Mellinet & the art of Drag
The year 2021 brought about my Drag debut in the Ghentian queer scene. To go along with the vibrant persona I had created, an art style was developed to embody the quirky and colorful visuals of the 1980's and early nineties with it's typical airbrushed feel.
The idea started one Turkish summer, when I slipped into my twin sister’s dreaded red polo dress. She never liked it, much to my parents dismay. I tried to get her to feel comfortable wearing it by showing her how easy it was to get into. It was. It fit me beautifully. We shared our first queer moment.
Years passed, the dress ended up on a dusty clothing rack only to be found again a week before an event called Send In The Clowns in Antwerp – I got tickets, bought red panties to match and borrowed blue heels from a friend. The look was set: I was going to wear this dress and walk in these heels for the first time in my life…
My expression of queerness started to flourish in the coming months. As queer events and parties multiplied, so did my desire to wear make-up, dresses, heels and panties. I also started to experiment visually with the photos that were taken and rediscovered an art style that is reminiscent of the airbrush technique often seen in imagery of the 80's. It is a decade that resonates with me: the fashion, the music, the sense of sexual freedom, the quirkiness, and most importantly, the use of color.
It is also a time period that I often associated with my late mother, who passed away earlier that year. She was a vibrant and colorful person herself. In the last years of her life, she lost her appetite for socializing and slowly withered away in the winter, leaving us her magnificent and chic wardrobe, a collection of timeless and eclectic pieces.
I figured I could recall her Grand Days, or the person she had hoped to be as she wore these items, by wearing some of her clothes and combining it with drag. It feels perverse at times, but the timing just feels right...
