Every month when we put together these Painted For Filth lists, the queens’ makeup seems to get even more fierce! June was filled with some amazing up-close makeup portraits of some of your favorite queens, featuring a fabulous selection from around the world.

Take a look at the 20 looks below and leave a comment to let us know which look is your personal favorite.

Did we miss a sickening drag queen look? Tag @dragaholic or use the hashtag #dragaholic (new way!) on your best drag photos on Instagram for a chance to be featured next month.

Related: Painted For Filth: The 20 Fiercest Drag Queen Looks Of May

20. RafaElla Pop

19. Mr. Raw

18. Nina Flowers

17. Milk

16. J

15. Cheddar Gorgeous

14. Miss Fame

13. Sam

12. Thorgy Thor

11. Mrs. Raw

10. Laganja Estranja

9. Raven Cortez

8. Sharon Needles

7. Violet Chachki

6. Naomi Smalls

5. Vegane

4. Trixie Mattel

3. Laila McQueen

2. Aja

1. Raven

Related: Painted For Filth: The 20 Fiercest Drag Queen Looks Of May

Bonus: Phi Phi O’Hara’s Fiercest #365DaysOfDrag Look

This week the gays geared up for the Looking movie premiere tomorrow night, Ted Cruz finally self-destructed, and the country started falling apart before our eyes. So take a deep breath (the DNC is next week!) and let it out with a double-tap spree on Instagram.

Nyle DiMarco came out as a Hillary fan.

America’s Got Talent darling Brian Justin Crum came out as a Pokemon Go fan.

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan‘s bulge got people talking.

Team USA was is bae.

Jake Shears showed off his ‘stache. And his stash.

Joe Jonas flashed some abs.

Isaiah Hamilton took his pants off for Vulkan magazine—

—and it was very, very nice.

Colton Haynes showed off his gains. Is he single?

Model/photographer Walter Savage was giving me that Real Housewives of New York City episode where Kelly Bensimon photographed Alex McCord on the beach.

Lee Daniels opened up.

London illustrator Lukee Thornhill shouted out London Fetish Week.

Steve Grand channeled Marilyn Monroe.

Instagram forced Ashley Parker Angel to cover up his crotch.

Mr. World 2016 crowned its first Indian winner, hot actor Rohit Khandelwal.

Russell Tovey piqued our interest.

Thai model Chal Harn had pizza in bed.

Model Andrew Adorno dubbed himself “the first gay male model for Haribo.”

Austin Armacost did some thinking in the buff.

And best of all — Sharon Needles pulled off an impressive Reba.

Dallas Coulter & Adore Delano

When it comes to drag queen fashion, no designer is more in demand that San Francisco’s Dallas Coulter. From Bianca Del Rio and Kim Chi to Michelle Visage and Peaches Christ, Dallas has become the go-to-gal for many of the world’s most well-known queens (yes – Michelle Visage is a queen, too, honey).

As swamped with new design projects as she is, Dallas took the time to talk with Queerty writer Tim Winfred about her love of fashion and how she became the designer every drag queen is dying to work with.

1. What sparked your interest in fashion?

Dallas Coulter & Kim Chi

It goes back to before I can even remember. My grandmother says that when I was little I would ask her to get out the sewing machine instead of the toys. As a club kid in my teen years, there was nowhere to find fun clothes (I’m old, we didn’t have the internet), so I learned to make my own. My love of Thierry Mugler was what inspired me to make it my career.

2. Who was the first drag queen you designed an outfit for?

The first queen I ever designed for was Heather Skye. I was terrified of her but asked if I could make her a gown anyway. It was purple sequined and she performed Annie Lennox’s “No More ‘I Love You’s'” in it. She was and will always be one of my biggest inspirations. Second to that was Pandora Boxx. We lived together for awhile so we’d work on costumes together for her and her dancers.

