Bring Back My Girls: RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 11 Promo Looks Ranked by K. Pereira with Collin Killoran

The RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11 promo just dropped this past Wednesday, and it’s already shaping up to be a sickening season. We’re excited to see Mystique Summers, an OG queen who has left a permanent impression on the franchise, return for their first time in years. Veteran queens like Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Morgan McMichaels, A’keria C. Davenport, and Kennedy Davenport are coming back to All Stars with a vengeance and an opportunity to finally receive a crown. However, they are up against some heavy hitters, All-Star first-timers like Morphine Love Dion, Crystal Methyd, and Sam Star. With all this anticipation, you definitely do not want to miss the season of All Stars, which premieres on May 8th.  

18. Silky Nutmeg Ganache: 

The Reverend Doctor herself is back to compete for the crown for the fourth time. This two-time finalist and lip-sync assassin has proved why she is a massive threat for the crown. The crowning jewel of her look is the way she accessorized it with brass knuckles that read “rubirth” and “crunch,” the former referencing her recent weight loss and the latter referencing her iconic catch phrase “munch munch crunch crunch.” Unfortunately, the simplicity of her pink bodysuit does not allow her look to stand out as much as the other queens, therefore earning her last place on our list. 

17. Mystique Summers:

Sixteen years after her first and only appearance on the show, Mystique Summers is back to snatch the crown. Mystique’s drag evolution is evident in her promo look, which showcases her elevated makeup skills and a wig that gradients from black to orange. However, the biggest gripe is the distraction caused by the strings going across her dress and the tie detailing, which is what caused her to place so low on our list.

16. Morgan McMichaels: With this being her third time competing on the show, will Morgan prove that the third time is the charm? This L.A. legend and recent Entertainer of the Year winner has proven that she is a major threat for the crown. The flame motif in her outfit was the perfect choice for the orange promo theme. We placed Morgan lower because the garment's material lacked a certain wow factor. 

15. Sam Star: With Sam returning so soon after her first season, in which she placed in the top four, we can only assume she is hungry for the crown. This drag daughter of All Stars 4 winner Trinity The Tuck always showcases the polish and glamour of pageant drag in her looks. The star motif throughout her outfit, a reference to her last name and her position as an all-star, was a standout factor of her look. However, the lack of purple in her dress is what kept her from placing higher on this list. 

14. Shuga Cain: After Shuga’s highly-disputed exit on Season 11, fans have been begging for her return, and that wish has finally been granted. Shuga’s dress design is simple, but her flair comes out with these dramatic ribbons that she has coming from her wrists and a fierce set of purple nails. 

13. Joey Jay: This fan-favorite, meme-queen is back, and this time she’s wearing wigs. Upon going home in the ball challenge, Joey has developed a reputation for subpar looks. However, this structured promo look demonstrates promise with these sickening details of the spikes and these heels that were made for stomping on necks. However, her wig clashes with the garment, which caused her to place lower on our list.

12. Crystal Methyd: Crystal’s conceptual clown perspective brought her all the way to the finale on Season 12. Now she’s back on All Stars, following in the footsteps of her drag sister Daya Betty, who was a finalist on the previous All Stars season. Her look is nothing short of pure camp, with a highlight of the garment being the star-covered fabric in reference to All-Stars. However, the unflattering shape of the outfit landed our season 12 queen in 12th place.

11. Jasmine Kennedie: Just outside of our top ten, we have Season 14’s Jasmine Kennedie. After coming out as a trans woman during the filming of her original season, Jasmine has blossomed into her true self, and now she’s back to compete for the crown. Her look is strong and sleek, with the highlights being the material, the cutout design, and the shoes. 

10. Hershii LiqCour Jete: The first queen in our top ten is Season 16’s first out, Hershii. Being the drag sister of the legendary Kornbread Jete, Hershii has big heels to fill and a shot at RUdemption. This chocolate bar diva came in hot with a fierce cape and bejeweled body suit that extended down her legs with a matching headpiece as a finishing touch. The outfit, being a leotard, pulled Hershii down from ranking any higher. 

