The Tamesis
On Monday night, the 2026 Met Gala will be an unforgettable high fashion event. All eyes will be on the custom designs on the red carpet, but even more attention will be on corpse Wear them. After all, this year’s event celebrates the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new spring Costume Institute exhibition “The Art of Costume,” which emphasizes “the centrality of the clothed body.”
While we can expect all celebrity looks to subtly explore the relationship between clothing and the inner human form, quite simply, no group serves the body (or illusion One of them) than a drag queen. So, what better time than now to look back at how it all started?
Over the years, drag queens—whether they be fashion queens, comedy queens, or even quirky queens—have perfected the art of leaning forward. In their own way, these drag queens echo some of the themes expressed in this year’s Met exhibition, such as the padded leggings designed by Harry Pontefract of the British brand Ponte, the body reshaped through corsets and bustles in the Abstract Body section, or the garments designed to subvert the body’s “normal” curves in the Regenerative Body section.
Through revolutionary padding technology, drag queens have found ingenious ways to create their signature silhouettes, using padding to convey the type of female curves they want to project to the world, creating the woman they want to be. “When I started adjusting my body proportions, it unleashed an external reaction,” says top designer Jimbo. drag queen show and all star Alumni. “Your body is your visual fingerprint: When I put on padding and feel myself, I take up more space — which feels good and sexy to me.”
