At its heart, fashion is a wild and imaginative adventure, one where trends and hemlines are a superfluous seasonal whim. The true beauty of fashion lies in the fantastical, that which is made without boundaries.

Put simply, fashion becomes truly transformative when it becomes couture, when a garment is handmade over countless hours and contains an inscrutable eye for detail. Throw in a drag queen and you have Drag Couture… a recent fashion competition held at The Court Hotel in conjunction with OUTinPerth and the Perth Fashion Festival.

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The night yielded three hopefuls, but among them shone the outfit worn by Fanta-Sea, designed by 22 year old Carol Alty. And in the true spirit of couture, Alty’s winning outfit was painstakingly made from literally hundreds of guinea fowl feathers.

‘The inspiration behind the outfit was actually the wine brand The Growers whose logo / branding on the bottles of wine is a picture of a Guinea Fowl,’ explained Alty to OUTinPerth. ‘The Growers arranged the feathers to be collected for me from around the vineyards and I received weekly deliveries to my office for about 3 months.’

From there, Alty constructed it using a black fabric base, reinforced with corset boning, on to which she then laboriously applied the guinea fowl feathers. It had made one previous appearance at The Boobalicious Ball, a fundraiser held for the Breast Cancer Foundation of WA.

So where does Alty’s passion for fashion come from? ‘Since I was little my mum Helen taught me all that stuff – she’s very creative and talented. I think it’s genetic.

‘I’m always meddling in some project, mending someone’s garments, making patterns out of butcher’s paper last minute! I would love to pursue a career in fashion, though it’s such a high internationally cut throat industry!’

When Alty heard about the Drag Couture Competition at The Court, she knew her guinea fowl outfit would be perfect. ‘Drag, to me, is all about feathers, fun and frivolity!

‘Couture? Couture to me means fashion without commercial restrictions,’ Alty continued. ‘When I hear the word couture I think “extravagant art”. It truly is fashion at its very best! Couture – creative, inspiring and entertaining!’

And entertaining it was. But of course, Alty couldn’t have pulled off her coup if it hadn’t been for the aid of Fanta-Sea. The leggy mohawked bundle of sass strode out in a white fur-trimmed robe before slipping out of it to reveal Alty’s corset.

‘I was told about Fanta-Sea by several people who spoke very highly,’ Alty said of her partner in crime. ‘Great to work with, looks great and he’s one of the most relaxed, organized and carefree people when it comes down to entertaining! Gem!’

Scott-Patrick Mitchell

Finding out about Fanta-Sea…

What does couture mean to you? Couture means totally out there and different. Through my eyes, it means one of a kind and extravagant.

Describe your drag style…. I would describe my drag style as old school drag with the over sized and over the top make up but still has that trashy yet classy vibe to all outfits

What’s you secret to looking fabulous? My secret to looking fabulous is drink lots of water and eat the dust out of your vaccum cleaner