Close encounters
"Alien street walker" was the inspiration as Jackson Powell and Sean Marburger—known on the city's drag circuit as Mizz Chelsla Green and Trisha Bass—headed out to Queen!, a weekly party at Smart Bar welcoming "kings, queens, and everything in between." "The idea was," Powell said, "an alien lands in Chicago and tries to fit into society."
"You'd think a queer bar in Wrigleyville would be a bore, but the staff and hosts make this the event of the week," Marburger said. Powell agreed: "I've never once felt judged or unwanted there. It's a safe space to let your creative freedom shine and sparkle."
While the Macy's beauty advisers fully embrace their "boy selves," they've learned a lot from their alter egos. "Chelsla has definitely challenged me to take a step out of the box and show my true colors, because people respond better to that rather than to a person you're pretending to be," Powell said. "Drag has changed my life for the better. I feel more comfortable in my own skin. I have also found a ton of people that I consider family. These people are the most supportive individuals. Because I started drag I started having confidence to wear pink as a boy, or to pop a lip color on and not care what others think. Drag has made me view fashion as a genderless item, a visual representation of who we are and what we like."
Originally published in the Chicago Reader.
