First Time In Full Drag Transformation

Hello sisters! James Charles here and welcome back to my YouTube channel. I just want to go ahead and jump right into the intro to today's video because I've literally wanted to do this for so long, I'm so excited and I think it's probably going to be one of the longest videos I've ever uploaded to this channel, so get ready, Get ready because for today's video we are going to do my

first

full

drag

transformation

! Now you're probably thinking, "Sister James, what are you talking about? We've seen you

drag

so many

time

s on Instagram and here on YouTube." And yes, you are definitely not wrong.

What I actually think is really cool and almost a sen

time

ntal part of this video is that I started doing makeup three years ago and due to the fact that I started on Instagram, all of my looks are documented in photographs for you. to see including my drag makeup. The

first

time I did drag was probably about two years ago, and it was this photo inspired by Raven: a legendary queen from season 2 and honestly should have been the winner of 'Ru Paul's Drag Race'. Plus all the other times I did drag after that. I will confidently say that through many mistakes, many misplaced eyebrows, and a lot of practice, my drag makeup skills have definitely improved a lot and of course I've also gotten some pretty pretty wigs, but that's about it. he.

I have been a huge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race and supporter of so many queens who have been on and off the show for a long, long time. The drag community has influenced my personality, sense of humor and also my makeup skills with different tips and techniques. A lot over the last 3 years and I feel really honored to be in the lgbtq community with amazing drag queens. That said, although drag queens have been a huge source of inspiration and a big part of my life, it's an art form that I don't really know much about. As an outsider and a fan, I've even made the mistake of watching drag queens on stage looking beautiful and fierce like a man in a wig and a dress that absolutely kills it.

When in reality there is a lot more that goes into being performance ready with the skills and putting together the look. So for today's video, I thought it would be really cool to take a topic that I love and am really interested in, but that I can learn about because I'm ignorant, and really delve into it. the world of drag and see what it really takes to put together a complete look in time for an important special event or performance. I thought it would be the perfect time to take on this challenge because I'm actually flying to New York very, very soon. working on some super secret sister projects and while I'll be there, Dragcon just so happens to be happening in New York City and what better place to try out being a drag queen for the first time than at Dragcon, a packed little convention. with the drag queens I've loved and admired for so long, the only problem is that I'm currently in the process of moving and I'm leaving for New York in less than two days, so... this is going to be a huge success . time crisis.

We have two weeks to carry out this complete drag

transformation

. We can do it? Let's get started *James' intro plays* Alright, we have two weeks until DragCon New York actually happens. I think to be successful at this I need to split my focus into four different categories, which I discovered are body and outfit. , the hair and the makeup and I think I actually need to do them in that order too so starting with the body because of course the body will affect the fitting which will affect the dress and then I have to choose the hair based on the dress and then I have to choose the makeup according to everything together.

So I think I definitely need to put most of my attention on the body first because that's probably going to be the hardest part of this whole transformation. I don't have much to work with, you know this from my several accidental butt photos. that I posted on Snapchat there isn't much there. To have a little more sister shape, I'm really going for that curvy figure. I need to get two different things: padding and a corset. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to make my filling yet, which has me very, very stressed, but let's figure it out.

We always do it, but I do know how I'm going to put the corset on. I reached out to a lot of my drag friends and, conveniently, also the test guys, who are a huge channel here on YouTube. Last week I made a video where they put a corset on them. So I contacted the same store. They're called "What Katie Did" and they're located in Burbank, California, and I have an appointment in thirty minutes for a corset fitting. I'm going to go in and get my sister taken from me, so I'll call an Uber and Let's see how *mwah* ⓢⓚⓘⓝⓝⓨ ⓛⓔⓖⓔⓝⓓ I can be today. *old music plays* How are you?

I'm Hannah James, nice to meet you Nice to meet you darling Do you want to tell me a little about your store? So Katie, Katie, what did Katie do? She started in the 90s working in London. She has been waist training for about thirty years Wow! *Hannah* She's a fan *James* skinny legend We used to have a line of hundreds of styles and custom corsets and everything, and now we're back to these, several different styles. They are very high quality and you can use them every day for years if you wish. *gasps* Yes, yes, we have a lot of very famous drag artists who use them as a base for their costumes As soon as I spoke to my designer, he said: "come to What Katie Did" Yes, it's a wonderful place to To get started, find a corset that works for you and is a wonderful price.

Ok, so the adjustment is like this: we take the natural waste measurement and go down four to six inches *gasp* Wow. and that will be your corset size Ok, I'm ready for it, let's do it. Yes...Please let's do it *Excited* let's go for Marticia's one, the one over there Oooh! Yes, yes. Oh yes. Great for filling, great for filling I would try you in an extreme version. Um, we have a regular version and we have an extreme version *Shook* Ok, I'm ready This one will work for your, your filling Oohh ok I like this one because the regular Marticia pushes on my ribs a lot and I can't breathe as much .