3. What drag outfits have been your favorite to design?

I have so many I love that it’s hard to narrow it down to a few. One of my favorite people to work with is Raja. She had this jacket in mind and a tapestry that had been hanging on the wall in her apartment. I put my own spin on it and this is what came out:

Raja

Willam is another one of my favorite people to collaborate with. She’s really a genius when it comes to style so we tend to make some pretty amazing things together. One of those was a chola gown for her music video Es Una Pasiva:

Willam (Es Una Pasiva)

Every few months I do some of the costumes for Peaches Christ‘s theater shows here in San Francisco. There are a few from those projects that stand out in my mind, such as Bianca Del Rio as Baby Jane, Jinkx Monsoon as Sarah Sanderson in Hocus Pocus, and Sharon Needles, Alaska Thunderfuck, Honey Mahogany, and Peaches Christ in The Craft:

Bianca Del Rio (What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?)

Jinkx Monsoon, Peaches Christ, BenDeLaCreme (Hocus Pocus)

Sharon Needles, Peaches Christ, Alaska Thunderfuck, Honey Mahogany (The Craft)

4. What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned working as a drag queen fashion designer?

There are so many aspects to working for drag queens that don’t apply to “regular” fashion design. I’m working for men in dresses. There’s an art to making the male form look feminine. No dress form will work for this and there’s a LOT of math involved. Another big thing is knowing each and every client’s body including their tricks to get it that way. For example, if a queen wears padding, chances are you need to cover pantyhose lines. Every queen is married to a certain bra and you need to make sure the shape of that is covered. You also need to know how they perform. If a queen is known to do death drops but asks for a gown…chances are she’s gonna do one in that gown at some point so I need to prepare any garment I make for what that queen might do in it.

Longevity is also a major factor. I have to make sure everything I make can withstand being shoved in a suitcase, snagged on the edge of a stage, etc. I could go on and on with this one.

5. What advice would you give to young designers?

Don’t limit yourself. Learn as much as you can at every opportunity. Take on every job as a challenge to try something new. We are all still learning, no matter how experienced we are. Communication is the most important thing to focus on in the business aspect of it. If you aren’t sure you can hit a deadline… do not agree to it. You can be the most amazing designer on the planet but if you let your customers down, you not only completely ruin your client’s plans but also make yourself look unprofessional.

Check out some of our favorite outfits created by Dallas Coulter Designs below, and be sure to follow Dallas on Instagram to see what other gorgeous designs she brings to life.

Never count a drag queen down.

With all of California under lockdown–like most of the country–the Producer Entertainment Group has announced a partnership with the webcasting site Stageit to bring some of drag’s biggest name to the web for a digital drag festival.

Alaska Thunderf*ck, Divina De Campo, Ginger Minj, Jackie Beat, Jiggly Caliente, Jinkx Monsoon, Jujubee, Manila Luzon, Miz Cracker, Monét X Change, Nina West, Peppermint, Sharon Needles, Sherry Vine, and Trinity The Tuck will all take part in a series of weeklong drag concerts aimed to keep people entertained during the coronavirus pandemic. Each queen will present a 30-minute, one time only concert with performances ranging from lipsyncing to comedy to cooking to dance. Viewers will even have the opportunity to tip their favorite performers.

Related: Sherry Pie plus 5 more outrageous off-screen scandals involving “Drag Race” stars

Former reigning Next Drag Superstar Sharon Needles sure had a blast on the plane ride from New York to Vienna for Life Ball, the world’s most opulent AIDS Fundraiser, but once she landed things went horribly awry and her invitation to perform at the event was rescinded.

Needles was on the plane with dozens of performers, press, DJs, and other celebrities (Carmen Electra! Adam Lambert! Greg Louganis! Barbara Eden!) for the enormous annual party in Austria’s capital. The flight there is boozy and fun with everyone living it up in the aisles and Needles indulged in plenty of free drinks (and plenty of pulls off her electronic cigarette). At one point she was spotted chugging beers and then spitting the beer onto the door of one of the plane’s restrooms. When the flight landed there was a red carpet right on the runway. Needles was one of the first off the plane and made a comment in front of the journalists and cameras that she was happy to be in Vienna, the birthplace of Adolf Hitler.

