Queenterview: Iris Spectre

Executive Director of PhillyGayCalendar


[Photo by Jenn Witek]


There are a shit ton of queens floating around the city, and I'll get around to chatting with all of them eventually.  This week we're chatting with a girl close to my heart.  She is (was?) my drag mom!  I originally planned to co-interview Iris and Zsa Zsa together, but neither of them could condense their stories into a "read on a lunch break" length article, so now they each get their own… 

Tell me your story. 

Well I moved back into the Philadelphia area in 2013 after going through trouble with college and family issues. Once I came back, I was finally 21 years old and could go to voyeur to see the dollhouse show. In the meantime I had already started my dry career in New York and wanted to continue to perform in Philly. I sent a Facebook message out to Mimi Imfurst asking her if I could do a number at the next dollhouse show and she kindly allowed me to. The second I walked into the room with all of the big names of Philly I got instantly nervous and anxious, but by the end of the night I knew that all of these people were kind souls they were going to be friends of mine for a very long time. After my first performance she asked me to be a regular part of the cast with Navaya, Lady Poison, and Maria Topcat. And the rest is history!

Then tell me the story of how you met Zsa Zsa. 

I met Zsa Zsa when she subbed in for a girl at one of the last dollhouse shows. She was always so kind but most importantly she always brought her own wine with her wherever she went. When we finally encountered each other on the Drag Wars stage I had to lip sync for my life against her. Though I was upset I had to lose I was happy I lost to Zsa Zsa because she was SO incredibly talented and sweet. She ended up winning and I helped her with her finale outfits. After that we stayed in touch and hung out whenever we could.

Then tell me where your passion for hand crafting your costumes come from.

My passion for creating costumes comes from my background in cosplay. When I was in seventh or eighth grade I was obsessed with Anime and decided to start making weapons of my own based off of characters I had seen. Once I got to high school I dove a little deeper into my artistic pool and that led me to fashion design. I ended up getting into Parsons, the New School for Design, studying fashion design specifically and from there I integrated my own personal drag with things from my past and all of the new tricks I was learning from my degree. Drag became more of a goal and something to achieve than just a hobby. I wanted to be the best at whatever I was going to be and that just happened to be Iris. Once I knew I had a little bit of experience in the field I decided to experiment with foam and get back in touch with my cosplay roots.

It's so rewarding to take something that doesn't exist from your head put it on two-dimensional forms of art and then turn it into a three-dimensional form of art that you can live your life in and perform in. The passion comes from an ever expanding form of art that transcends.

Then tell me where (if anywhere) you see your dragdom in 3 years. 

In three years, I see myself working hard to retain my vision. Doing drag and also having a brand that represents me and my aesthetic. I want to be traveling with my drag and participating in as much as I can within the next three years. Whether or not that includes Drag Race is up for grabs but it's not a priority.

I'd list all of the gigs Iris has coming up, but we all know the one I'm most excited for is happening this Friday … Franky's Foxes at Franky Bradleys! 

See events featuring Iris Spectre HERE.  And that gorgeous photo up there? Taken by  Jenn Witek of WERRRK.com

 

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