Why Bimini Bon-Boulash Is The Fashion Queen Of Rupaul’s Drag Race UK

Can we get a big Bing, Bang, Bong for Bimini Bon-Boulash please? The Rupaul’s Drag Race UK star might have been pipped to the crown (shame, they would have worn it well) but East London’s self-proclaimed ‘bendiest bitch’ and ‘plant-based princess’ is the undisputed fashion winner of the second season – and one of the only things that have made this latest lockdown tolerable (and definitely the only person who could make us seriously contemplate a buttock-baring Norwich City FC football kit. The surprises never end this year).

Jaw + floor looks to note include the bacteria cell which took its cue from avant garde couturier Iris von Herpen, the vintage-seaside lace gown (suitably un-Victorian in its show-it-all-off transparency), the DIY Vivienne Westwood-inspired gown and the finale’s Gaultier-ish spiky-boobed corset. I am tempted to pluck my eyebrows into pencil thin Pammy arches in tribute. Episode two’s homage to Alexander McQueen’s robotic spray-paint SS99 show might not have gone to plan, but Bimini always knows how to pop.

Unsurprisingly, the fashion world has duly paid attention. During the most recent London Fashion Week Bimini took it to the runway for Art School, and since the show has aired they’ve also been dressed by Miu Miu. Don’t you think Bimini would look amazing in Schiaparelli, Gucci or Harris Reed? I’m tempted to skip next month’s rent just to make it happen.

Never trading on their looks alone, what makes Bimini the ultimate muse of the moment are their fearlessness and a killer wit (hello, did you see the Katie Pwice impwession?). For them, fashion is an art form, a tool of self-expression (‘My arch nemesis is beige, basic bitches. Ah!’). Always unpredictable, looking drop-dead, death-drop gorgeous just happens to be a happy consequence – see how she flipped the ‘Stoned On The Runway’ theme on its head in crystal acne. Right now, a great outfit also requires a GSOH to make it sing; just ask Harry Styles and Emma Corrin. Having serious style doesn’t need to mean taking yourself too seriously.

‘I want to change the world and I want to keep pushing to celebrate weirdness, celebrate queerness, celebrate everything that makes you different cause that’s what makes you unique, makes you beautiful,’ said the queen in the final. Non-binary Bimini has been outspoken about gender identity (‘I consider the concept of gender as a spectrum and I float somewhere in the middle,’ they wrote on Instagram. ‘The idea that a man can’t show complex emotion or that a woman can’t be strong are basic, but widely accepted lies created that prevent us gaining equality and if we don’t break down these stereotypes even at the basic level our consciousness as a species will never progress’).

In 2021, Bimini’s status as an educator as much as an entertainer doesn’t make for an interesting footnote, it’s integral to their story. If you want a re-entry fashion note to run with from the Bon-Boulash era let it be this: wear what the hell you want.

And if you want another reason to love Bimini, can I kindly remind you of this: they were in the bottom two in the first week. There’s an uplifting arc for you; one about grit, graft, grace and a good attitude. In a year when many of us have felt like giving up, it’s invigorating to see someone ascend despite the odds, even in the microcosm of a reality TV show. Their secret to success? We’re guessing P.M.A. has something to do with it. Bimini, babes, we bow down.