RuPaul’s Drag Race has become a cultural staple since premiering back in 2009, but some things have definitely shifted over the years — including how much money the contestants are spending on their looks to stay in the game.
Mistress Isabelle Brooks recently admitted that she doled out a jaw-dropping $100,000 on her outfits, accessories, and everything she needed to glam up throughout the fifteenth season of the show, with $40,000 of that going just towards her look in the finale.
“And I’m not rich rich,” she said, chatting with fellow Drag Race alum Nina Bo’nina Brown. “Y’all love to say that all the girls are rich, we’re not fucking rich.”
Nina asked for clarification as to whether Mistress was referring to that being the cost for her “whole package,” at which point she dropped the even higher numbers.
“Just for the finale alone, I spent $40,000. When I went to actually drag race my season, I spent $60,000. So that means I invested $100,000 in this year,” she explained. “I had to scramble and scrape corners.”
from rupaulsdragrace
Conversations have already been happening in recent years regarding the exponentially increasing amounts of money that contestants are spending to impress the audience and the judges. Whereas queens used to spend a few hundred dollars and stick to the DIY roots of drag, that no longer seems to feel like a viable option to competitors, who see RuPaul’s Drag Race as an opportunity to invest in their futures — although doing so is a gamble that has even seen some queens taking out loans.
Fans have discussed ideas among themselves as to how to even the playing field, including limiting the amount of money contestants can spend. But even that has its drawbacks.
“The problem with this is that it still favors queens who have budget,” one redditor claimed. “Queens that have worked with designers before will get discounts or maybe some outfits for free/basically no cost compared to what they’re worth.”
But despite fan concern over how much contestants have been spending on looks the last several years, for the time being, the ladies seem to be in a difficult position when it comes to deciding if staying competitive on that level is worth the financial cost. So the least we can do is appreciate these pricy looks -- which, in Mistress's case, means all $100,000 worth:
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
RuPaul's Drag Race/MTV
Chelsea Guglielmino/WireImage
Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for MTV
