In fact, seeing their mother lose her hair inspired Vodka to want to help her style and make wigs, she says.
‘Drag and fashion are so connected now’
Vodka, who is a fan of experimental, gravity-defying looks, feels there’s a lot of overlap between the drag world and mainstream fashion and wig trends.
Many present day pop stars are effectively drag queens, Vodka argues, especially when it comes to fashion and elaborate wigs.
“I feel like drag and fashion are so connected now. They swap certain elements between each other.”
Series four queen Cheddar Gorgeous (right) talks about their own relationship with hair, after losing it due to meningitis. Pictured left, Black Peppa
Vodka says drag hair is often influenced by earlier eras. “From where I see it, the 90s is currently the strongest point of reference” when it comes to fashion, hair and wig trends, Vodka says, adding that the 2000s could become the next most important trend. “We could see a lot of Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton-inspired looks, which I'm here for.”
Joe E. Jeffreys adds: "As hair styles go in and out of fashion, so have drag hair and wig styles. Sometimes the wig or hair is in keeping with the style of the moment, sometimes they are retro or even ahead of the fashion curve. Regardless, they are usually bigger and more exaggerated than what might be observed in everyday life.
"In recent years, lace front wigs have become all the rage as they offer a natural hairline illusion."
