From the 1980s to the 2020s, Birmingham’s drag icon Twiggy has been wowing audiences with their elaborate costumes, now immortalised in a glittering pop-up exhibition at Back to Backs National Trust, Birmingham. Titled The Drag Market, it celebrates Twiggy’s bold fashion as well as their tie to Birmingham itself, especially the iconic Rag Market and bygone alternative spaces such as the Rum Runner. 

The colourful and shimmering costumes and iconic headdresses worm by Twiggy adorn a pink room just as bright as the outfits themselves, taking the viewer on a visual history of the artist and drag performer. The broad shoulders, nipped waist and bright patterns used have become a staple of Twiggy, with a style made to stand out in dark club spaces of their early performing career. Twiggy themselves states that their early inspirations came from renowned designer Adrian and his work with Joan Crawford. With a deeply maximalist style and an eye for all things reflective, Twiggy’s work speaks to the diversity and brightness of Birmingham, with nearly all materials sourced from the Rag Market.  

The exhibition lovingly complies some of Twiggy’s best-known looks with voiceover and intimate looks into the design process. This includes their look for the 2021 Birmingham Pride Parade, of which they have been a part of since 1997. As a pillar of LGBTQ+ culture in Birmingham, Twiggy continues to appear at the Parade year after year, delighting fans while putting Birmingham on the map in terms of LGBTQ+ culture. 

For fans of Club Kid culture, alternative fashion and all things shimmery, this exhibition will run until the end of May with free entry.