The return, a journey, and a new look!

Hey boys and girls, wow, so it has been over 9 months since I posted anything here on my blog! I guess it is about time I revived it a little, and as the last few months have been very busy and extremely exciting for me I decided that the time is now! In the last month and in the coming months I have been and will be doing some exciting things, and I'd like to share this with you.

So, without further ado, I hereby launch my new look blog! Hope you like it!

For those of you who follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook, you wll already know that 2012 has been a very exciting year so far for me. Late November last year I took on a residency at Molly Moggs in Soho as the hostess for their Friday night Open Mic event, and in the new year I was given the opportunity to do their Saturday nights as well! I jumped into it and haven't looked back!

Now, aside from the joy and pride I felt and am still feeling about having been given this opportunity, the journey of self discovery and personal development I have had is beyond belief! My background as a drag performer has only ever been as a lip sync queen, and although I still don't sing (it is, after all karaoke, it's all about everyone else singing!) I still have to use a microphone for 3 hours a night. Now, you might think that this is a doddle, but trust me, it has been a challenge! You see, I don't want to be the cruel bitchy queen who makes fun of my singers, I'd like to encourage people, and I have to be on the ball all the time and can't have a script, and this has been a learning curve for me!
At first I felt somewhat uncomfortable with it, but soon I fell into it and found my rhythm and character more and more, and thanks to the lovely comments I have gotten from regulars as well as random people dropping in from the street (some of which have since become regulars!) I now feel very much at home on the little stage at Molly's!

Not only this, but I feel I have been on a journey with my look too, and where I was last year isn't where I find myself now. My make up skills have improved, and I am more secure in my style too, which has been exciting to look back at.

This year, London played host to World Pride, and there was a lot of chaos around the arrangements and funding situation, which I'll leave aside for now. I was given the opportunity to do something fun for Pride, together with my friends Julie Paid and Cookie Monstar. We were chosen to be the first people on board a double decker routemaster that had been completely renovated to look like a handbag, courtesy of the MCM Brand. Click here to read about our fabulous day out on this amazing bus!

It is now the height of summer (believe it or not, if you are in the UK like me) and I'm about to go on another very exciting and amazing journey. Read more about this by clicking the link!

So, I'd like to thank you for staying with me, and promise that there will be more and more posts here at The World According to Diamond Pearl!
Don't forget, dreams are only reality in the making!

Love and kisses, Diamond! xxx

“Hooking up” with Social Media

Hello boys & girls!

I don’t know if you have seen my Facebook profile. I don’t know if you care! Haha! But if you haven’t, I’ll have to explain this first. When I joined Facebook and uploaded my profile picture, I started getting a lot of chats/messages from guys asking in I was on MSN or Skype, and could they add me. I’d also get a lot of “proposals” for meet-ups and questions about if I was available (for lord knows what!) on such and such date.

I quickly disabled my chat box. Eventually, I had to try and make it very clear what I am and what I stand for, so to speak. Or rather, what I am not and what I am not looking for! Here’s what I wrote to clarify!

Please read:
It's just an illusion:
I am not a transsexual.
I am not a transvestite.
I am not on Facebook for sex.
I am not on Facebook to find random men to "talk dirty" on MSN.
I am here to promote myself as a "gender illusionist".
I feel I have to explain this even clearer to some people, so here goes:
*If your profile/username/picture is an obvious fake, you know, like Long John or Hung Low, I will not accept you.
It's surprising how many faceless anonymous brainless 'gods gifts to women' there are here on Facebook, and most of them can't read.. I won't just automatically accept friendship requests from every Tom Dick and Harry who contact me.
And I don't see why I should have to keep the FB chat function permanently offline to avoid all the questions about when and where we can meet and how good I am at giving head!
It's not that I don't understand the attention and appreciate the compliments, don't get me wrong..
It's just getting tiring and boring now...

Kind regards Diamond x


Now, don’t get me wrong, this didn’t stop the advances, as it’s clear some men cannot read, or if they can, they still believe they are so much better than other men, so they still try!
But so far I have never been approached on Twitter. So far. That changed today! Here’s a conversation as it happened live on Twitter, from a 21 year old boy who, surprisingly, wasn’t following me!

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl hi there

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Hello!

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl how r u?

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Yeah fabulous thanks! (Twitter is the new Chat Roulette now??)

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl lol.. yes.. try skype yet?

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Hahahahahahahahaha! Yeah I have thanks!

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl bigbiceps21 :)

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Cool! Lemme guess... you want me to add you on Skype so I can
show you my titties and you show me your bulging... biceps? ;)

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl nah. ill still show my biceps

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Aww! Well I have news for u! I left my titties in storage in South London &ur biceps are far from big, in fact, mine are bigger

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl well we can see about that

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles No. We can't.

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl why?

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Just cause!

