So those, honey. Those gowns slay the house down boots. Houston, I’m deceased.

Hi, I’m Laura Camerlengo, and I’m curator of “Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style.”

And I’m D’Arcy Drollinger, San Francisco and the world’s first drag laureate.

D’Arcy, I’m so excited that you’re here in “Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style.”

Thank you so much. I’m so happy to be here, and I can’t wait to talk about all of this. So are you ready to spill the tea?

I am ready to spill the tea. 

Let’s do it.

So as we go through the exhibition, we not only have sections that are thematic, the little black dress as a fashion staple. 

Which everyone should have one in their closet.

Do you know Gabrielle Chanel liked to say she invented it, but that’s not true.

So you’re calling her a liar? 

I didn’t say that, D’Arcy. 

OK.

We also have a section called “After the Ball,” celebrating evening wear worn to many events in San Francisco.

Were the size of models different in those days? 

Their bodies were all different. Our team here worked to customize each mannequin to fit the dress. Do you know that when we move “Venus” and “Junon” into place, it takes about four people to move the mannequins?

Four people to move a mannequin? I mean, that must cost you an arm and a leg. Nothing? [laughter] 

And then we have another important section, called “Well-Suited,” which is about how the suit, which was an emblem of male authority for centuries, becomes an element of women’s dress as women go into the workforce.

It’s interesting too because, being in the drag world and really looking at the lineage of the drag kings, where you saw Marlene Dietrich wear the tuxedo. I mean there was times where women would be arrested if they were wearing a men’s suit.

Exactly. 

And then to have it change so quickly, where then that would be acceptable into the office space.

I’ve had to create a whole new part of my closet for suits now that I’m the drag laureate. So I do understand the need for suits. And it suits me well.

Are you ready for a riveting round of a “Vogue Vocab”? In this game, you’ll quiz me on fashion terms and I’ll see if you speak drag. 

Let’s do it. 

You get it, Vogue and vogue? You see what we did there? All right, let’s do it. 

Panniers

Oh, is that like bread in Italian?

Yes, the understructures used to achieve width at the sides of a woman’s gown, exaggerating the hips. The term itself comes from the term for breadbasket in French.

Is that a win?

You’re getting a point. 

Is that a win?

You’re getting a win.

Yes, I get the win. 

Yes! All right. Here’s another one: painted for the gods.

Like, your face is right?

Yes, makeup is done flawless. Hunty, she was painted for the gods tonight. And hun, you’re painted. You’re painted for the gods.

Thank you. Tuck.

[Laughs] Oh, tuck. Well, I mean, I’m sure that you can tuck lots of things in building gowns.

And related to fashion, see, it’s all connected: a means of controlling fullness in garments by folding the fabric and sewing a row of stitching parallel to the fold.

Chicken cutlets.

Oh, inserts. 

Now, good. You’re good. Have you ever thought of becoming a drag performer?

Is an invitation? 

Yeah, it is.

Well, do you think it was a tie? What do you think? I don’t know. 

I think we both earned champagne. 

We both did earn champagne!

So I’m curious. I mean, as the curator for fashion here at the de Young, what made you want to do that? What made you fall in love with fashion?

So I grew up in New York City. My parents are first and second generation Americans. And so for me, it was seeing them get dressed and the care they took in their clothes.

And it being very much connected to this idea of being American. I remember watching my mother put makeup on every day. She always looked so immaculate. That was probably what got me started just in what was around me.

I mean, I would also say it was family. My grandmother was pretty eccentric. She always had her hair done till the day she died. And she would put on her red tight dress with the monkey fur trim and perform for us.

And then later, moving to New York City, the only people I knew were Zaldy and Mathu, who basically created RuPaul and were designers, makeup artists, and Danilo Dixon, who did hair.

And between the three of them, they took me to so many fashion shows, and that opened up a whole new idea of what fashion was.

They say everything is drag. You can also say everything is fashion because as soon as you’re putting something on your body, you are creating a look.

Because how you look changes the way the world sees you, and it in turn changes the way you walk through the world.

Well, on that note, D’Arcy, thank you again for joining us today. We’re so happy to have you here to celebrate your achievements, to celebrate the exhibition. 

It was my pleasure. It was so fun to get to see everything and learn new terms, like “panniers.” I learned that today. But seriously, this is beautiful. Everyone has gotta come see this show!

Thank you.

Thank you.