Bending Genders

by brenda walsh

Ever since Leigh Bowery left Melbourne’s depressing Western suburbs for London’s even more depressing suburbs and passed his style tips on to the influential Boy George, club kids have had to dress like undead drag queens at a Halloween party to even get noticed. For the past few years, Troy Boy West and his friends have been showing the rest of us how it’s done. We cornered Troy at the Zipper Club and asked him to give us the low down on the kids the media have touted “the trendies”. P.S. Troy’s the one with the most make up on.

Vice: Hi Troy, your outfits are always so elaborate. It must take you guys hours to get ready.

Well yeah, it takes hours and hours, but that’s the fun part. Most people have no idea how to put on make up but I did a specialised course so everyone lines up and I get them ready one by one.

And who are the clothes by?

It’s all about what we’re going to wear next party but we don’t have much money so we spend a lot of time at op shops. Oh, and my mum makes a lot of the clothes we wear too.

And after the party ends, what do you wear to work?

We don’t really work. Most of us are on the dole or getting money from our parents. It’s all about the partying. And unfortunately it’s more and more about the drugs. Recreational abusing is fine but with all the heroin that’s around in the last few years, things have really changed, you know?

Yeah, it’s pretty much a total downer. So where do you party mainly?

All over the place—Razor and Inflation, places like that—basically anywhere they play Boy George and music we can dance to. But we are careful because we get a lot of shit from gay guys, would you believe. They don’t understand anyone in between regular gay men and women. We have run-ins with the punks also who think it’s hilarious to spray us, and the goths, with water guns. When you’ve spent that long on your make up, trust me, it’s not funny.