9. Kennedy Davenport: The three-time finalist Kennedy Davenport is back on our screens for the fourth time and has proven time and time again that she is a major threat for the crown. The dancing diva of Texas is a drag legend and one of the biggest names on the cast. This promo look is incredibly opulent and reminiscent of Prince. It's fair to say this is her best promo look yet. 

8. April Carrion: During the Season 6 finale, April promised that she would be back for All Stars 2 to win the crown. Upon not being cast on All Stars 2, fans have been waiting for her return, and she’s finally back to compete for the crown. Her elevated mug and highly detailed bikini with multiple shades of pink stood out to us, earning her eighth on our list. 

7. Dawn: A fan favorite on Season 16, Dawn has been a highly anticipated queen to return to All Stars. With her promo look featuring a breast plate, her first time wearing one on the show, we can assume that Dawn has elevated her drag to the All Stars level, making her a top contender for the crown. Her high-concept tiger-print look, complete with elf ears and a tail, stood out to us, earning her seventh on our list. 

6. Morphine Love Dion: Deemed the Lipsync-Assassin of Season 16, Morphine has been a big name in drag since her season first aired. A consistent stand-out in Morphine’s looks is her makeup, which is always flawless. Fan her off because Morphine comes in hot, hot, hot, and ready with these flame details, with the shining piece being the flame mask. 

5. Vivacious: Twelve years after her first season aired, Drag Race legend Vivacious is finally back to compete for the crown. Vivacious is consistently referenced on the show for her iconic entrance look, and her promo look continues this trend as her headpiece is the elevated version of the headpiece she wore for said entrance look. Additionally, the pink trench coat is complete with a structural fanned back-piece. We appreciate her mix of drama and self-references, which earned her fifth on our list.

4. Aura Mayari: Known as “The Trade of the Season,” Aura consistently looks beautiful in and out of drag, and this look is no exception. She struts in with this warrior-inspired look, complete with a staff and crown, which stands out among the numerous gowns and bodysuits. The metallic gold and pink detailing is absolutely captivating. Her beautiful crescent moon headpiece is a great nod as she is the self-proclaimed “Filipina moon goddess.” 

3. Salina Estitties: On Season 15, Salina was known for her subpar looks and was even awarded the Golden Boot, an award for the worst look of the season. However, this promo look is an indication that she has stepped up her game. This gown, reminiscent of a quinceañera dress, stands out due to its ruffles and structural shoulders. The polish and elegance of this look has earned her third place on our list. 

2. A’Keria C Davenport: After two prior seasons, one of which she made top four, A’Keria has proven to be fierce competition for the crown. She absolutely stuns in this fabulous pageant gown, which she made herself. The drama and detailing of the look, accompanied by her always-perfect makeup and body, have earned her runner-up on our list. 

1. Lucky Starzzz: After Lucky Starzzz was eliminated first on Season 17, shocking the world, it’s no surprise that she was brought back to compete on All Stars so soon. Her high-concept, outside-the-box drag style is truly unique in the Drag Race world, making her one to watch out for. With her promo look, she took the orange theme and aimed for the stars and hit the sun. She earned the top spot because this conceptual and detailed look that reminds us of magma says everything about her and what she has to bring to the All Stars stage. Her makeup is the best out of all of the promo looks, and we just had to hand it to her, and it’s a big hand at that. 

All photos are sourced from World of Wonder and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 11. All credit and copyrights to World of Wonder Entertainment.

Article written and looks ranked by K. Pereira with Collin Killoran in association with 47Magazine.

Devotion through Fashion

At the top of spring, fashion fanatics on social media begin their preparation for the first Monday of May. The Met Gala, its yearly theme, and the guest list become the hottest topics of the season. While many look forward to a new red carpet with some of the most robust displays of high fashion in America, many use this time to remember the iconic 2018 gala, highly revered as one of the best.

The theme was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” and opulence was the star of the show. The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes the exhibit as “a dialogue between fashion and medieval art from The Met collection to examine fashion's ongoing engagement with the devotional practices and traditions of Catholicism.” The display featured garments never seen outside the Vatican, and was staged for anyone to see. 

