Being a drag queen!

...or getting ready to go out in drag.

While I don't consider myself a professional at anything drag or beauty related, I'd like to think that with my years of experience I might be able to help or give advice to anyone who has questions about do's and don't s in the world of drag or dressing as a woman.

With this in mind, I posted on Twitter recently to see if anyone had any questions they wanted to ask, about anything drag related, and I was thrilled with the fast response I got!

So, I spent some time talking to my drag queen friends and wrote their and my own answers, and while writing I discovered that it wouldn't all fit in a simple post.To be able to respond I created a separate page where I'm going to try and answer any questions I've received, and would like to welcome further questions on Twitter or by email! This page will be ever evolving and expanding, so this is only the start!

Click here to go to the page and see answers to questions such as how to deal with wearing a wig and full makeup in wind and rain or how to cope with alcohol when in drag! Hope you enjoy!

Also, as you for some reason can't have a comment box on a separate page, please feel free to leave comments below this post!

Love peace and push up bras, Diamond! xxx

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

Nail varnish: Shimmering Anthracite

Recently I went shopping with my best friend Cookie, I was looking for matte black nail varnish, suitable for every day wear, as well as a few other trinkets but couldn’t find any! Eventually we ended up in the huge Boots at Piccadilly Circus, and I caved in and picked up a grey one from 17 called Smoke Signal. The same brand also did a black so I picked that, and a gorgeous peacock blue too! I’m going to write a separate post about that!

I was ready to pay for my new items when cookie found a crackle glaze in gold which I swapped for the black, and I will blog about that later!

Anyway, the 17 Smoke Signal looks ok on it’s own, probably not a colour I would wear as it is, but I tested it with the crackle glaze and it looked cool!

Grey on its own on pinky, ring finger has one coat of glitter.

Today however, I dug out a 2True Glossywear glitter varnish Shade 2 from my kit and after 2 coats of Smoke Signal I added a coat of glitter. On it’s own the glitter is iridescent clear with a hint of blue, but with the charcoal grey 17, it turned into the most gorgeous graphite anthracite colour! The camera won’t quite capture the colour but have a look!

There’s almost a lilac/mauve look to the glitter which can be seen in some of the pictures! I’m not a huge fan of lilac, but with the grey it looks stunning! I’d definitely try this combination again, for sure!

Kylie on a cupcake!

There's a place where you can get a little piece of heaven... with Kylie on top!



Cox Cookies & Cake (yes that is their name) had a special on Kylie cupcakes this weekend, in honour of the pint sized pop princess' shows at the O2 arena (last show tonight by the way!

The only bakery I've ever heard of opened by a shoe designer, Patrick Cox, had sparkling cupcakes adorned with images of Kylie, as well as some topped with glittering pink "K"s, and the shop playing only Kylie tracks.



Attention to detail is key, and the staff wear studded black leather aprons and black jeans, and the walls and floors are glossy black, shelves trimmed in bright neon strips! This is not your typical bakery, but more like a cake covered disco! Lush!

Should you find yourselves in Soho, make your way to Brewer street to sample the delights! Should the Kylie promotion be over, worry not, as their regular range is deliciously naughty, featuring black and red skulls made from icing, fizz whizz cola cakes and bling cakes with sugar diamonds. There is also an XXX rated range with boobs and bodies and biceps!

Cakes have never been naughtierwww.coxcookiesandcake.com

Rage against the machines!

Those of you who have experienced the London bus service might know about the ticket situation, but for those who don't, here's a short introduction:

Unless you have an Oyster card, to ride a bus within central London, you will need to buy a £2.20 ticket at the stop, from a little red machine. This machine will sell you a ticket for one journey only, it used to sell day travel passes, but I don't think they do anymore. Paying your fare on the bus is not an option within central London, but as soon as you are outside an invisible border of sorts, this suddenly becomes possible! Strange but true!

