Lessons in confidence, humour and altruism from the popular TV show.

In the decade since its inception, RuPaul’s Drag Race has grown from a low-budget reality show into a force of nature that will be remembered years from now as one of the most influential cultural bellwethers of the 21st century. It has inspired and united young LGBTQ people while crossing over into the mainstream, and Drag Race has a litany of talented alumni to show for its legacy. Trixie Mattel, the comedian famous for her Barbie-on-ketamine aesthetic, was profiled in GQ magazine in 2017 and last week Shangela made history as the first ever drag queen on the Oscars red carpet after she played a small part in Mr Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born. Drag has never been more popular and we are currently living through its bedazzling golden age, just as RuPaul’s Drag Race returns for its 11th season.

For the uninitiated, RuPaul’s Drag Race was founded by the pioneering drag queen Mr RuPaul Charles in 2009 and is a reality TV show where female impersonators fight it out to become America’s Next Drag Superstar through a series of acting, singing, dancing and fashion challenges. It might all sound like frothy nonsense, but men faffing around in dresses and makeup actually makes for empowering, heart-warming and culturally relevant television.

But what can the average gentleman learn from drag race? As it turns out, a whole lot. But fear not, we’re not about to present a guide of how to beat your face (that’s drag slang for putting on makeup) or how to get the perfect tuck (and that means… actually, never mind). So, without further ado, here’s our very own guide to Drag Race. Gentlemen, start your engines and may the… eh, just read on.

When we think of famous wits, its men such as Messrs Oscar Wilde or Stephen Fry that come to mind. But silver-tongued though they may be, they’ve never been in a room with Bianca del Rio, a queen with a reputation for outré eyelashes, nuclear badinage and a voice like a New York taxi driver. “I’ll never be a Kardashian,” she quipped, “…because I have talent!” The lesson? Always balance out something acerbic with a dose of humour and self-deprecation.

Every episode of Drag Race ends with the two lowest-performing queens of the week fighting it out on the main stage through the medium of song. Except there’s no actual singing involved. Instead they lip-sync a song at each other until RuPaul decides which one has earned her place to stay in the competition. Miming along to Rihanna might sound easy, but until you’ve seen Alyssa Edwards death-drop her way around the main stage… Let’s just say there are dancehall titans who couldn’t bring that kind of energy to a room. Think about that the next time you’re in a particularly punishing Hiit class, then imagine doing it in heels.

Mr William Shakespeare may have said that “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” but it was RuPaul who said “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” And he’s right. Our entire lives are spent wearing clothes (be they three-piece suits, sweatpants or evening gowns) and performing personas that are largely dictated by the world around us in a Matrix-like fashion. “Drag is the antithesis of the matrix,” RuPaul told ABC News in 2016. “You know, the matrix says, ‘Pick an identity and stick with it. Because I want to sell you some beer and shampoo and I need you to stick with what you are so I’ll know how to market it to you.’ Drag is the opposite. Drag says, ‘Identity is a joke.’” Wear what you want, sure, but drag is a great reminder to consider why you wear it in the first place. And not just because it fits really well or was made in Italy, but because of hegemonic patriarchal sociological norms that have developed over thousands of years and… all of that stuff.

One of the main things each queen is judged on is their nerve and we have to admit that the level of confidence it must take to get up on stage in an insane “sequence” dress [sic – hat tip to Roxxxy Andrews] is nothing to be sniffed at. To quote the MC in Paris Is Burning, a documentary about the voguing and drag ballroom scene in the 1980s that is essential watching for fans of Drag Race: “Give the patrons and contestants [dressed in drag] a round of applause for nerve ’cause with y’all vicious motherf***ers, it do take nerve”. Bricking it about your annual review at work? Channel your inner Latrice Royale, summon some nerve and, in the words of the queen herself, make them eat it.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown of America’s Next Drag Superstar, and the final prize comes with great responsibility (if only Spider-Man had more fabulous costumes). The winners of the show are seen as ambassadors for the entire drag – and, by extension, LGBTQ – communities. Last year’s victor, the polymathic club-kid Aquaria, has challenged racism in the fandom (and spoken to Vanity Fair about her efforts), and the famously bald drag queen and 2017 winner Sasha Velour uses her platform to raise money for homeless queer youth in New York. The point to take away here is that if you’re blessed with power, do something good with that power. And remember, nobody works harder than a drag queen.

The drag queens featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown