Amidst vibrant foliage and dolled-up attendees, Cal Poly Drag Club members vogued their way down a makeshift runway.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, Cal Poly Drag, FITS (Fashion, Innovation, Trendsetting and Styling) and the Sustainable Fashion Club (SFC) hosted a High Tea Valentines Drag show at the Plant Conservatory. The event included a valentine-making station sponsored by Cal Poly Letters of Love as well as a photo booth, tooth gems and a bring-your-own mug tea station.
Inspired by “Pride and Prejudice,” garden parties and British rom-coms, guests were encouraged to arrive in their best lace and pastels.
Queens Skinny Mocha, Winnie Heartwood, the Great Mancar and Mercy Killing were among the Drag Club members strutting down the runway.
Drag Club President Skinny Mocha, also known as graduate student Vinny Tores, started doing drag in 2019 as a freshman and used the Cal Poly drag community as a place to explore and experiment.
“It’s really just about building community and creating those safe spaces where people can feel seen,” Tores said. “[They] get to be themselves, they get to be more authentic than they feel like they can sometimes and I think that’s beautiful because they get to do it around people who are doing exactly that same thing.”
General engineering freshman Layla Wolfe said this is their second time attending a drag event and they appreciate the culture of dressing up and playing into eccentricities.
“It’s one of my favorite things. [At] their events I always feel so much love… I love everybody’s outfits,” Wolfe said. “I love talking to new people. I’m just so into it the whole time.”
In their first collaboration, the Drag Club and FITS focused on building a space for the queer fashion community. FITS event planners Celeste Gutierrez and Sasha Hopewell said this event was intended to be a fundraiser for the annual FITS x SFC fashion show which showcases student apparel designs.
Hopewell and Gutierrez said that they wanted the event to exude the energy of a “little girl’s tea party” or “your childhood fantasy come to life.” Despite the tricky logistics, they worked to gather decorative supplies, time out the queens’ performances and have enough kettles for the tea station.
They expressed their pride in planning such an event to unite several clubs and engage this community to provide a space where everyone could have fun and be themselves.
“It felt so fun because everyone felt comfortable,” Hopewell and Gutierrez said. “Especially during midterm season when everyone was really stressed, it’s nice to just enjoy a cup of tea, dress up and watch an amazing drag show.”
To become involved with future events, follow at @fitsatslo, @cpdragclub, and @cpsustainablefashion on Instagram.
