The Top 10 ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Runway Themes
Welcome to a special one-off Top 10 ranking, brought to you by Patreon subscriber Elijah! As part of the Drag Race Rewind project, $10-tier subscribers get to request one Top 10 ranking per month of anything RuPaul’s Drag Race-related. Elijah’s request was for a Top 10 of the best runway themes across the franchise. If you’d like to request your own ranking, as well as getting recaps and power rankings of classic Drag Race seasons delivered to your inbox every week, consider subscribing to the project! (Or, if you’re already subscribed, consider upping your monthly contribution!)
Runway looks on RuPaul’s Drag Race have ranged from the drop-dead gorgeous to the utterly incomprehensible. How much any of these have mattered has varied over time, but fans have always cared a lot about the drag that hits the main stage. It got to a point in season 9, in fact, where the rushed runways of the shorter episodes led to near-riots in the fandom, and VH1 had to release extended runways online to satisfy them.
To tell you the truth, I’m never as attentive to runways as your average fan — I care about what the judges care about, because I’m looking at the show as a competition. When they stopped valuing runway as much in the scoring, I discounted it a bit as well. But what I do love is a good runway theme. Like in a challenge, a strong theme (i.e. not “Best Drag” or anything like it) gives the queens a problem to solve with their look. And over the years, we’ve seen some great themes, both in concept and in execution.
As we wrap up season 12 and head into All Stars 5, let’s take a look back at the best runway themes from the series so far. (Note that I didn’t include any fashion challenge or ball themes, as those are challenges in and of themselves, not individual runway prompts.)
10. Angelic white, All Stars 4
Fair warning in advance: You’re going to see a lot of black, white, and black-and-white themes on this list. That’s not a coincidence — robbed of bold colors or crazy patterns, queens have to rely on the design and details of a runway look, turning out some of the most impressive. Thanks to queens like Manila Luzon, Trinity the Tuck, and Naomi Smalls, there was a ton of great fashion on All Stars 4. My personal favorite came in the angelic white runway, particularly since several queens had to soften their usual drag styles. It’s a simple theme, but still meaty enough to really challenge the dolls.
9. Black & white drama, season 6
Owing to Courtney Act’s love of a swimsuit, Bianca Del Rio’s affinity for a boatneck dress, and Adore Delano’s not-quite-there fashion, season 6 was low on out-and-out looks. The black-and-white drama runway, then, was a pleasant surprise, as every member of the top 8 really turned it out. This is what I mean about challenges with simple color palettes: Bianca couldn’t just rely on the same dress in a different color, so she had to pull out a cape and some dramatically different hair. Courtney is the biggest success story, though, as she unleashed a Klaus Nomi-inspired look that I would rank among the top runways franchise-wide.
8. Latex eleganza, All Stars 2
Conversely to season 6, All Stars 2 had jaw-dropping fashions across the board, because the queens had the budget and the experience to make it so. Detox is most responsible for this; her looks this season were absolutely top-tier. She shined brightest in the latex eleganza category, as did most of the cast. Armed with just skin-tight material rendered in bright, bold colors, the queens managed to impress with some of the highest-fashion looks all season.
7. The Bride Wore Black, season 12
The concept of this runway is kind of meh — black wedding dresses, sure — but the execution was flawless. I know some have critiqued these looks for being too expected, but what impresses me most is how they distill each queen’s vibe into one outfit. Jan’s outfit is probably the best of the bunch (designed by Project Runway alumnus Christopher Palu), but I also loved Crystal Methyd’s zombie look. And though she could be accused of resting on pretty, Gigi Goode’s gorgeous silhouette in this challenge showed the artistry behind her pretty. Just great results across the board.
6. Mermaid fantasy, season 10
A weird category, yes, but I like weird! Sure, have the girls dress like mermaids! You’ll get some incredible stuff, like Aquaria as an oil-damaged siren, or Asia O’Hara in a fish mask that still haunts my dreams. There will be lame outfits too, like Monique Heart and The Vixen’s takes on the category. But that’s true of basically any runway! And the highlights will stick with you far longer than those lowlights will.
5. Night of 1000 Rus, season 6
We’ve had plenty Night of 1000 runways on Drag Race at this point, but for my money, the RuPaul one still remains my favorite. It hearkens back to a time when Drag Race was designed as a search for Ru’s replacement — how well can these girls emulate their mentor? And all of the girls did pretty well! Perhaps the one who got it best, though, was Michelle Visage, who managed to evoke Ru with just a blonde wig. That’s friendship for you!
4. Rudemption runway, All Stars 3
You can quibble with the execution on this one, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you — letting Bebe Zahara Benet do her entrance look was particularly hilarious — but the concept here was flawless. It’s exactly what I want out of an All Stars runway prompt: Show us how you’ve evolved by reworking one of your runway looks. It should’ve been more specific (maybe the runway look you were eliminated in?) so as to not allow so much interpretation, but some of the results were still stunning. Princess Disastah!
3. Spanish telenovela realness, season 5
I actually think the concept of this one is a little too broad, but the results are spectacular. Roxxxy Andrews’ red flamenco dress! Jinkx Monsoon’s Dia de los Muertos drag! Coco Montrese’s yellow sleeves! Even the most notable disaster, Alyssa Edwards’ so-called “worst dress in five seasons,” is iconic by very virtue of Santino Rice’s declaration. When I think of the season 5 girls, this is the runway I think of every time.
2. Black & white realness, season 8
Inspired by Detox in the season 5 finale, the queens had to actually grayscale themselves for this runway. I like when the prompt forces them to do unusual makeup — you get a lot of great stuff out of it as a result. This was Bob the Drag Queen’s best drag all season. Naomi Smalls served up a perfect Raven tribute. Kim Chi and Chi Chi DeVayne served major fashion moments in ways both expected and unexpected. It was just a really great day on the main stage for all involved, and it comes very close to being my #1 runway theme.
1. Death Becomes Her, season 7
By “very close,” I mean “closer than any other,” because let’s be honest, this one is head-and-shoulders above everything else. It’s in another league. Death Becomes Her offers a very simple prompt: How did you die? The range of answers from the season 7 girls represented some of the most audacious creativity we’ve seen on Drag Race. Death by skinny waist, death by escaping prison, death by vampirism, death by broken heart — this runway had it all. Several of the best fashion moments in Drag Race herstory come from this runway theme. In both concept and execution, this one was the top of the class.
