I thought Workin’ It by the world’s most famous drag queen, Ru Paul, would be a style book ala Gok Wan, or written for laughs filled with innuendo. So I was surprised to find a rather sincere and spiritual collection of Ru Paul’s life philosophies…
Workin It! Ru Paul’s Guide to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Style.
I thought Workin’ It by the world’s most famous drag queen, Ru Paul, would be a style book ala Gok Wan, or written for laughs filled with innuendo.
So I was surprised to find a rather sincere and spiritual collection of Ru Paul’s life philosophies, the strongest of which is to be true to oneself whilst being kind to one another.
As Ru Paul says, there are too many bitchy drag queens.
In addition to plenty of real life examples drawing on his own journey down life’s road, Ru Paul has practical tips in sections om body, hair, make-up and wardrobe. He even gives advice on handling money, handling people, and more – don’t be late, don’t smoke – and some quite specific drag queen advice (shaving hair, applying drag wigs, arranging one’s balls in a g-string and so on.)
But regardless of how much junk one is packing this book has tips for everyone.
The pictures alone are so beautiful that my only drawback for this book is that it is a paperback and not a larger, hardcover coffee table book. Longtime collaborator make-up artist Mathu Andreson created all of the looks in the book. If only we had our own Mathu on tap at home!
Look how stunning Ru Paul is as both a man and a woman, below, and the final photo in the book wittily entitled, "The Rubamas" has Ru Paul posing as both Michelle and Barack side by side. Genius.
I came away thinking, what a great attitude, to choose joy. And Ru Paul certainly brings joy to millions and is a role model to many. Get a glimpse of the life of the style icon in this guide to life liberty and the pursuit of style and learn from the best how to get workin’ it yourself. Just go easy on the spray tan until you know what you’re doing…
By Megan Robinson, May 2010.
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