This was my excuse to get out of PE in highschool too.

It’s the hometown runway featuring 2 cats, a bear and some fake cheese! It’s truly the Drag Race experience.

A Well Rooted Queen

The runway prompt this week was basically for the queens to do the hometown look that’s become the go-to runway for the first episode of Drag Race UK, so I apologise right now if something goes over my head, all I have are the dodgy English subtitles WOW gives me and a Google search, which thankfully saved me from mixing up Chalupas and Chulapos.

Pupi Poisson

So this is the first of the Chulapos inspired outfits, Chulapos being a word that was originally used to describe the lower-classes of some of Madrid’s neighbourhood. Pupi’s outfit draws heavily from the dresses worn during the celebration of San Isidro Labrador (Isidore The Laborer). It’s absolutely the best Pupi has looked, it fits her phenomenally and can we just appreciate the strawberry tree wig and the naff little stuffed bear that symbolises Madrid’s coat of arms?

I just love that it’s so clearly a bear from a gift shop amongst the impressiveness of the outfit.

Inti

Inti’s look was drawing from their Bolivian heritage and was a nod to the costumes worn during the Diablada – a traditional Bolivian dance. Right from the jump it had SO MUCH impact

It’s frustrating because I’m with Inti on this one, had she worn an equally elaborate outfit under the cape, it would have lessened the impact of it and I think the stark simplicity of the shift dress with the emblazoned sun has a very Saint-like feel to it that contrasts nicely with the cape featuring more demonic imagery. The shoes are maybe a little too incongruous and something a little strappy might have worked better.
What’s most infuriating is that Inti is a really chilled person and their presence on the runway is very mellow and yet they look like they could stomp it like a supermodel being paid £50,000 just to wake up in the morning and I can see why they’d feel annoyed that for three weeks now they’ve worn great outfits and the judges haven’t responded very well. I still remain obsessed, go follow them on Instagram at I_Am_Inti, they truly deserved better and I’m glad they realised that too.

Arantxa Castilla la Mancha

This was a masterclass in presentation because neither of her two outfits are very good, although I cackled joyfully as she came out dressed in nothing but a Manchego cheese label and then revealed to what I can only describe as Strip-a-gram Vera Lynn as Peter Pan

it is bananas and yet, delightfully charming.

Hugáceo Crujiente

Hugáceo’s look was inspired by the Fallas that are burnt during the Falles festival in Valencia – they’re like bigger, more aesthetically pleasing version of the British Guys and are burnt in remembrance of Saint Joseph, the Patron Saint of Carpenters – apparently in 2005 they burnt one that looked like Shrek. I think this is where Hugáceo’s outfit falls a little short (not that I think she should have dress up as giant burning Shrek… although…) I don’t know what she’s meant to *be* – is it a flower? Is it The Demogorgon? We’ll never know. But I did like the use of the non-binary flag colours and the sort of airbrushed way they’re applied. And to cap it off there’s a hint of fire

Hugáceo is pretty much ruling these runways, give her the crown.

Dovima Nurmi

I want to love this look more than I actually do – it’s very Zendaya dressing up as Joan of Arc for the 2018 Catholic art themed Met Gala but it’s just a little disjointed – the gown just doesn’t blend in particularly well with the San Jordi (Saint George) inspired armoured arm and the Galiano inspired makeup, while great, doesn’t really feel like it belongs with this outfit. She got really bogged down in the fact the rest of the outfit was already drawing from about three separate Galliano runways so she just thought she’d throw in another one.
But hey, she wore this in the challenge and it might be my favourite look of hers

she looks like she’s about to take a role in the musical SIX. It was generally a very Renaissance episode for Dovima.

Carmen Farala

Believe it or not, this is not the only look on the runway that involved someone dressing up as a cat. Specifically, she is dressed as an Iberian Lynx as a nod to both her hometown of Seville in the South of Spain and the fact they scattered her father’s ashes in the Doñana National Park which is one of the lynx’s last refuges. I’d have maybe liked to see her do something a little more interesting with the hair, the rest of the outfit is so full on CATS that the hair doesn’t feel like it really fits in. The general CATSiness of the outfit does bring about the unfortunate similarity to Veronica Green as Evita von Fleas

There’s worse ways to look.

Sagittaria

She’s done it! She’s worn mostly clothes! She said her aim was to make Crema Catalana look like high fashion and I think she’s more than pulled it off. For those unfamiliar with Spanish desserts, Crema Catalana is basically Crème Brûlée but instead of cream they use milk and cornflour. Finally, those MasterChef recaps I write paid off!
My only real qualm with the outfit is the shoes, I think something to pick up the glittered edges of the dripping effect on the outfit would have just put it all over the edge, but also props to her for potentially only bringing one pair of plexiglass pleasers and painting the platform between runways.

Killer Queen

Meet the lovechild of Pupi Poisson’s Chulapos and Carmen’s Iberian lynx! If you’re wondering why she’s dressed as a cat, it’s because apparently Madrid natives are sometimes called Gatos and I think it’s a very successful blend of that and the traditional male counterpart to Pupi’s traditional dress with the grey waistcoat and the carnations and the outfit was so cute, she didn’t *really* need to tack on a rainbow to the back

but also, seeing as Killer Queens entire schtick is about inclusivity and pride, I can’t really tell her she shouldn’t have because it’s what makes it a Killer Queen look. I also appreciate the fact she has taught me how to say “Who cares?” in Spanish. ¿A quién le importa?

A Drag Roots Runway Ranking

1. Sag-EAT-aria.
2. Inti, The Low Energy Devil.
3. The Deconstructed Demogorgon.
4. Pupi’s Gift Shop Teddy Bear.
5. Killer Queen’s Everything Madrid Stew.
6. Carmen Farala in CATS 2: Feline Boogaloo.
7. Dovima’s Medieval Galliano Melange.
8. Arantxa Just Being Arantxa.