The winner of the 2008 Best in Drag show is . . . SHELBY FREEEEEEE!!!!! How cool is that? I’ll tell you. Totally and completely. It is totally and completely cool. Stacy did such a great job as Shelby, he had the audience whoopin’ and a-hollarin’ from the moment he showed up with his mobile outhouse in the swimsuit competition. You have to have some kind of “reveal” for the swimsuit,‚ so Shelby had a foam outhouse with handles inside so he could carry it walk out on stage in it. Then out he popped in a jewel-encrusted Budweiser bathing suit and a wig all wrapped up in Bud cans instead of curlers. The toilet paper stuck to his shoe was sublime.

I’ll have more pictures later, and hopefully the video came out ok, but I just wanted to pop in to announce the good news. Here are a few pics for now.

The event began with the comedy stylings of the hilarious Kathy Griffin, this was the best I could do with onstage photos. Much was made of her grand opening and everyone enjoyed her jokes, too. (LOTS of jokes about “openings” at a drag pageant, as it turns out.)

I tried to get a photo with Shelby onstage after the show while she was in her throne, but I was too late and we got shuffled out. Here we are in chaos (you can see guys taking the throne away in the back):

And here we are right where Shelby feels most at home. In a dark alley behind the building. Also, how much do you love the gal on the right? She looks just like my Marie Osmond doll from way back when!

And don’t forget, just because the pageant is over doesn’t mean it’s too late to donate! Check out Shelby’s website and give what you can! Also, Stacy has had an amazingly tough week. As if it’s not scary enough to have to perform in front of thousands of people, his mom passed away last week after a grueliing battle with cancer. His commitment to this cause is a testament to his heart and his cojones. Even if you can’t send him a donation, send some love his way. His email is on the main page of his website, I know he’d love to hear from everyone who’s been moved or amused or touched by his most unusual brand of community service.

It is my distinct pleasure to present to you a Crocheted Beer Can Gown in it’s entirety. (You’re really going to want to click these photos for a better look.)

It’s taken a lot of work, a few band-aids and dozens of cans, but I am finally finished! And I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. It really does look just as it did in my head.

I’m going to start with the one detail shot I have, because once you see the photos of the dress actually being modeled, you’re not going care about the details. Trust me. So this is the skirt. I sewed on some opalescent pilettes and they really sparkle like crazy when the dress moves. It was time-consuming, but I’m glad I went ahead and did it.

I’ve already sent the dress off to Shelby and she’ll be adding even more sparkly bits to the top portion. She has some little crystal things left over from another outfit, so I gave her free reign to further bedazzle the gown.

And here is my adorable mother-on-law, Barbara, sewing a band of red, white and blue sequins onto the inside of the skirt. It really needed something extra in there and it added just enough pizazz.

Ok, so now here is where things get really good. I wanted to show you the whole dress, but the dress form just wasn’t doing it justice. I needed a model. Now, I would have been glad to do it, but seeing as how my trunk has it’s fair share of junk. There’s no way I’m getting into that thing without getting sliced in half. While it would have made cool photos, I think the internet has plenty of that sort of thing on it already.

So what’s a girl to do? Well, my mother-in-law was in town, but she’s very short and little and would have been drowning in the dress. There was only one choice.

Jon had to do it. Ok, this was the plan all along, but he doesn’t need to know that. Shhhhhh . . . .

Now, I don’t know if it’s because we’re die-hard Project Runway fans (have I mentioned that we’re both hoping like crazy that Chris March will be at the pageant? Oh my god, we’d both be giggling like schoolgirls.) but Jon really got into the photo session. He was nervous at first, but then turned all RuPaul and was hitting poses left and right. But he did keep hid tube socks and shorts on. Let’s not get crazy, here.

And there you go. An evening gown that has champagne taste on a beer budget. Cheap champagne, but champagne nonetheless.

This dress is a memorial of sorts. When Stacy (Shelby Free’s real name) contacted me out of the blue to create the dress (he found my by googling “crocheted beer cans”. Ha!), it didn’t take much for me to say yes. Partly it just seemed like a fun project and a good challenge. But it’s also for a great cause. A couple of years before I met Jon, his brother, Tim, died of AIDS. I never got to meet him, but he’s still included in family dinner conversation and provides lot of laughter as people reminisce about his past exploits (truth be told, he was a bit of a red-headed devil in his younger years) and wonder what he’d think about various things going on in their lives. I do feel a deep affection for Tim because I’ve gotten to know him from the fond and often hilarious memories of those who loved him, and I think he would have gotten a huge kick out of this dress and the pageant.

If you haven’t already, please check out Shelby Free’s website, read Stacy’s story about why he’s doing the pageant and if you feel moved to do so, please donate. Just navigate your way to Shelby’s donation page from his main page and make sure you put “Shelby Free” in the company name field on the donation form so Stacy can keep track of the donations he’s collected. So far, he’s raised $7,000!

Give until it’s glamorous, people!!