I was given this shirt for my birthday just before the gains..
Added 2025-01-08 02:01:50 +0000 UTCI was given this shirt for my birthday just before the gains started booming (maybe 2010? I'm not good at all with dates. In any sense of the word.)
The guy who gave it to me was prrrooooobably on our spectrum. He was our dresser at our weekly Wednesday drag shows, and he gave me this rather-too-small piece just after my corsets started busting.
The poor bastard had to zip me into so many different things and definitely clocked how much tighter they became every week. There was all sorts of lols Joel gave me in the ten or so seconds we had to get out and in of garments I designed and made to suck and snatch.
I learned to sew in the very first place because I knew I needed to be fatter, but I also needed costumes. Considering I was dragging long before Drag Race, we got a fee of AUD175 for a half hour show and two spot numbers and a whole bloody night of socialising.
That fee went mostly to our Post-Glamazons Maccas Run. I was known for ordering a lot, and it was always a gig for everyone (myself included) to see what I'd order, and Joel would insist I got one more burger or volume of McNuggets than the week before.
Corset bustings became more and more common. I had to upgrade from locally sourced zippers to the famously butch YKK zippers which at that stage were only available from overseas. I had to start making secret waist cinchers to hold the mounting fat in underneath. Flowy chiffon costumes and spandex became the norm. They were more stressed every week as they struggled to hold onto the curves.
First it was exciting to feel my expanding blubber flow over the top of the corsets and wobble whilst I danced. Feeling the power of my billowing bulk unable to be contained by my costumes. It became addictive as I racked up the kilos and the gains came faster. The jabs from my co-star on the microphone after the show came more often. They started calling "Millie Poppins" "Button Poppins". I think most of the audience got the idea.
To sum up, Joel was at the very least an enabler. For which I, and most likely you, am eternally grateful.
