An accessory for me is like a six foot axe hahaha,
Hi I'm Sister Sister, I'm from Liverpool and I'm a drag artiste...obviously.
This out is the latest I've been using as part of my UK Tour. I feel amazing in
this outfit. I always like to convey a story and my outfits are just an extension of that
really. I wanted to get something that would convey the childlike stories but reinterpreted
for adults and I think a lot of the work I try and make it graphic kind of just from
a distance. God that got deep real quick didnt it? I'm a huge fan of an accessory
but an accessory for me is like a six foot axe. So this outfit really came from, it's kind of
like a childs illustration come to life, for the theatre, for the stage, kind of like the devil,
which is basically what drag queens are compared to now a days. The feather boa again is just a
huge big blue (accessory), gives a bit of movement. I always talk about a nice clash,
if it doesn't make sense that's kind of where I go towards, so the uglier the better really,
but like ugly things have beauty in their own way, so my philosophy is, if I cover myself in ugly,
I may be beautiful. I always go for sort of like a nod to the past so, the jewelry on the broaches,
like you know it's straight off titanic, if you really believe it, if you really believe it.
They do say red and green should never be seen unless there's something in between.
Now this was a rogue choice of outfit for me, I remember the first I wore it, I said to the
designer 'I feel like a Disney princess' which is something that I would never have imagined
the character of Sister Sister to ever feel like ever. And then the day that I wore it,
I absolutely fell in love, I received so many compliments and I thought do you know what,
it's like being an actor, I've added a new laugh or a new line into my repertoire and
I think because a lot of my work deals with the dark side of comedy, I think it's ok to have this
presenting strong, blonde, female figure and like let's be honest I'm a drag queen, I grew up around
strong female figures, so I think accidentally you end up emanating everything you've seen.
It's a reclaiming of body issues as well, I remember one of the first I was in drag
and I was told 'You can't have your legs out because their too muscular' and I was
like 'I cycle round London what do you expect?' and a couple of weeks later,
I got my legs out and I just owned it, and do you know what I'm going to have these big,
hairy, manly legs and your going to lap it up and i'm going to wear a dress and it's going to shock
you and it might make you feel certain things but that's what we're going to do today. And these
nails are absolutely cutting of my circulation, this is the most convenient way to wear nails
without actually wearing nails, they just pop on over the fingers (whispers) don't tell anyone!
I spent 33 years of my life without tattoos and then last year I got my first one,
it was really basic. I walked into the tattoo parlour and said 'can you give me a tattoo of
my dog' and then from then, it's been about eight months, I think I've got about 30.
When I first started doing drag, I was never body confident, that's something I really had to learn,
so all of my skin has usually been covered up and then over the last year there's something about
having the tattoos that's a marriage between me out of drag and then my drag character sort
of coming together, so instead of feeling that I really have to cover every part of me up, no
there's little bits there, still peaking through and I like to think my younger queer self would
be really really proud of this presentation of where it is
that I've come so far and even my drag persona five years ago when I started,
this is not what I imagined and yet low and behold, it's just where it takes you.
So this is my out-of-drag look, I surprisingly tend to wear out of drag clothes way more than
I spend time in drag. I tend to wear a lot of colour when I'm in drag and then out of drag
I tend to wear just black, I try to keep it as easy as possible when I wake up and I can just
throw on an outfit. I thrift a lot, I go to a lot of charity shops and I find real magic in mixing
some old pieces that I know have a story behind them but I'll probably never find out what. With a
couple of designer pieces, you know just to spruce it up a little bit. I am a huge fan of headwear
and I realised the other day as I was tallying up my outfit with a friend that I usually have about
three items of clothing just on my head from the neck up at any given time, seams excessive
actually but I think it's just a comfort thing now. I was talking a little bit earlier about
mixing some of my drag and non-drag aesthetics to come together and I tend to wear a lot of my
drag jewelry when I'm out of drag as well, just because a small drag earing can actually be a
massive broach when your out of drag, so just call this the marriage of Sister Sister and uh Pip!
When I'm in drag I feel very confident...in a superhero sort of way because everything is
elevated and bigger. I think I'm a lot more private out of drag, so again either though,
you might think I'm a bit disillusioned that I'm incognito right now but I do think,
I wouldn't say understated, you just want to feel a certain way
and then I think when you hit your 30s you can have fun with it, there really is nothing else
to prove anymore other than you just want to put on an outfit that makes you feel good.
You might have noticed my little axe broach, it is part of my merchandise as well but I've
incorporated the axe into a lot of my work, I find that it's a real symbol of unanimated strength,
it's a really good antique weapon to just carry on stage and like I said before I really just like
to have these props with little or no context whatsoever and an axe has always been that for me.
The last accessory, the one that's most important to me is...Bambino.
hello...
This is Bambino, he's a year and a half Italian greyhound
absolutely angel baby from on high, funemployed, blonde hair, blue eyes, looking for love.
Come on, shall we call that a wrap, did we get it? Is that everything, come on lets go.
I'm Sister Sister, and this is what I wear