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On Monday evening, the 2026 Met Gala<\/a> will be a high-fashion affair to remember. All eyes will be on the custom designs coming down the red carpet\u2014but even more focus will be put on the bodies<\/em> wearing them. This year\u2019s event, after all, celebrates the Met\u2019s new spring Costume Institute exhibition, \u201cCostume Art<\/a>,\u201d spotlighting \u201cthe centrality of the dressed body.\u201d<\/p>\n While we can expect all of the celebrity looks to cleverly explore the relationship between clothing and the human form underneath, there is quite simply no group that can better serve body (or the illusion<\/em> of one) than drag queens. So, what better moment than now to look back on where it all began?<\/p>\n Over the years, drag queens\u2014be it fashion queens<\/a>, comedy queens<\/a>, or even quirky queens<\/a>\u2014have all perfected the art of body-forward dressing. In their way, these drag queens are echoing certain themes expressed in this year\u2019s Met exhibition, like a padding-filled pair of tights by Harry Pontefract of British label Ponte<\/a>, the bodies refigured by corsets and bustles in a section on the abstracted body, or clothes designed to subvert the \u201cnormal\u201d curves of the human form in a section on the reclaimed body.<\/p>\n Through their transformative padding techniques, in which they sport specialized foam or silicon inserts as an underlayer, drag queens have found masterful ways to build their signature silhouettes, leveraging padding to convey the type of womanly curves they want to present to the world, and, thus, the woman they want to be. \u201cWhen I started to proportionize from my body, it unlocked an external response,\u201d says Jimbo<\/a>, a top Drag Race<\/em> and All Stars<\/em> alumni. \u201cYour body is your visual fingerprint: When I\u2019m padded and feeling myself, I\u2019m taking up more space\u2014and that feels good and sexy to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n