A ‘Kitwitch’
A retired builder from Norfolk, my youngest brother is a different kind of exhibitionist. Our family dressed up a lot and threw parties. Now Quentin cavorts around most weekends in a very medieval English way. He is part of a dance troupe called the Kitwitches – who are a sort of Morris dancing group who like to show off. They all dress up as ladies with enormous inflatable bosoms and perform a Norfolk style of dancing called the Molly. It’s that deep part of our heritage which a lot of people ignore but he’s embraced it. It’s marvellous
Photograph: www.kitwitches.co.uk
Fashion/textile designer
As long as I’ve known her, Zandra Rhodes has always been vibrantly dressed. She studied at the Royal College of Art with David Hockney and Ossie Clark. When she couldn’t sell her bright, patterned textiles to stuffy British manufacturers she pioneered making clothes from her own fabrics. It’s her business, fashion, but she really does love dressing up – and she likes to be around others who do too. She always said that when she got older she’d become even more larger than life. She’s not afraid of being a caricature of herself, which I think is wonderful Photograph: Linda Nylind
‘Prima-Diva’
Leigh Bowery was an aspiring fashion designer fresh from Australia when he entered the Alternative Miss World contest in 1985. He had yet to become the “Prima-Diva” but already had an amazing physical presence. Within a year he’d become this amazing creation and notorious host of the Taboo club night. As he got bigger so did his outfits. Following shows with the Fall and the dancer Michael Clark, Leigh staged an installation at the Anthony d’Offay gallery in London. He just lolled around on a chaise longue for days and the art world loved it Photograph: Rex Features
‘Fancy Chance’
As an exhibitionist you’ve got to be excited about life, and she embraces it for all it’s worth. Now a member of the Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus, she’s a tiny, very funny Korean-American professional burlesque performer, a force of nature and a very warm-hearted, lovely human being. A favourite look? Her winning outfit from the 2009 Alternative Miss World was a huge crinoline dress which lifted up to reveal a submarine complete with crew. And then she was raised up out of the costume by her hair. What an entrance! • This gallery was amended on 13 November 2011. The original showed Sasha Frolova as Aquaerobika. This has been corrected.
Photograph: Dave Etheridge-Barnes/Getty Images
‘Transformer’
A chemical engineer from Hunstanton, Norfolk, Burnel Penhaul found his calling as Transformer. Where Leigh had a career, Burnel was an overlooked genius. Out of his tiny council flat he created huge surreal outfits. One was a 3D recreation of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. With costumes so unwieldy he could barely move, he became a regular at Kinky Gerlinky and a host in other clubs. As Miss Gale Force Wind he won the 1991 Alternative Miss World with an outfit that boasted platform shoes big enough to contain fishtanks with live fish in them Photograph: Public Domain
Club host
Underneath the piles of ribbon and cloth, toys and crazy masks, “London’s most outrageous dresser” is a sweet boy. He is very tall and, like Leigh Bowery, he wears outfits that make him look even bigger - he’s a great presence in the room. Not only are his outfits staggering but he is also an incredible socialite – he knows everyone. Now he hosts clubs like Shabba Dabba Da and does it all through Twitter and Facebook. He sent me an email recently and there were all these links you could follow at the bottom. He’s a very modern show-off Photograph: Rex Features
Artist
The most exciting change to the Alternative Miss World in the 1990s was when the Russians started being involved. A performance and installation artist, Andrey has represented Russia at the Venice Biennale and shown all round the world. His outfits are so otherworldly that it’s no surprise he was born near the Arctic circle on a huge piece of ice - though if you ask him sometimes he says he’s from Venus. When I first met him in the early 90s in Ukraine, he was wearing a Pearly King outfit. He couldn’t speak a word of English but he looked like a Cockney Photograph: Will Ragozzino/Getty Images
‘Divine’
Divine was the creation of Glenn and John Waters in those outrageous trash films they made together such as Female Trouble and the one where Divi eats the dog’s doings, Pink Flamingos. But Divi made the character his own - ferocious but always funny. Off stage, he was a lovely man; quiet and very naughty. Zandra Rhodes brought him to a Silver Jubilee party at my Alternative Tower of London in Butler’s Wharf. It was like being in a castle and he loved it - especially our toilet, the “Throne Room”, filled with my collection of royal memorabilia Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
‘Matthew Glamorre’
Such great looks, great imagination and quite a trendsetter, he is definitely a professional show-off. He formed a band with Leigh Bowery called Minty and later created many clubs like Smashing and Kashpoint. He has encouraged and promoted some very talented people, most recently the singer and multi-instrumentalist Bishi. Working with him on the 2004 Alternative Miss World at the Hippodrome was wonderful. He sees showing off as more of an intellectual movement. He used to say, “If you can’t be heard, be seen.” Like a lot of exhibitionists, he is under-appreciated Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
‘The Neo-Naturists’
Jen and Christine loved to show off with nothing on. In the early 80s the Neo-Naturists included Jen’s boyfriend at the time, Grayson Perry. They painted swirls and faces on each other’s bodies, and performed rituals, songs and wobbly human pyramids in galleries and outside, regardless of the weather. Wonderful. They entered the Alternative Miss World in 1991 with a huge team including children. All naked and body-painted. You’d never get away with it now!
Photograph: The Neo Naturist Archive
