RuPaul's Drag Race winner Nymphia Wind talks about her unique Bubble Tea outfit that she wore while dancing and lip sync-ing to Kylie Minogue's Padam Padam. Wind was seen wearing a brown and white cape resembling milk tea. She also had circular paillettes in her outfit that were expected to imitate the appearance of tapioca pearls.
When asked about the outfit, Wind told People Magazine,
"I wanted to represent my country but didn't want to make a flag so I used bubble tea."
According to Nymphia Wind, the outfit has to be handled with care and precision, so that the look does not get spoiled in any way.
Taiwanese-American drag queen Nymphia Wind discussed her much talked-about outfit which resembled boba tea
After Nymphia Wind won RuPaul's Drag Race season 16, in an interview with People, she said that she wanted to represent her Taiwanese culture. Boba tea or bubble tea is the national drink of Taiwan. While performing on stage wearing the outfit, she opened her arms and black balloons floated up.
The 28-year-old performer revealed that they had to be extra careful so that the outfit didn't get spoiled on the stage somehow. Wind said,
"There was helium [in the balloons] so they were always going upwards. And the cape was pretty heavy. So I just had to waddle and make sure that the cape was shut tight."
She further explained that it was still difficult because there were stairs, and so, she had to get help from the production assistants to climb the staircase. She also revealed how she got the idea and then executed it, in order to get such a unique outfit. She added:
"I had this idea of a big cape that I sent to Mondo, and we then worked out what we could reveal from all that. We came up with the idea of using balloons as bubble tea to fly out of the cape."
In another interview with Billboard, Wind revealed that she knew that she would be up against either Sapphira or Plane Jane. She said she knew that Sapphira's outfits were known to be big. Hence, she, too, decided to go for something unique and big. In this interview, she added how grateful and happy she is with the victory.
Nymphia reveals her desire to promote Taiwanese culture through her work
While the bubble tea-inspired dress had already stirred much-desired attention, it wasn't enough for Nymphia Wind. She somersaulted into a bodysuit designed by her, out of her qipao. The body suit, as expected, was in her signature yellow color.
During the interview, Wind talked about the hardest parts of dealing with the bubble tea dress. She said,
"It was a pain in the a**. That bubble tea outfit was very hard to bring [to set]. I had to buy different boxes and pack the bubble tea."
However, all the struggle and hard work that went behind the dress was worth it when Wind won the show. She was praised by Kylie Minogue herself. People reported that Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen also praised the winner.
Nymphia Wind revealed that she is up for working to promote Taiwanese culture in whichever way possible. She mentioned:
"I want to be the cultural tourist ambassador of Taiwan. I want to produce these shows and incorporate Taiwanese culture like night markets, Peking opera, and temple fairs with drag performances."
Wind further added that she would also want to collaborate and work with different artists to expand the concept of drag performances. Wind further stated that she is still in disbelief about winning RuPaul's Drag Race season 16.