Apparently Life Ball founder Gary Keszler was in earshot and did not appreciate the joke. Needles was asked not to perform at the giant Arabian Nights-themed party on Saturday, May 25 and was missing from all the official events for the rest of the weekend. New York club legend Susanne Bartsch said that Needles was scheduled to perform in her room at the Ball (which also featured Joey Arias and other RuPaul’s Drag Race alums DWV singing “That Boy Is a Bottom”) but that her performance was cancelled after the joke.

We learned that Needles was immediately sent back to the States, and while on the flight back to New York on Sunday morning she was wearing a suit and on her best behavior. When nearing New York Needles said, “They can appropriate Middle Eastern costumes for their party, but I get banned for giving them a history lesson? This is my country where I can say whatever I want.”

Well, Sharon you can say whatever you want in Austria too, but that doesn’t mean they should still invite you to the party.

— Sharon Needles addressing her unceremonious exit from Austria via NewNowNext. 

In an interview on the once-popular podcast ‘Hey Qween!’, Alaska Thunderfuck made a few comments about how her relationship with Sharon Needles ended like Tina Turner’s relationship ended with Ike Turner.

She stated:

“It was the night of, like, you know in the Angela Bassett as Tina Turner movie? Where she’s like bloody and beaten and she goes to the hotel and she says, “My name is Tina Turner. And I don’t have any money right now but please give me a hotel.” I sort of had a night like that where we were so drunk and we got in a physical fight. And that was the night I moved out. I went to a hotel and I said, “My name is Tina Turner.” I moved out and I stopped drinking that night. I was like we can’t do this to each other. It needs to be – we need to be separate from each other so we can survive. Cause it wasn’t good. We were fighting. So, that was it. I had a Tina Turner night.“

Alaska Thunderfuck talks about her relationship with Sharon Needles ending on ‘Hey Qween!’

But in a Feast of Fun podcast, Alaska clarifies her comments, saying that she wants everyone to know that she didn’t mean it to come across that Sharon Needles “beat the shit out of her”.

Related:

Mr Leather Europe: ‘I was in a physically abusive relationship for five years’

“My confidence was at an all-time low,” King says. “I secretly fantasized about the day I would be free of him.”

Here’s a breakdown of the convo:

Hosts: Dominic Patasa says, “This is somewhat personal, hope you don’t mind. You said in a recent interview that you moved out of your house with Sharon, and stopped drinking, when you got into a physical altercation with her. What was that night like for you emotions wise? Did you feel relief or failure? So proud of all the decisions you’ve been making. Lots of love.”

Alaska: Well, after I – I taped that show with Jonny and it was fabulous. I love ‘Hey Qween!’ and Jonny McGovern is like really an inspiration to me. But afterwards I was like, ‘I hope I didn’t make it sound like Sharon beat the shit out of me because that’s not what happened.’

Hosts: Because you fought back?

Alaska: We got – yeah – we got in a fight together, it got physical, but it wasn’t an abuse thing. It was two men who had had way too much to drink and so we got in a fight. I’m glad that you asked so that I can clear that up.

Hosts: So who won the fight? (laughs)

Alaska: Nobody wins a fight like that. Nobody wins.

So where are they now? Well…that’s another story.

While her drag persona soared to fame after winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 4, her off-screen reputation took a major hit. In a December 2021 investigation, the Daily Beast dropped bombshells about allegations against Needles. The claims? Grooming and abuse of a then-15-year-old fan named Annecy (they/them pronouns).

Annecy’s heartbreaking stories revealed alleged manipulation, self-harm encouragement, and even supplying drugs by Needles. The exposé also unveiled other alarming allegations, like fellow contestant Dida Ritz’s accusations of racial slurs behind the scenes. So, what’s the real story behind the spotlight? The drama’s fierce, and the jury’s out – let’s hear your thoughts!

Get your daily dose of drag queen drama – subscribe to the Queerty newsletter to get the tea served piping hot!

Related:

Alaska prepares to slay The Go-Gos–and audiences–on stage in ‘Head Over Heels’

“Forget everything you thought you knew about traditional theatre.”

