RPDR S3E10: Three Times a Lady

WERQ 3X.

Alexis is very polished in her looks and she can pull it out when she needs to on the performing front. It's why she's made it this far. But we tend to think her drag aesthetic is a bit standard and a bit dated. She doesn't really bring anything new. Even Carmen, for all her faults, had a better drag style.

How she thought she could pass off this En Vogue stage costume as a '40s look is beyond us.



And she also doesn't seem to know how to dress her body to its best effect. This was horribly unflattering to her. Not to mention tacky, and not in a good way.





But credit where it's due, this is a pretty good look. Her best this week and one of her best overall, we'd say.



This is insanely fabulous. Manila's the only one giving Raja a run for her money on the style and creativity front. Love the little chandelier and the cameo belt. Our one quibble is that she's really pushing the limits of what could be considered a period look. We're surprised the judges didn't call her on it.



This isn't red carpet. This is drag ball. Disappointing.





But she sure rebounded with this look, which was a total "Oh. My. GOD!" moment when she walked out. We LOVE this look. Of the remaining queens, Manila's the leader in doing these witty, campy looks. Raja's all magazine-cover style, but Manila makes us smile because when she comes out like this, we're reminded that she's doing a wonderful job of upholding and updating some of drag's oldest traditions. Never underestimate the value of well-deployed camp in this competition.



We gasped when she walked out like this. It takes a confident drag queen to do such a minimal look and she more than pulled it off. A fantastic, stylish, fun choice. A different kind of drag queen attempting to do a '60s look might have come out with a 4 foot beehive and all kinds of crazy exaggerations, and that's fine. As we said, camp and exaggeration are hallmarks of drag. But to do something so literal and pull it off with great style - THAT'S what sets Raja apart, in our eyes.



And we get it. We get why Raja has her detractors. It comes down to what you think drag should be, ultimately. If Raja isn't doing the style of drag that appeals to you, there's nothing we can say that would convince you to like what she's doing. All we can say is, WE like what she does very much, and it's clear the judges do too.

This was another bold choice, because you have to stop and consider for a second whether this makes sense for a red carpet look. Ultimately, it does: if you're thinking rock and roll chick at the MTV Awards rather than Anne Hathaway at the Oscars. We love it, and once again, it's the chicness and originality of it that wins us over.




But we're not gonna fall all over this look. It was fine, but in some ways it was surprisingly standard. Manila's fantasy look had it all over this one. We don't know what to think of that tulle issue. Raja didn't seem to even consider there WAS an issue and the judges never said anything, nor did Shangela herself. If it was "cheating," wouldn't the accusation have gone somewhere?

As for who's coming back next week, your guess is as good as ours. Yes, there's a screencap of the preview floating around that may give it away, but we're reserving judgment on that one. All we know is, it'll be bullshit if Shangela gets a THIRD chance at the prize money. Every other queen who ever competed on this show got ONE chance. Anyone but Shangela. It surprises us, but we keep thinking Delta deserves to come back.

[Screencaps: tomandlorenzo.com]

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Labels: RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3, RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Episode 10, Television