Yahoo Lifestyle 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Arrietty Stands By Stealing Jewels Sparkles' Roast Jokes (Exclusive)
Say what you want about Arrietty as a Drag Race competitor. But there's no denying her fashion sense is exquisite. The Season 17 contestant and drag daughter of Irene Dubois may have struggled consistently in comedy challenges, but she never faltered on the runway. From easily winning the under the sea ball challenge to her four-armed cat look, Arrietty was THE queen to watch on the runway each week.
"They're all different characters," Arrietty says of her looks while chatting with Parade after her elimination in Episode 10. "They're all different versions of myself and Arrietty. Her aesthetic can go in multitudes, in different universes."
Of her array of toots and shoots, her favorites were her Monopulence look from the season's first design challenge and the lionfish look that helped secure her the win during the ball. "I felt just so beautiful and opulent in them," she says.
While the look queen found herself in the top for all three of Season 17's design challenges, she never quite found her footing in the non-fashion challenges, ending up in the bottom four times and losing the lip sync twice. She was nearly sent home in Episode 5, but was saved by the "Badonkadunk Tank" twist. This week, with only eight queens left, Arrietty stumbled at the roast and was finally sent home by Jewels Sparkles. The elimination did take on particular poignancy after Arrietty stole some of Jewels Sparkles' jokes in the roast, ensuring neither queen performed well.
After her elimination, Arrietty spilled the tea on her Drag Race run chatting about her tussle with Jewels, walking the runway for Law Roach and her thoughts on her competitors' looks.
I want to start by talking about your fashion this season because you really were the undisputed fashion queen. At the very beginning, when you got the list of runway themes, how did you approach putting together this package and figuring out what you were going to make?
Oh my god. I mean, my brain just doesn't work normally. So I got the list, and for a lot of them, I just knew exactly what to do because I'm naturally an artist. First and foremost, I'm an artist. Drag is like an art form. That is an outlet. But first of all, I love to create things. I love fashion. I love aesthetics. I love to look good, so none of it was difficult to do. It was just rummaging through my brain to see what can fit, what can I do and how can I make it look beautiful? Like there are no steps. It's just chaos.
Which one was the hardest to make?
I wouldn't say hard; I would just say time-consuming. But it was the lionfish. I had to airbrush all of it, and it was a lot.
You won the ball challenge, which was very exciting. What was going through your head? Did you think that you were going to win that based on the other queens' looks?
Of course. When I saw everyone's swimsuit, I was like, "Oh, I'm taking it." I didn't need to see the other ones, because I knew what I did and what I brought. I was like, "If they have a strong swimsuit, then hopefully they don't have a good fish." But when I saw everyone's swimsuit, I was like, "Oh, Jesus Christ, this is mine."
What did you think when you saw Law Roach sitting there as a judge?
I was like, "Perfect!" I love Law Roach. I adore him and his opinion. Not so much about the glasses because, you know what? I still stand by them. But I do understand his perspective looking at them through the screen as a viewer. I can see what he's seeing. But I still stand by them.
To be like a little bit shady, what were your thoughts on the other queens' fashion throughout the season?
Girl, we don't have to be a little shady. We could be a lot shady! Um, questionable. Um, why did you bring that? And also, did you try? I'm like, "What the f–k is this? You're on Drag Race. This is the biggest stage for drag. Girl, what are you wearing?"
Of all of the other queens, who do you think has the best fashion aside from yourself?
Lexi, hands down. She is a fashion girl. She knows references. She is more fashion girly than me because she works with designers. She knows fashion houses, fashion brands. I'm just more of like a creative entity, where I'm like, "Okay, that looks gorgeous. That is cool." Like I know some designers, but she KNOWS designers.
Who have been some of your favorite fashion girls on past seasons of Drag Race?
As far as fashion goes, I mean, Raja, of course. Love Shea Coulee. She is a multi-talented girl. I love a girl that can do a lot. Violet [Chachki]. The girls that literally eat and breathe fashion. Those are the ones. Miss Fame. I'm sorry, I cannot forget about Miss Fame, because she is my girl. I love her.
Related: Who Will Win 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 17? Ranking the Queens After Episode 10
This week was sort of tumultuous for you between stealing Jewels Sparkles' jokes and the Werk Room rights. If you could go back, would you do anything differently?
I kind of shot myself in the foot when it came to the roast, because everyone had a flash card with their jokes. For whatever reason, I was like, "Oh I got this," when damn well I know deep down I am horrible at public speaking and I freeze up. So I don't know why the f–k I did that to myself, but I did. But no, everything that happened leading up to that, like me taking Jewels' jokes, I stand by.
Did you and Jewels have a conversation about that after the season?
Yes and no. We knew what we went in there for. We knew what we were doing when it came to the show, and we knew that it's a game. So it's not surprising. We're good.
I loved watching you and Acacia Forgot's friendship on social media. When did you become friends? What's that relationship been like?
Oh my God. Acacia is my girl, hands down. It's so strange because I didn't give her a chance on the show, because I was bullying her. After the show, I don't know what happened. We just started talking to each other, and then it just immediately blossomed. We're so similar in the scariest of ways. Aall the good adjectives, all the good things I can say about her. Because she puts up with my ass, and I can put up with her, and we don't get annoyed with each other. We're literally perfect for each other.
When you were pulling the Badonkadunk Tank lever and were saved, did you think about the Season 17 thing before pulling it? Did you think it was going to be the right one?
I didn't know if it was going to be the right one. But I knew I was going to choose 1 because 17 is my favorite number. I was like, "Okay, if Hormona pulls 7, it has to be 1. What, is it f–king 37? No, it's Season 17! It doesn't make any sense for it to be anything other than the 1."
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Your Instagram has been so good throughout this season. Are you gonna keep posting the looks from the future runways on there?
Stay tuned!
Related: Law Roach Has Been Manifesting His Spot on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' for Years (Exclusive)