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and there’s no better way to celebrate the season than with a gay ‘ol time, whether songs, stories, complemented by a drink or five. Whether you’re on the West Coast, the East Coast or in Eastern Europe, there are Christmas cabarets and concerts galore.

Rufus and Martha Wainwright’s Noel Nights
Sunday, December 16 at Town Hall
The Wainwright siblings are bringing their holiday tradition back to New York after a four-year hiatus, with performances by friends and family including Emmylou Harris, Loudon Wainwright III, Sufjan Stevens, Joan As Policewoman and others. This year’s concert benefits the soon-to-be-launched Stand Up to Cancer Kate McGarrigle Fund, with will provide music therapy resources to cancer patients in honor of the Wainwrights’ late mother.

Gay Men’s Choral Concerts
Pretty much every major city has one, and this time of year pretty much every Gay Men’s Chorus in the country turns out in their festive finest for a rousing holiday concert. This weekend alone, Boston’s Gay Men’s Chorus presents “Brass & Bows & Boys” at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus offers up “Comfort and Joy” at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Over on the west coast, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus invites guest star Marnie Breckenridge “Home for the Holidays” for three shows on Christmas Eve at the Castro Theatre. And if you happen to be in Olde London Towne for the yuletide season, you can catch the London Gay Men’s Chorus’s “Oom-Pah-Pah!” December 20–22 at The Grand, St. John’s Hill.

Christmas Queens
Looking even further afield, Drag Race alums Asia O’Hara, Blair St. Clair, Eureka O’Hara, Kameron Michaels, Manila Luzon and Sharon Needles are will be tucking their chestnuts rather than roasting them as they tour Europe with their glitzy and highly irreverent Christmas show. Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen hosts this revue featuring performances from the annual Christmas Queens compilation albums. The tour returns to the US, closing out the holidays with a December 27 show at Boston’s Royale.

Ruben and Clay’s Christmas Show
This time of year, Midtown Manhattan hosts a truly unbelievable influx of out-of-towners, but no two guests this year are probably quite as unexpected as these two. OG American Idol alums Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken have teamed up for an evening of holiday sketches and classic carols on Broadway. This is the show your Midwestern aunt will be thrilled to see between a cozy pre-theater dinner at the Times Square Red Lobster and cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery.

Holiday Drag at the Laurie Beechman Theater
Further west, the Off-Off-Broadway cabaret theater beneath the West Bank Café hosts a line-up of seasonally sensational drag shows. Drag Race alum Alaska blasts off for an intergalactic “Christmas in Space” alongside her psychic sidekick Handsome Jeremy, through December 19. Next up, Jackie Cox presents the latest installment in her annual “Winter Wish” shows. She’s taking a magic carpet ride to the snowy north alongside “Twink on the Brink” Christopher Sanders, with cameos from Vicky Boofant and Jackie’s handsome harem boys.

Joe’s Pub’s Holiday Lineup
New York’s downtown alt-cabaret scene gets all holly and jolly as well at this iconic East Village venue. Drag king comedian Murray Hill hosts his annual variety show, “A Murray Little Christmas” (Dec. 20–22) with special guest Bridget Everett. The festivities continue with the dazzling Mx Justin Vivian Bond shining a light on the darkest, coldest time of the year. It’s a wintry mix of comedy and song in “Justin Vivian Bond is Refrigerated,” through December 22. The festivities continue into the New Year as the legendary Sandra Bernhard serves up “Quick Sand,” her latest New Year’s extravaganza. (Dec. 26–31).

Countess Luann and Her Holiday Cabaret Show
Spend Christmas with the Countess. Real Housewife Luann de Lesseps puts a holiday spin on her “Countess and Friends” act this season, courtesy of cabaret wunderkind Ben Rimalower and Grammy-winning musical director Billy Stritch. The Countess shares hilarious holiday stories and spills the eggnog about life in the spotlight. Sure, money can’t buy you class, but can certainly buy a lot of stocking stuffers!