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Jonathan: In my work I always like to recognize my muses.
I have a pot called the Salvador pot inspired by Salvador DalĂ.
I have a picture that's called The Lady Bunny picture,
that was inspired by Lady Bunny.
She's a one of a kind, incredible force of nature.
And I thought, you know, I want to make a pot inspired by Lady Bunny,
and [unintelligible]
(funky music)
Jonathan: Diana Vreeland famously said, "Exaggeration is my only reality."
And I think Bunny personifies that.
Bunny is one of those people who recognizes the power
of taking something to its lunatic conclusion.
And it's insane and beyond memorable,
and I think about that all the time.
Bunny: Jonathan. You're early.
Jonathan: (laughs)
Bunny: I haven't had a chance to put my makeup on yet.
Jonathan: Oh no, I'm so sorry.
Bunny: How are you?
Jonathan: Mwah! Mwah!
Bunny: Great to see you.
Jonathan: Mwah! Mwah! Again.
Bunny: Watch the nails.
Jonathan: Oh right, are you, when are you going to put the nails on?
Bunny: I'm just finishing my look to show America
what Honey Boo Boo would look like when she grew up. (laughs)
Jonathan: (laughs) I'm the least starstruck person on earth, and I know you,
but when I'm around you I am starstruck because I think
you are a genius. You're my idle, like, when you
did Wigstock it was, like, revolutionary for me.
It was transformative.
You are (bleep) genius. I love you.
Bunny: Can you say that to the camera? (laughs)
Jonathan: Oh sorry. She is a genius.
(music)
Jonathan: You're like this New York institution
of magic genius, but how did you start?
You're from Tennessee?
Bunny: Chattanooga, Tennessee is where I grew up.
I was always a performer and an actor.
Then I went to England and experienced, like,
new wave and punk and was experimenting with
makeup, you know, as a boy or whatever, as a kid,
and so I knew I wanted to be a performer, but
the drag enables me to be the costume designer.
Makeup artist. The scriptwriter.
The songwriter. It gives me more control.
Jonathan: So let's talk about exaggeration.
Bunny: Okay.
Jonathan: Because I feel like ...
Bunny: What do you mean by that question?
Jonathan: Has your hair ever gone too big?
Bunny: It's all about proportion, as if you
were making a vase and you added more on the
bottom you might need an extra lip on the top
to balance it out, plus I like 1960's fashion.
That's when they had the biggest hair since Marie Antoinette.
Jonathan: It's (bleep) epic.
There is so much craft that goes into what you do from the hair.
Bunny: Crap?
Jonathan: (laughs)
Bunny: Security.
Jonathan: No the craft. Who does the costumes?
Bunny: All different people all the time.
Jonathan: Everything is custom made.
I assume nothing's off the rack.
Bunny: Well certainly. Not many women's clothes fit me. (laughs)
I like a bell sleeve and I like a mini,
because they tell me I have decent legs.
And then an a-line.
Jonathan: So is that your silhouette?
You have a signature silhouette.
It's always a bell sleeve, an a-line, a mini.
Bunny: I mean it could be an a-line with, like, a
peasant sleeve with elastic.
Jonathan: I could see that because you want a
little Stevie Nicks flounce somewhere.
Bunny: Some of the queens kid me about my makeup,
and they're, like, "What is it tonight?"
"Coral lipstick and blue eye-shadow, again?"
And I'm, like, when you find a look that works stick with it.
(music)
Bunny: I was told you might like this print
because it has a '70's look and it's somewhat paisley.
Jonathan: It's literally like a five pound sleeve.
Bunny: I was trying to figure out how to do an
'80's shoulder poof and a friend of mine
devised this with an inflatable beach ball.
Jonathan: It's, like, use whatever it takes. I like it.
Bunny: Well this is a trick that I like to use a lot
that I learned from Mae West where it's like
if you want to appear a little slimmer put
something down the middle, a big stripe, or a
jagged, something, to kind of like say,
okay, we're not ... we know there's a girdle
under there, but we're not really going
to ... there's some Spanx.
That's a little more sedate.
Jonathan: Yeah, more serious.
That's like you're a hired assassin.
This is gorgeous. It's kind of like graduation gown.
Bunny: There's nothing like these sleeves,
and when you are whirling around honey the ... ooh.
(music)
Jonathan: Accessories. How do you do it?
Bunny: Well, like the hair.
You need large accessories.
This is a broach made into a ring.
This is a ring that I love to wear, but I
hate it when I wear it in interviews because it
clack, clack, clacks.
Jonathan: That's incredible.
Bunny: These I just found yesterday.
I'm going to make these into reading glasses.
Jonathan: Lady Bunny, I worship you.
You're my hero. I've loved you since the second I set foot in New York.
Thank you for spending time with me.
Bunny: Oh, tell me more.
Jonathan: Oh wait.
Bunny: You are so fascinating when you speak on this subject.
Jonathan: (laughing)
Bunny: So eloquently.
Jonathan: Mwah, Mwah!
Bunny: Mwah, Mwah!
Bunny: Bye darlin.
Jonathan: Later Bunny.
You know the idea of exaggeration is something
I think about all the time.
You want to make stuff that is going to be
memorable and the only way to achieve that
is via exaggeration, and I think Bunny
personifies that. She's this over the top creature.
She's sort of like [unintelligible], but I think people
don't necessary realize how much work and
talent and craft goes into creating Lady Bunny.
She personifies the power of exaggeration.