Today, I'm going to be designing
and creating a fantasy hairpiece
for drag star Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor.
Once it's completed, I'm going to deliver it
to her for a photo shoot.
In my wigs, nothing is off limits.
I've used chicken wire, Mod Podge,
Gorilla Glue, floor shellac.
I did one for RuPaul probably about a foot tall.
First, we're going to start off
attaching the frontal to the cap,
which is lace from ear to ear.
And now we're going to stitch it down.
We're going to remove the excess lace
because we want to make sure
this lays clean around her ears,
and stitch in the hair for the back.
I'm doing a loop stitch.
So we're going to remove some of this hair.
Growing up, it wasn't really looked at as a legit career,
I would say, in my family.
I remember the quote "Boys don't do hair."
I feel like in my parents' eyes,
they wanted like, this athlete,
something like that kind of stature, and it just wasn't me.
You know, my mom was like, "If you're gay,
you get AIDS and you go to hell."
That's just the misconception
that I think a lot of people had back then.
So I felt like I kind of had to compensate
by doing extra-masculine things like military high school,
going into the military,
that would show my parents
that gay doesn't really have a face.
All right, don't judge the process.
I like steaming my wig in the pot
because I want to make sure
that each curl gets penetrated evenly with the steam.
After my obligation with the Army,
I just didn't feel fulfilled.
I felt like I was doing what my parents wanted.
I decided to follow my passion.
I enrolled in a cosmetology school,
but it didn't seem promising to my parents.
So they weren't very supportive of it
because they didn't look at that as a legit career
or something you can retire from or make a good living from.
And now we're going to attach the hair for the rest of it.
Gelling this into a nice, smooth ponytail,
all slick and sprayed.
So right now I'm just zip-tie-securing this ponytail.
All of this is extra. So we're just going to remove this.
And now we're going to go attach our money gun.
Soldering iron to remove the handle.
I felt that I had to not just be
your behind-the-chair stylist,
but I had to like, take it to the next level.
Some type of world-renowned,
like even if you don't know who I am, you've seen my work.
That's what I like about fantasy hair,
is it's kind of like no rules,
and there's no like, right and wrongs.
As long as it works, that's all that matters.
A little Gorilla Glue to adhere my cotton.
And I'm going to secure it all in place now
with a layer of felt.
Fantasy hair would be something
that you would never wear for an everyday event.
It's just a work of art that's actually on someone's head.
It doesn't even have to be super crazy
because everybody's fantasies are different.
A straight, jet-black wig.
And to you and me, that might be basic,
but that could be someone's fantasy.
I didn't quite figure out what I was going to do
until last night.
I mean, I had a concept, but I'm like, how do I pull it off, though?
I was on the phone with my mom, and a commercial came on TV
that I had done the hair for.
Got her to change it to the channel.
I think that was kind of an eye-opening moment for her.
I think she realized this was my passion.
To be where I'm at now and have my parents' full support
and all of that is amazing.
I'm going to start adding the decor
and hiding our electrical cord.
We have some gold bows, diamonds,
gold trimming, pearl accents,
and then of course, $100 bills.
Time to deliver this piece to Trinity for her photo shoot.
Oh my goodness. Edward, this is amazing.
Edward: Thank you, thank you.
I love it. It really looks like real money.
Edward: So this wig is giving us
a very like, Marie Antoinette, kind of Elizabethan mix.
Ever since I can remember,
I've always been fascinated by hair.
I was obsessed with a mop.
All the strands being the same level.
Well, when this mop is turned upside down, it gets layers,
and it's not straight across anymore.
So I played around with it and pretended it was hair.