I get anxiety when I can't breathe, but this one puts all the pressure on my waist, which I like anyway Oh, I love it! This is flat here, this fits great BUT THEN you can fill this out Oh Yaaah Yeah, so you have tons of padded space, you can fill a little in the butt, you can fill your hips and you have tons of room for that , but then you have a tiny waist ohh THIS IS SMALL! Yes, and once you complete it it will be even smaller *James* Hahaha, I love it! *Hannah* Yes, great *James* Oh my Lord! *Hannah* Yeah, this is pretty fantastic This is CRAZY and SO COOL $251.06 *Sigh* Perfect.

Have them snatch me away. Ok, we just finished with "What Katie Did." Everyone there was very kind and sweet. I'm ready for my sister to be taken from me. I'm a little off about sticking out on the sides because they're generally made for more cruel people. But that's what we have padding for. I don't know how we're going to do this yet, but we're going to figure it out. Okay, now that our body is all snatched up and ready to go. Now I was able to move forward with the wig. I reached out to "The Wiggs and Grays" who is an incredibly talented wig stylist.

She makes wigs for many Drag Race queens, including Kim Chi, and I asked her if she would be willing to do it. She gave me a last minute wig for Dragcon. She actually said yes and she was willing to give me a custom wig for Dragcon, which I'm really excited about, but we only have a week of time to do this. It was very, very close, so we scheduled a face-to-face call so we can plan the look and figure out what we're going to do. So without further ado, let's go meet Sister Gloria *Loading sounds* *Pop* *James * HELLO SISTER! *Gloria* Hello!

How are you? Well how are you? Oh, how amazing, thank you so much for calling me today. By the way, it's nice to meet you, hello James. Yes Thank you for putting the wig on me today for DragCon. New York City I know it's literally in a week, but I feel like if anyone is going to do it, they can do it... *laughs* I don't like that face, but if anyone is going to do it, it's going to be you. It will be done Ok. I have real, real faith in you. But before we start this little consultation, why don't you tell the sisters a little more about yourself, your business and what we are going to do today?

So my drag name is Gloria, I'm a little jack of all trades on "Wigs and Grays." Yes, Wigs and Grays has been around for about five years. People know us because of Kim Chi and we have been involved. basically every season I've seen your wigs on so many iconic queens, your style is crazy and I'm so excited to work together for this look. Obviously, this is a very, very quick change, so I feel like we should think about what kind of look we want to do, like, now Yeah, so what are you wearing? I just had my last planning session with my designer today so we have it all figured out Ok So I have my dress all figured out.

It will be an A-line dress, in white. Okay. She is doing it. She's doing it She's doing her best. I feel like I'm in old Hollywood but with a modern twist. Much like, Marylin Monroe meets Lady Gaga Since you're wearing a dress, you go there. Are you willing to wear an updo? Would that be something you would be interested in? You know I usually get down on all my drag looks, but an updo could be really iconic You're already making a dress, so you might as well do an updo, you know? I'm a little depressed Obviously like a big explosion with a slight wave.

And then I think the back is a little messy, so it still doesn't read as super bridal or super, you know, still a little edgy I'm defiantly depressed by that sound. Really perfect Oh God, wow Ok, so color, I know we're talking about blondes. *James* Yes James: Oh no, no! This doesn't need to happen now. My feet hurt already. This is not good. What I do? (music) (music) (music) (music) (music) (music) (fan) (music) So guys, we've arrived at draggcon in New York City, (breathing) my nerves have calmed down a little already I feel super super confident and beautiful, I just hope I don't fall down at this point, but I've been texting a lot of my favorite queens this morning and I'm going to go to all of their booths and say hello to them, and this should really be an experience. incredible.

So let's go, so let's go. *sigh* My stomach is back. My toes hurt a lot. I don't want to cry, so I just laugh. Oh my God, this has been the longest day of my entire life. I look disgusting, like I'm scared. Hi My normal makeup I keep on for a few hours during the day and I like to get away with it... No, Ew, I can't. Today was crazy, absolutely crazy. I was so nervous. There are many things that worried me. My outfit, my hair, my makeup all look good because my drag makeup has definitely been a rollercoaster for me.

Um, my shoes, which obviously didn't exactly end up working out, but you know what? Okay, I took them off. There were many other queens who also took off their shoes. They walked in slippers or barefoot, which I thought was very iconic. So, I'm definitely not the only one who wanted to take on the challenge. But what made me most nervous in general was meeting so many of these queens that I've always admired due to the fact that I don't exactly have the best reputation in the drag world. It's been a community that I've always loved, but I've really tried to stay away from it to avoid drama.

A lot of work and love was put into this, not only from me but from a lot of amazing people, so come on down and show your sister your support.