With a consistent obsession for the one-year exhibit, one has to wonder about the meaning of Catholic-specific devotion through clothing. Gen Z and their never-ending subculture aesthetics have created ways for worship, or a subversion of subscription to religion, to be stylized. From “tradcath coquette” and the aesthetics of “Ethel Cain core” to the rise of conservatism amongst a younger generation, the 2020s have proven themselves to be a slightly confused time for Catholicism. There’s an evident tug of love and hate from both ends of the spectrum of belief. What lies within the grey area, however, is fashion. 

Clothing has been an important staple in creating the status of Catholicism. As “Heavenly Bodies” explores, the Catholic fashion in medieval Europe became an important marker for how important cloth itself was to become within the church. In her essay, “The cardinal’s new clothes?” Emma Anderson explains how rags and simple garments were integral to bridging the gap between heaven and earth. Both Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary, were ascended into heaven, leaving all of their clothes connected to their holy bodies, in a sense. In the following centuries, Catholic fashion aided in the establishment of its cultural hierarchy. The opulence that was evident in the robes that adorned cardinals and bishops, painted in royal pigments of crimson and purple, respectively. This display is meant to celebrate the majesty of God’s presence in this world, acting as an extension of the heavens. It also stands as a representation of the power and continuity that the institution of the Catholic Church has held over time. 

Totems from the Catholic Church play a large role in the manner in which its followers wear their worship. Representations of the Virgin Mary or imagery of the Crucifixion are circulated in the current landscape of how Catholicism is aestheticized for the new digital age.

While the Met’s 2018 display of Catholic fashion is a prominent mark for the current rise of Catholic aesthetics in cool girl fashion, it has slowly infiltrated algorithms for years and has culminated in an entirely new subculture. The fetishization of the religion can be tied to the fact that it stems from material culture where the physical pieces of memorabilia are meant to tie its followers to the divine. This makes the allure of the fashion pieces themselves enticing to those who either practice the way of the church or who grew up in and around it. 

The subversion of Catholic symbols in media dates back to the mid-1900s, implementing itself into mediums like film and music, which is inevitably how they trickled their way down into alternative fashion. From Rosemary’s Baby (1968) to Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” the scandalizing nature of defying Catholicism’s core values are enough to ruffle the feathers of the general public. The iconography in conjunction with the highlighting of sins is enough for fans of pop music and horror films alike to follow in the footsteps of the potential blasphemous representation of their worship. Developments into the modern stan area are best highlighted in the Lana del Rey fandom space, in which her use of religious imagery in lyrics has created a correlation to what is now coined the #catholicaesthetic.

In the publication TeenInk, user pim2109 cites Del Rey’s “glamorization of passivity in the face of abuse” as a large reason that a younger audience is translating that into an aestheticized version of the concepts that surround the practice. The religious imagery and memorabilia no longer represents suffering nor does it bring followers closer to heaven, as previously proposed or even intended in the Middle Ages during the rise and domination of the Catholic church. It now visualizes submission of women, the devout followers, to a male authoritative figure, God himself. 

In a now deleted Tumblr post, musician Ethel Cain claimed we exist in the time of an “Irony Epidemic.” The singer wrote: “there is such a loss of sincerity and everything has to be a joke at all times.” The venn diagram of Ethel Cain stans and Lana del Rey fans likely has a larger crossover than many may realize, and while Cain is not necessarily speaking on her fanbase or the people that use the visuals that accompany her 2022 concept album, Preacher’s Daughter, the theory of the irony epidemic rings true to the aestheticization of Evangelicalism. The #ethelcaincore comes from fans taking the sole visuals and their own personal applications of the themes from Preacher’s Daughter (cannibalism, living in the American south, being raised religious/ Christian, etc.) and applying them to carousels on their personal grid. While Cain’s album centers on Christianity (and more likely, Southern Baptist) and its values that work to disrupt a home life and family, many have blurred the lines due to the Southern Gothic tone of the album and the connection of that particular aesthetic to Catholicism.

The irony, then, of practicing faith itself becomes relevant. 

Another major player in the influence of Catholicism in Gen Z fashion is the “Dimes Square” niche scene in New York City. Controversial figures and podcast hosts Honor Levy and Dasha Nekrasova have made their faith to the Catholic church public, and many online believed that their practice of the religion was insincere and being done in an ironic manner, where Catholicism is more of a vibe rather than a call to devote their life to faith. However, on a podcast, when asked about her choice to convert to the faith, Nekrasova states, “I think a lot of people think I’m being Catholic, ironically, which is not true. But it doesn’t really matter if you’re doing something ironically, because it still works.” Levy also mentioned on her “Wet Brain” podcast that if you perform enough rituals, “...then it becomes real, even if you don’t believe in it.” In this way, the religion finds itself a part of the irony epidemic. 

Low-resolution flash images of moss growing over the Virgin Mary or billboards that litter the Bible belt that call for drivers to be saved by Jesus Christ have become a hashtag subculture on social media. So where does this leave room or worship in the world of fashion? Shocking numbers of red votes in the 2024 presidential race that came from Gen Z confirms what many have theorized online: Conservatism is, and has been, on the rise. The life-altering event of the pandemic caused young people across the world to reckon with themselves in the space they grew up in, facing the parts of themselves that may have been buried in routine and life pre-2020. 

In a search for truth, community, and meaning in a world that continues to fail an entire generation, Catholicism finds itself on a steady increase in young people. This fact of Catholicism and, more importantly, its values on the rise in tandem with the attempt to subvert the practice by satirizing or aestheticizing it leaves too much room for ambiguity. Fear of AI and the unknown can lead many to revert back into a practice that feels traditional, and for those who were raised religious, it feels like a return to youth. The rosary no longer exists as a binary from a string of beads that count our prayers to a fashion statement that embodies female sexuality (a la Madonna) and having a cross hanging in your bedroom could be done in spirituality or in reference. The spectrum of devotion to rebellion of the Catholic church has grown immeasurably broad, and the same can be said for its fashion trends.

Girlhood, but make it NYFW: How Sandy Liang has transformed the runway.

Bows, ballet flats, and suburban softness are suddenly high strung, high fashion.

In a fashion week that often prides itself on spectacle and razor-sharp reinvention, Sandy Liang’s Fall/Winter 2026 show oddly felt like a warm exhale in your hometown neighborhood. Cozy, nostalgic, and delightfully suburban, Liang once again proved that comfort doesn’t have to mean compromise — and that whimsy, when handled with sincerity, can be quietly radical on a New York runway.

The collection opened with her signatures: ballet flats reimagined in furry textures, bows perched unapologetically on everything from sweaters to outerwear, and coats so oversized they could double as tarps. However, her unabashed embrace of domesticity was the standout for expectations with this collection. Imagine muted pinks,  pastel cardigans layered over silky nightgown-slips, wide headbands paired with corporate-gray trousers, and quilted jackets that look straight from a childhood snow day in suburban Albany— sensible, safe, yet brow raised?

Liang has always mined memory for inspiration, pulling from school uniforms, mall culture, and Y2K teen-girl aesthetics. But in 2026, the references feel less like irony and more like reclamation, maybe even recreations of Pinterest boards with soft girl tags on them. Where some designers chase futurism, Liang leans into the familiar. In doing so, she reminds us that coziness is not the enemy of fashion’s edge — it’s the counterpoint.

Callbacks and eclectic trendspotting were woven throughout the collection, not as kitsch, but as quiet reinvention for the designer’s new season. The models, with flushed cheeks and soft hair bows, could have been walking straight out of a family photo album. Yet the tailoring — sharp blazers, pleated skirts with unexpected slits, satin dresses spliced with athletic stripes — kept it from tipping into costume. This balance between memory and modernity has become Liang’s signature, and it’s what cements her as one of NYFW’s most distinctive voices.

More importantly, Liang’s work is carving out space for sensibility in a landscape that often

demands shock. In a week where metal hardware, dystopian silhouettes, and conceptual deconstruction dominate the conversation, Sandy Liang dares to say: what about softness? What about the suburban girl in ballet flats who never felt represented in the pages of Vogue?