Bad clothes, but a good cause

I have seen bad fashion before, but never as much as I did Sunday night in the Willkie auditorium.

“A Time for Change,” a charity drag show raising money and awareness for AIDS, easily displayed every fashion “don’t” within a two-hour period.

Sure, it was all in good fun, and drag shows are meant to be excessive. But I think my gag reflex got a little too much exercise.

The first outfit was a black and white cocktail-inspired dress with a pattern that looked like a bad paint job.

To make matters worse, every time the model raised her arms, it looked as if she was going to take flight. The dress was sleeveless, but it was paired with a shawl of the same fabric. This gave it a kimono-sleeve look.

The boxiness of the dress and the overwhelming print was completely wrong for her body type. It actually made her look stumpy, because the dress overtook her figure.

Her look was accented with black, patent leather heels, hoop earrings and lacey gloves. And with her red hair towering about a foot high, nothing about this ensemble could save her.

Good thing her lip-sync to Jordan Sparks’ “Tattoo” was so entertaining.

Another outfit that made an impact was completely silver. My first reaction was, “Did someone just puke glitter?”

It was another short dress, but there was so much draping and layering, it is hard to know exactly what to call it.

Although there was no need for extra drama, the dress was also constructed with poofy sleeves and a rhinestone fringe.

Everything screamed Tina Turner, even the hair – or maybe it was more of a “Lion King” vibe.

I did, however, like the dash of blue on her chest. She was in much need of some color to override all that silver glitz.

The final outfit that really caught my eye included fishnets, leather and shine.
But the focal point was definitely her bra top.

The bra was decked out with rhinestones on one side and was completely black on the other. This created a stark contrast. From a distance, it looked like she had one headlight out.

All of this was paired with a long, black skirt and a circular, rhinestone belt.

I learned that there can never be too much glitter at a drag show.

As the night progressed, sequins, tacky jewelry and spandex jumpsuits stole the rest of the show.

If I had to describe my first drag show experience in one word, I would probably choose “interesting.” It was definitely not like anything I have ever experienced.

My best advice is to never get your fashion tips from a drag show. Instead, go for the entertainment, not the garments.

Although the clothing was awful, the message was awesome. All the participants should be proud after raising more than $320 for Positive Link at Bloomington Hospital and showing it’s OK to be different.