The other monday I was going home with my boyfriend, and I didn't have my oyster card on me so I tried to buy a ticket at the stop, but the machine wasn't co-operating.
Now, on the Saturday before I went to his place from the same bus stop and the machine didn't work then, but this time it did react to pressing the button by displaying how much to insert so I thought it had been fixed. But this was not the case! Somehow I ended up somehow putting abt £4.50 in the machine but it wasn't providing a ticket... and that's when the bus arrived!

So we got on the bus, my boyfriend had his Oyster card, and I told the driver the machine wasn't giving tickets even though it had taken more than the fare money, but he wasn't having it and said I had to buy a ticket at some other stop in the area. I repeated that I had used enough money for 2 fares and told him I wasn't going anywhere, and he claimed that since I couldn't prove this, I couldn't ride.

At this point, enough was enough, and we informed him that the defect ticket machine was not our problem and that I had paid and we were going to sit down... to which the driver reacted by shouting after me that he wasn't going anywhere till I had a valid ticket! And then he promptly stopped the bus!
So I got up, went up to himand asked him if he seriously wasn't going to drive the bus anywhere... to which he replied yes, so... I called the police!

Now this never happens when it's something serious, but as luck would have it there were 3 police men on the opposite side of the street and they came over. I calmly explained the situation and told them the outcome and the attitude that the driver had presented us with, even added that if there was a ticket control and I had no ticket I would be to blame and would have to defend myself. and they agreed with me and said he was being unreasonable, and even vouched for me! One officer quoted his badge number and told the driver to contact him if there was any further issues.

Begrudgingly the driver had to start the engine and keep moving "not to further clog up traffic" as the police officers said.

I'm not normally one to cause a commotion, but I know when I'm right and I won't stand down. TfL has set up this system which fails on a very regular basis, and buses are extremely infrequent in Central London. Personally I feel that if their system fails it is not the customers problem. If you have to buy a ticket at the stop in Central London the machines should be checked and serviced at least every day if not even several times a day. And, as a customer services person myself I find the attitude shown by not only this driver but several drivers on TfL buses shocking.

From that day I will stand up to any TfL bus driver who does not meet my expectations. TfL say they will not tolerate abuse towards their staff, so why should we, the paying customers tolerate it from them?

Feel free to share your experiences with bus drivers and the like with others here.

Love peace and justice, Diamond xxx

New Mini-series on YouTube: "Bearded Beauty!"

Hey kids,

so it would seem I am back with a vengeance... having not only posted 2 videos in as many days, but also have a couple more in the making! Yay! I'm so thrilled to be back, even if some of my YouTube subscribers might have forgotten about me or given up on me! LOL!

Yes, I cam up with the idea of doing a little mini-series, as I have a beard between each time I do Diamond, I thought I could incorporate this in my videos! Hence the "Bearded Beauty" series, and first out in this series is Tutankhamun, King of Egypt! Well, that was my inspiration anyway, take it as you like!

I looked up all kinds of images of King Tut, and obviously all you can find are pics of his sarcophagus so I took my inspiration from that. The eyebrows and eye liner is quite significant and defines the look, and I used mainly gold and orange and red with it on the eyes, all from my 88 palette! I used black eye liner and gold eye shadow on my lips, and a dark shimmery (cheap) bronzer from Superdrug on my face.

And then... I photoshopped the images to death! Haha!

There's barely a cm2 of skin in these images that hasn't been shopped, and that is what I wanted! This series is really less about the make up and more about the imagery! So please do not ask me how I got my skin to look like that! LOL!

Oh, and I am wearing the same wig as I did for my Tribal video, and a home made head dress in the style quite often pictured on King Tut!

See, I think it's quite likely that Tut had a beard at some point in his short life, and his sarcophagus shows him wearing some kind of beard wrap... so not so unlikely, this one! Just wait till the next one, much more unlikely!

Thanks for taking time to read, if you wanna see the video, it is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIQeFp7pcpw

Untill next time, beijinhos lovelies!