RuPaul’s Drag Race has become a cultural staple since premiering back in 2009, but some things have definitely shifted over the years — including how much money the contestants are spending on their looks to stay in the game.
Mistress Isabelle Brooks recently admitted that she doled out a jaw-dropping $100,000 on her outfits, accessories, and everything she needed to glam up throughout the fifteenth season of the show, with $40,000 of that going just towards her look in the finale.
“And I’m not rich rich,” she said, chatting with fellow Drag Race alum Nina Bo’nina Brown. “Y’all love to say that all the girls are rich, we’re not fucking rich.”
Nina asked for clarification as to whether Mistress was referring to that being the cost for her “whole package,” at which point she dropped the even higher numbers.
“Just for the finale alone, I spent $40,000. When I went to actually drag race my season, I spent $60,000. So that means I invested $100,000 in this year,” she explained. “I had to scramble and scrape corners.”
Conversations have already been happening in recent years regarding the exponentially increasing amounts of money that contestants are spending to impress the audience and the judges. Whereas queens used to spend a few hundred dollars and stick to the DIY roots of drag, that no longer seems to feel like a viable option to competitors, who see RuPaul’s Drag Race as an opportunity to invest in their futures — although doing so is a gamble that has even seen some queens taking out loans.
Fans have discussed ideas among themselves as to how to even the playing field, including limiting the amount of money contestants can spend. But even that has its drawbacks.
“The problem with this is that it still favors queens who have budget,” one redditor claimed. “Queens that have worked with designers before will get discounts or maybe some outfits for free/basically no cost compared to what they’re worth.”
But despite fan concern over how much contestants have been spending on looks the last several years, for the time being, the ladies seem to be in a difficult position when it comes to deciding if staying competitive on that level is worth the financial cost. So the least we can do is appreciate these pricy looks -- which, in Mistress's case, means all $100,000 worth:
Category is: The Ruveal
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RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
Category is: The Promo
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Category is: Entrance Look
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Category is: Who Is She?
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Category is: Metallica
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Category is: Beautiful Nightmare
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Category is: Tie Die For
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Category is: Puffer Please
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Category is: Lip Sync Assassin
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Category is: Start Your Engines
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Category is: The Ball Ball
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Category is: Night of 1000 Beyoncés
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Category is: Rip Her To Shreds
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Category is: Everybody say Glove
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Category is: Family Resemblance
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Category is: Video Vixen
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Category is: Final Four Eleganza
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Category is: Reunion
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Category is: Finale Photoshoot
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RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
Category is: Finale Red Carpet
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Category is: Finale Viewing Party
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