Trend Watch: Bushwig Edition
What's in and what's out at the most fashionable event in the world
It’s a shame the Met Gala discourse has taken over social media to such an extent that the real fashion outing of the year is being ignored: Bushwig, a drag and music festival produced by Horrorchata and a cavalcade of Brooklyn drag icons was held this past weekend at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York. Celebrities attempting to make political statements out of priceless designer gowns ain’t shit compared to the radical glamour and DIY elegance of the festival’s most intrepid style pioneers.
Whether they’ll admit it or not, everyone in fashion knows that drag artists have always been ahead of the curve. Whatever’s trending in drag tends to make it to the red carpet between three and five years later, meaning that events like Bushwig act as an early barometer for what will be in vogue a few seasons down the line — and this year’s festivities were no exception.
Today, we’re taking a look at what’s in and what’s out at the world’s greatest celebration of drag.
OUT
Glitter Beards: The last Bushwig I attended was several years ago, which, given the global events that have unfurled since, feels like another historical epoch. At the time, I remember entering the festival to a crowd of muscle gays, tank top gays, and muscle gays in tank tops — many of whom were sporting some pasted on tinsel as a superficial nod to genderfuckery.
The thing was, this easily purchased style flourish may have winkingly pointed towards an acceptance of non-binary identity — but seemed to be coming from the kinds of dudes who were quite obviously putting “No Fats, No Femmes” in their Grindr profile. Bushwig was a costume party to them, and the glitter beard was the easiest costume they could find. Thank Divine, I saw zero glitter beards in 2021.
Motocross: In 2018, Rihanna dropped an updated Fenty x Puma line filled with skin tight bodysuits and tops inspired by motorcycle gear. The look dominated streetwear aesthetics (at least until the pandemic hit) spawning several Instagram-y brands providing their own hypersexed take on dirt bike couture (see: Namilia).
Beloved Brooklyn DJ P_A_T even threw a motocross-themed drag night in our borough shortly before the world shut down. But ATV chic was nowhere to be found at Bushwig this year, replaced instead by a more pervasive schizophrenic sense of personal style that focused on obscurity and individuality.
Live singing:While there were, of course, several musical standouts at this year’s festival, for the most part you could watch the audience tune out when a queen picked up a mic. These days, the children are trained to respond better to lip sync’s than actual singing — and some of these girls’ voices just ain’t that good. Parody songs are especially odious, and crickets could be heard in the breaths between verses. If you’re not especially musically talented, there’s nothing wrong with just serving a look and some stunts. (Or, if you’re going to sing, at least bring some back-up dancers to keep the crowd hyped.)
The Dark Room That May Or May Not Have Existed: Beyond whatever niche community controversies were generated by Bushwig, the most talked about aspect of the event was the dark room — yet not a single person I spoke with could confirm if it was, in fact, real. Rumors suggested that the official Bushwig account had announced the secret sex spot’s existence, but no one I knew could find it. Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time a drag event has had kinky aspirations with disappointing results. Perhaps drag spaces and dungeons have way less to do with each other than one might assume.
IN
Telfar: Bushwig attendees and performers’ penchant for the New York-based handbag brand was — by far! — the most easily discernible fad of the festival. The purses that launched a thousand trend pieces could be spotted on cuties of all genders — with some extra-clever shoppers even sporting the label’s limited edition designs for the Liberian Olympics team.
I won’t waste your time regurgitating the obvious fashion buzzwords in order to explain the cult appeal of these items when so many writers have gone further into depth on this than I possibly could: blah blah blah Bushwick Birkin, blah blah blah bag security — you know the drill. But Telfar’s near omnipresence at Bushwig indicates that Mr. Clemens’ hype isn’t going away any time soon. (That being said: none of the drag girlies seemed aware that The Real Housewives are all wearing the same pocketbooks that they’re hailing as subversive. When they get wind of this, will their love for the bags be diminished? Only time will tell.)