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl scared of my guns :)

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Hahahahahahahah! GUNS??? Are you for real??? More like firecrackers, and sad wet ones at that!

NickMuscles @MsDiamondPearl and urs are so much bigger

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Seeing as I'm a bloke that is highly likely, yes! ;)
 

That is when it went quiet… so I added:

MsDiamondPearl @NickMuscles Aww... are you embarrassed that you tried to pull a bloke? ;)


I know! Cheeky, but I couldn’t help myself!

Now, I had to go check to be sure, as I seemed to remember writing “Drag Diva” on my Twitter profile, and lo and behold, there it was, on my profile… “Drag Diva”!

It’s not that I’m annoyed by this kid’s “efforts”, I find it amusing in a way! but, having looked at his account, this is what he does, approaches girls asking them to Skype him… Good luck, at least he’s not running around the streets killing people!


Love, peace and biceps, Diamond! Mwah! xx

Farewell Soho! Part 1

It's official! I am no longer a Soho Queen!

(Note: this turned into a very long post and I started writing it in early July. I decided to split it up for ease of reading. Part 2 coming very soon, on this page!)

Yesterday was my last day in my little Soho Palace, all my furniture and possessions left in a van last night. Today I spent a few hours cleaning and putting out the rubbish, and then locked the door for the last time!
I should perhaps explain why I've decided to write a blog post about this! I have lived in Soho for quite a substantial time, almost 8 years. After being a Stokey "Girl" for a while I moved in with my boyfriend in Soho in 2003, and we lived together for over 5 years. On top of that I have always worked in Soho, since coming to London in 2000, and have taken a keen interest in the local life, culture and gay scene, working closely with charity organisations based in Soho.

After almost 6 years my boyfriend and I broke up. For a while I thought that this was my natural cue to leave London, and I even did, for 2 months. I went abroad, the aim was to start a new life, but no matter how I looked at it I felt like I had left my heart and soul in London, in Soho! So I came back, I found a flat in Soho and got on with it!

This is when I "found myself" so to speak. I had friends, sure, but they were mostly part of my ex's group, and I felt the need to go out and make my own social circuit so to speak! So, I bought some supplies, made an outfit, and ventured to Trannyshack! Having heard and read about the club, and having done drag in the past (link) it was something I was keen on doing again and getting back into.
Going alone to a place like this can be daunting, and I was a little tense as I walked in, but the crowd were very welcoming and I had a blast! The first time there, and I met some very interesting people and formed some great connections, and I wanted more!

My sewing machine became busier than ever, knocking up little numbers as often as I had time to sit down! Next, I went to an event at G-A-Y at Astoria, and bumped into my old friend Cookie Monstar, who at the time didn't know I had gotten into doing drag! Cookie and I go way back, but she had spent some time away from London so we had lost touch. Now back together we started hanging out a lot, and as Cookie is a brilliant and very busy performer I started coming to most of her shows. She did a regular Sunday spot at Molly Moggs in Soho, hosted by the magnificent Dame Julie Paid, and after a while the three of us got together and created the West End Girls. For our first production we took on a mini version of Priscilla the musical, a 45minute extravaganza with more than 10 costume changes, complete with a 10foot glittery stiletto! We performed our show at various locations around Soho with great success.


Click image to watch video on YouTube!

By this time, I had moved into my new flat, literally on the doorstep of Trannyshack! I set up my sewing machine and got busy, making costumes for the shows. My little one bed soon became more reminiscent of the wardrobe department of a theatre, with dresses, boas, wigs, handbags and shoes!

(To be continued!)

Wooden Fascination!

Last weekend I went to Made In Clerkenwell, a kind of open-day at two studio collectives in Clerkenwell where resident artists and designers were exhibiting and selling their products. Dominated as it was by jewellery of all kinds, with a sprinkling of baskets, garments, prints and photography, one artist stood out from the crowd. By miles!


Emma Yeo makes fascinators, and while you might be right in saying she is not alone in that craft (I myself have at least 3 friends with that skill) there is a nice twist to her work, if you pardon the pun!

Emmas fascinators are wooden! No, I don't mean as in boring, they are litterally made from wood! She works in the thinnest sheets of exotic wood I've ever seen, some coated in a resin, making them extremely soft and plyable. She then laser cuts the sheets into exquisitly delicate patterns of swirls and twists, some bent into wing like shapes, others layered to resemble flowers you might find on a desert. Her forms are backed in suede or the sweetest Liberty style printed fabrics, some are large enough to please Lady Gaga, others are a brilliant final touch to an evening outfit teamed with tan or brown leather accessories!
All of them beautiful and intriguing.

At her stall, Emma displayed some of the wooden wonders in white frames on the wall, perfectly illustrating how perfectly well they could work as art when not worn!
Well worth a look so visit her website andsee for yourself! I bet you'll be as amazed as I was, even if you wouldn't wear one you will surely appreciate the complexity of the design.



www.emmayeo.com

Note: this is my first blog post from the Pen Your Blog app, will add some images when at my laptop!Love as always, Diamond x

Two Queens, a biker jacket and a pair of peep toe stilettoes.

This is a true story, whether or not you choose to believe it, however, I am not saying that this is the actual reason for the outcome described at the end... (No peeping! Sorry, bad joke!)

Some time late last summer, or was it fall, I went out with some friends on a friday evening to go to a club we all like to hang out at, for no other reason than it being local to all of us. It was a slightly nippy evening, and I had decided to wear my vintage black biker leather jacket, you know, the type James Dean was often pictured in, with red satin lining and silver metal zips on every pocket and down the front.

The zip pull had long broken off, and I had replaced it with a charm from a broken necklace, a small skull charm, fitting the Biker Rock Chic look. Anyway, as you can imagine, the temperature is slightly different in a busy-ish club, and I soon got too hot to wear my jacket. And so it was that I took it off and here is where the story starts.

There was a small seating area next to where we were standing so I left my jacket there, thinking it would be safe as there were only us and another group of people standing here. We were chatting and having a few drinks, dancing on the spot and generally having a good time, when my friend says:

"Isn't that guy wearing your jacket?"

I looked behind me, and lo and behold, one of the guys from the group next to us is most certainly wearing my Biker Rock Chic pride, all while doing a camp little shimmy! I stared in disbelief, and I guess it was noticeable as one of his friends pointed at me as if to say "You've been busted!"

The guy turns around, looks at me and says, stupidly:

"Oh, is this your biker jacket? Hmm... not very trendy is it?"

I stared incredulously and replied:

"Indeed it is mine, and I suggest you wear it no more!"

To which he replies, by means of turning to his friend:

"It isn't trendy though, but maybe you could make it trendy! How about sending THIS down the runway next season? Hahaha!"


That's when I realised that one of his friends was Alexander McQueen... Now, I have seen him around in London before, but he's not really that noticeable and I don't mean that nastily, he just isn't.. so I hadn't noticed! Well, needless to say I got my James Dean garment back and refrained from further comments and unnecessary bitchiness and left them to drunkenly design the next McQueen collection based on borrowed items from nightclub punters..

Fastforward to last week, my friend Louise had bought her weekly Grazia and we were looking through it to see what celeb has done what to whom, when I came over this picture:


ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Skull zip front ankle boots £595.

All I can say is I am now waiting for the Forgotten Umbrella dress in the spring/summer 2010 collection, as I can't find my umbrella...

Faceless on Facebook?

Yes, of course I am on Facebook! (link to the right)

And yes, of course I am there for the attention, aren't we all?
But I have one or two small problems with FB, and that is the sheer amount of faceless nameless people (men) who think that just because they like my picture, I should add them as a friend!
Masses of requests flood my inbox every week, from anonymous guys with mainly drags and transsexuals/transvestites as "friends", often their profiles will have a picture of a car or a cartoon where their mugshot should be. Most of them are "straight" and "looking for women", yet 94% of their friend list is made up of drags and trannies...

It's not that I don't understand the attention and appreciate the awkward "compliments", don't get me wrong..
But, while I have taken the time and effort to upload several albums with pics of myself on my FACEbook profile, including a profile picture (without a doubt this is what attracted them in the first place?) these guys seem to think that just because they like my pics, I should be "hot for them"? I should appreciate their anonymity?

It's surprising how many faceless, anonymous, brainless "gods gifts to women" there are on Facebook, and most of them clearly can't read.. I don't just automatically accept friendship requests from every Tom, Dick and Harry who contact me. As a matter of fact I now have to keep the FB chat function permanently offline to avoid all the questions about when and where we can meet and how good I am at oral!

Here's what I've started replying to "certain" Facebookers who want to add me as their "friend":

Dear "Nameless"
Thanks for your friend request.
I get tonnes of similar requests every week, from faceless profiles of boys/men with mainly drags and ts/tv's as "friends", and I have decided that I will not accept these requests until there is an actual picture on their profile, preferably several of the same face.

I have taken the time and effort to upload many of pics of myself on my FACEbook profile, including a profile picture, and without a doubt this is the main reason you contacted me in the first place?

So I urge you to grow a pair of balls ;) and place your mugshot on your profile! Otherwise I will not add you, and I will recommend that my friends remove you from their lists too!

Kind regards Diamond x

So, you can say that I get what I deserve, I have put myself out there in public view and should be happy about the attention? Well, unlike many other people on FB, I am not semi-naked in my pics, they don't suggest I am looking for sex (at least I hope they don't!)
My question is, just because I am a man in a wig and dress, should I expect anything less than you or anyone else? Would you be happy to log on to FB and have 4 guys open chat windows asking if you take it up the ***? No, I didn't think so!

Well, then why should I?

Peace & Love, Diamond xxx