Last week on RuPaul’s Drag Race, we (finally, but sadly) said goodbye to our Mackie Doll, Kahmora Hall.
For this week’s mini challenge, the queens need to shake, rattle, and roll in quick drag for “Baby Got Back.” This mini challenge was definitely a little interesting — seeing these queens dressed up as babies was something I could have gone without seeing. LaLa Ri is declared the winner of this week’s mini challenge.
For this week’s maxi challenge, the queens need to bring three looks to the runway: Mixed Bag, a punny look that includes the word “bag” in its description, Money Bags, a boss bitch look that says, “I own everything,” and a look made entirely out of bags (grocery bags, garbage bags, duffel bags, etc).
Rosé, who calls Kandy, Symone and LaLa Ri the “bald brigade,” mentions those three don’t know how to sew, so the chances of them doing well this week aren’t very high. Kandy is thinking of creating a “hoe-y” first day of college look with backpacks, while Utica is being a total sweetheart helping LaLa Ri thread her sewing machine. Symone seems very lost, and it’s clear her lack of sewing knowledge is impacting her confidence. LaLa Ri instead takes the hot glue route, and starts hot gluing mini party favour bags onto a bodysuit. However, things start to go south when she realizes there aren’t enough bags to cover her entire body.
RuPaul visits the queens in the werkroom to get an idea of who knows what they’re doing, and who doesn’t. Kandy promises the judges they won’t see any undergarments this time around, and RuPaul tells Symone not to listen to his inner saboteur despite not being able to sew. Gottmik mentions he went to FIDM before Drag Race, but hasn’t practiced his sewing skills in quite some time since. Utica makes costumes professionally for aerialists and fire dancers, so things are looking high (ha — get it?). Joey and LaLa Ri seem hopeful, but not confident — aka they aren’t confident at all, so we’ll have to see how it goes for them.
Before leaving the werkroom, RuPaul lets the queens know they have to accessorize their looks with a COACH Create tabby bag — OKAY, BUDGET!
On elimination day, Gottmik is feeling confident he’s going to win, but Kandy is questioning Joey’s taste level due to his costume being a bit of a mess. The queens also have an emotional talk about the Black Lives Matter protests, which is extremely moving. LaLa Ri gets emotional in his confessional, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hurting for him.
On the main stage, RuPaul is joined by judges Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, and this week’s extra-special guest judge (again!) Nicole Byer.
For Mixed Bags, Denali is dressed as a crash test dummy, Joey is wearing a rhinestoned bodysuit with poison ivy leaves while carrying an IV bag, LaLa Ri is wearing a black bodycon dress with various human bones (obviously fake) attached to it, Elliott is a bright blue gift bag, Tamisha is giving us grandma (literally, she made herself look like an old lady) chic in a white pant suit, Symone is wearing a velvet, sparkly bodycon dress with balloons as breasts which she pops with a needle right before she exits, Olivia is dressed as a wrestler, which looks similar to Symone’s “Lamé, You Stay” runway, Gottmik went gruesome with a human body parts bodysuit and body bag, Rosé is paying homage to her Scottish heritage with a kilt dress and bag pipes on the back, Tina is a paper bag from the liquor store, Kandy is giving us latex realness while carrying a “magic bag,” which she pulls a baseball bat out of, and Utica is giving us poodle realness.
For Money Bags, Denali is giving us a Cruella de Vil as an Editor-in-Chief of a fashion magazine fantasy look, Joey is giving us an Annie Lenox moment in a red blazer with black latex pants, Elliott is wearing a red monochrome over structured blazer with a pencil skirt, Tamisha looks classy and as if she’s on her way to fire someone, Symone looks like a “futuristic rich lady” in a pink pantsuit, Olivia is wearing a blue pantsuit with a cape, Gottmik has a pinstriped suit with one (sparkly) bra cup exposed, Rosé is serving 80s business chic in reference to the 1988 movie Big Business, Tina is giving us a complete houndstooth fantasy, Kandy has a wig made out of dollar bills with a hoe-y pink two-piece, and Utica is giving us executive realness in a black, fitted suit and oversized jewelry.
For 100% Bag Drag, Denali is giving us a fashionable twist on a traditional Mexican garment made out of floral-print purses, Joey is mixing Madonna, Lady Gaga and Minnie Mouse made from white-polka dot canvas bags, black net bags, and black sequin bags, LaLa Ri, on the other hand, has an extremely messy and practically falling apart bodysuit constructed with mini party favour bags, Elliott made a pink cow-print two-piece and overcoat out of a bean bag, Tamisha is wearing an interesting (and not in a good way) sparkly dress, Symone is wearing a vintage-inspired red and white two-piece with an extra-long pony tail, Olivia is wearing a green, gladiator two-piece crafted from holographic bags, Gottmik went with a futuristic look made from backpack straps and silver drawstring bags, Rosé is spinning down the runway in another futuristic, femme fatale robot look, Tina is wearing red yet again (I’m over it, Tina!), made from a bean bag, Kandy has a tube top and mini skirt made from JanSport backpacks, and Utica totally gagged the judges with a campy look made entirely from sleeping bags.
This was my reaction after seeing some of these “100% Bag Drag” looks (I’m looking at you, LaLa Ri):
The queens that are declared safe this week are Denali Foxx, Elliott with 2 Ts, Symone, Olivia Lux, Tina Burner, and Kandy Muse. While the safe queens exit the stage to untuck, the judges critique the top and bottom queens: Joey Jay, Tamisha Iman, Gottmik, Rosé, and Utica Queen.
Joey’s “Mixed Bags” look confused the judges because she made an accidental 2-in-1 pun, while Michelle noted she’s definitely seen worse for her “100% Bag Drag” look. The judges enjoyed LaLa Ri’s “Money Bags” look, but they clocked her for her disastrous “100% Bag Drag” look. Tamisha’s “Money Bags” look was too ‘real life’ and not theatrical enough, and her “100% Bag Drag” had a few elements that the judges could have done without. Michelle also made a comment that she needs to improve on blending her makeup and suggested she speak to some of the other queens who are extremely talented with makeup (cough cough, Gottmik). Speaking of Gottmik, her fashion school education clearly worked in her favour, because she was praised for all three of her runway looks. Rosé also received positive critiques with few minor suggestions, and Utica received extremely positive critiques left and right — I’m going to assume Utica will likely be snatching the win this week!
While the top and bottom queens exit the stage to untuck, the judges deliberate to decide the winner and bottom two of the week. After deliberations, the rankings this week are as follows:
Gottmik – WINNER
Utica Queen – HIGH (clearly my assumption was wrong).
Rosé – SAFE
Tamisha Iman – LOW
Joey Jay – BOTTOM TWO
LaLa Ri – BOTTOM TWO
Joey and LaLa Ri face off in a lip sync for your life to “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX. Both queens are definitely serving it, and it could likely go either way. However, the judges and queens (and me, too!) are absolutely living for LaLa Ri’s interpretation of the song.
LaLa Ri is declared the winner of this week’s lip sync, which means we are unfortunately saying goodbye to our queen Joey Jay. We’ll miss you, Joey!
What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below!
Ta-ta for now!
x
THE GAY BIBLE 