“DragCon fashion has been out of this f-cking world,” Drag queen Misty Venn said, wearing an outfit made entirely of cotton balls. “If you want to see high couture this is the place to be.”

The second annual RuPaul’s DragCon NYC took place at the Javits Center last weekend. Fans dressed to impress the queens of the popular show RuPaul’s Drag Race, 54 of which were in attendance. The show, which just wrapped its 10th season, has a cult following — and many die hard fans came to the event. Rupaul’s DragCon takes that ethos to the next level by inviting fans to meet the iconic cast members, listen to panels, shop the show’s merchandise and mingle with each other.

“I love to see people expressing themselves however they want,” said Erin Peden, who attended the event.

Looking around, I was surrounded by creativity — a dress made of metro cards and a person with balloons attached to their hair. Peden was dressed entirely in checkerboard, all the way up to her eyeshadow. One of her friends came dressed as Katya, a queen from season seven of Drag Race who was also in attendance at the event.

While I was talking to another dedicated fan, Danielle Hearne, attendees and photographers stood nearby, snapping photos of her outfit. Hearne was wearing an almost exact replica of season 10 queen Giovanni “Aquaria” Palandrani’s winning look. “I like it because people actually come up to me and talk to me,” Hearne said. “So it’s like an easy way to make friends.”

In the first challenge of season 10, the queens had to create garments from things that could be found at a variety store. Kiera Vallone came to DragCon in a handmade recreation of Vanessa “Miss Vanjie” Mateo’s outfit from that challenge, made out of fake flowers and plastic dolls.

“I always made stuff from the dollar store,” She said. “So when I saw Vanjie’s look this season, I loved it. I knew I had to make it.”  

Dollar store inspired looks turned out to be a popular theme at the convention.

“I’m here to represent Monet X Change with my soak and go wig,” said another attendee Jess Mueller, who wore an outfit made partially of sponge pieces. The look reflected Kevin “Monet X Change” Bertin’s season 10 dollar store look.

The environment at DragCon was one of fun and acceptance. Queens, fans and exhibitors alike gave out compliments, took pictures and found inspiration. As drag culture moves quickly into the mainstream, DragCon will only get bigger and the outfits wilder.

Email Tess Tamar at [email protected].