Denim: If both Azealia Banks and Kevin Aviance — two nightlife icons from different generations — are vibing in the same material, it’s an obvious sign that something’s happening in the zeitgeist. Bushwig denizens were sporting denim on garments usually made out of more lux fabrics: Banks’ mega-oversized bow, for example, or Aviance’s pointy epaulets made out of deconstructed jeans.
Trend forecasters could have easily predicted the comeback of this specific textile given its obvious appeal on Tik Tok and as a staple of early 00’s post-ironic retro fashion. But Bushwig’s spin on the trend is more deconstructive and playful than plain old patchwork pants.
Any color but black: I’m guessing it’s because we’ve all been trapped in our apartments for approx 1.5 years, but everyone I spoke with agreed that there was something particularly euphoric about being awash in a sea of bright pastels and neons — so different from the drab grays and dark metallics that make up most of New York’s scenery — a landscape we’re all sick of looking at. Explosions of bright colors were spotted on club queens and alt dolls alike, providing a hyper-color burst of sartorial serotonin.
Even Brooklyn goth icons like Shanita Bump, Martyr, and God Complex came dressed in alternate palettes, preferring (at least on Saturday) red, tan, beige, and white over the obvious, morbid choice of black, black, black, and black.
Pop punk / emo: As much as I personally hoped this trend would go away once we all awoke from our pandemic stupor, the biggest pops of Bushwig were for kings and queens either performing or DJs spinning bands like Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance, and Paramore. Alice Gas, a hyper-pop musician with Club Quarantine, was showered in approving shrieks when they hit play on a happy hardcore remix of a Green Day song (it wasn’t this track, but you get the idea). Untitled, a Bushwig OG, celebrated the event’s 10th anniversary with a lip sync of “Time Of Your Life” — which, despite the obvious corniness, brought tears to many eyes. Later in the weekend, Zoe Ziegfeld performed a strip tease to Weezer’s “Undone (The Sweater Song)” — wearing a giant crotcheted jumper, she slowly unwound the threads until she was totally naked. I guess for younger queers, the pop punk / emo movement represented the first time they saw anyone playing with gender norms in the public sphere, and their nostalgia for nasal-y sentimentalism and musical theater harmonies with a subversive twist is synonymous with the first memories of exploring their queer identities.
SOPHIE: Drag queens were already competing over who could best lip sync SOPHIE’s “It’s Okay To Cry” before the electronic music goddess passed away, and since her untimely death she’s clearly been proclaimed a Patron Saint of arty queers. T-Shirts emblazoned with her face or commemorating her career were as plentiful as tattoos of her lyrics. Every DJ slipped in at least one of her tracks. To unexpectedly lose such an iconic genius was a terrible community trauma, but we now must continue on with her legacy in mind, as the children of a post-gender world she helped to create.
Best drag/burlesque performances:
Chartruice: Entering in a slime green Marie Antoinette wig and a matching slime green Victorian ballgown, Chartruice slowly stripped to the nude and proceeded to smash a towering cake with her breasts and butt. The audience was apoplectic: the girl next to me was so moved she cried and turned to me to whisper, “That was so beautiful!”
The Illustrious Pearl: Pearl, a drag performer and renowned writer, lip synced and stripped to a cover of Bjork’s “All Is Full Of Love” while a humorous poem about a time she heard that same song playing at an orgy scrolled on the screen behind her. What started as a silly juxtaposition turned into a solemn meditation on how the only love you can ever trust is self-love.
Amanda Lepore: Perhaps the greatest nightlife legend of all time, Amanda wiggled about seductively in a white corset and gorgeous fur boa before stripping everything off to reveal The World’s Most Expensive Body. Then, delicately reaching into her nether-regions, she retrieved her lipstick and gave herself a quick, dainty touch-up.
Best musical performances: Jennifer Vanilla, Alice Gas, Senerio, Tommy Genesis, Kevin Aviance, Moon Baby
Some other looks I loved: