JODIE HARSH: UNMASKING THE ICON OF DRAG AND FASHION

HARSH REALITY TV

Check out this face. Chances are you’ve seen it before, popping up on various TV shows, in nightclubs and the fashion press over the past four years or so.

This is Jodie Harsh. Lilly Savage, she ain’t.  “I got into drag when I was a student at London College of Fashion and needed extra cash. A lot of boys dress up in their mother’s clothes when they’re young. I never did that so I guess I’m making up for it now. I have absolutely no interest in being a woman and don’t particularly get any sexual kicks out of wearing a skirt. I see drag as a creative outlet, a business venture, a bit of fun. Actually, a lot of fun.”

The Creative World of Jodie Harsh: From Fashion to Nightlife

Jodie’s built up quite a following in more fashionable circles, and counts designers such as Kim Jones and Gareth Pugh in her close circle. She makes regular trips to New York to party with Amanda Lepore and the rest of the LaChapelle clique and has been photographed spilling out of parties with the likes of Kelly Osbourne and Amy Winehouse. Her mobile phone must read like a copy of ‘Heat’ magazine.

“I was an overly dramatic child,” says Jodie Harsh, London’s fiercest scene queen. “I became interested in the stage and the arts at an early age. I could often be found dancing around to Michael Jackson tracks with my underwear over my trousers and a gold sequined shirt for performances whenever we had family round.

My father would cringe on the sofa. I had an obsession with Pamela Anderson, Jacko and alien-looking insects– anything otherworldly or alien-looking. I collected butterflies and had a room full of tanks with exotic creatures. I liked to differentiate myself from everyone at school by being slightly off-the-wall, and when my parents moved me to a stage school in London to pursue my ambitions to be a performer I was only given more scope to play with my dramatic inclinations.”

Uh-huh, fits the profile. But what’s with the spin on glamour model Jodie Marsh?
“My name is stupid, a bit of fun. It’s mocking our obsession with celebrity and the ‘famous-for-being-famous’. Maybe I’ll be truly famous for mocking the famous-for-being-famous while wearinga wig. If so, so be it. I’m in it for the ride.”

“Since ‘dragging up’ has become a full-time job for me, I’ve never been so excited about career prospects. Other things I… and my parents… had planned for me have gone out the window and seem so grey in comparison to the lights, camera and action.”

Life’s a drag, or is it?

“There are so many clichés I could run into… how you feel so different as soon as the heels are slipped on, how the dance floor is my stage and how Jodie might one day take over the person inside, who wears a tracksuit and watches Corrie while munching on Pizza.

That’s all bollocks. True, wearing the outfit and make-up can create an armour, but I’d never get so lost as to start believing my own hype and letting it fuck with my head. I’m a boy who happens to have a knack for painting my face and throwing some cool parties and getting my face out there like there’s a mini Max Clifford tapping away in my brain. I enjoy the creative process. If it were taxing I’d have quit this game ages ago. Basically, I ain’t going nowhere.”

According to Jodie’s myspace page, s/he’s currently busy in a recording studio. “Brace yourself,” the page advises, “with earplugs!” Something tells me you haven’t seen the last of this creature yet. 

Words and photographs: Paul Hartnett

Originally appeared in Fused Magazine issue 33