long weekend ahead

My family and friends are coming to visit this weekend. I want to relax and enjoy the days off.  No work, just freedom.  I am leaving work at 3:30 and going to start cleaning the house.  Top to bottom.  Remember dont drink and drive, cause you might spill your drink!

rememberance

I just wanted to say thank you to my friend Ashley Rhone.  She passed away today.  She was a good person who helped a lot of people.  The stars are brighter because she is up there now too.  She will be missed.  She has my eternal friendship and respect.  It is never easy losing the people you care about.

I'm ready fo the weekend

I have not really been able to enjoy a weekend out lately, but I have the feeling that is about to change. This weekend, I will playing hostess to more people that I bargained for.  I have three groups of people all wanted to come for a visit.  My friend Ginger, who moved to Shreveport last year, she will be here Friday night. My Cousin Johnny and his boyfriend will be in town on Saturday.  I have not seen them in several months.  And I think my sister from OKC is coming down during the day to drop off my niece.  My niece  is staying with me for a month.  She is a good kid.  She is very close to her mom (my sister) and they are a lot alike.  I  am not sure why she wants to come stay with me, but it will be fine.  It will give me a chance to spoil her and then send her back home.  I figure she can watch all the TV she wants, and go to the library. Its just down the street. Plus I have a ton of movies and its not like she cant cook. My sister says she proficient at nuking stuff in the microwave. 

I hope the house is ready for company.  I am always afraid that if the house is not clean, friends will talk about you.  Plus I want people to think highly of me. I want them to say ’that Mattie keeps a tidy home for herself’.    Trust me, my love life maybe a wreck, but my house will be on point. (Plus I’m addicted to Fabreeze.)   I will be the domestic goddess. I try to hide my imperfections.  At least until they leave.  Then its back to dirty dishes in the sink, and unmade beds.  No one see it like that but me.  I tell my friends….call first. And I mean it.   So I can run the vacuum and hide the pots and pan under the sink.

Wish me luck with my extended group of company. It is nice to have people want to come and see you.  I will probably  take everyone out for a night on the town.  I’m sure we can find some trouble to get into.  Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth is always fun, and they make great drinks. 

I also plan on performing at the Best Friends club in Fort Worth on Sundy night.  I have not done a show there in several weeks.It will be great to see some friends again. 

 I need to get back to sewing.  I have put it on hold because….well have not been in the mood.  For those who don’t know, I have an entire drag room. It is my drag /sewing room.  It  is full of costumes and gowns.  Also my sewing machine, cutting table and my stacks and stacks of storage containers full of fabric and craft items.  One day I will have a warehouse and boutique of my own.  Then I can have my large bedroom back.  I hope to put a bed in there one day.  When I moved in, I chose to make the smaller of the bedrooms, my room.  I put all of the drag and sewing stuff in the large bedroom.  What I really need is a third bed room.  But not all wishes come true.

Sample pics

I wanted to add some more sample photos. Some are my personal dresses and a few are were custom creations for other drag entertainers.


Black and White with satin skirt





Letters from the heart

I used to write letters.  Yes old fashion hand written letters.  I started doing this in about 2003, right after my mom died.  I loved her very much.  I used my breaks at work to write to her.  I told her I missed her and told her about my day.  The boring stuff that happens everyday I would write. It was a way of trying to release my feelings. When I was having a bad day,  I would write.    I have been through so much pain in my life, I just needed to get it out of me.  I have buried three of the most significant people in my life.  My mom in 2003, my dad in 2005 and my partner in 2006.  Each time I continued to write letters to them.  There was only one problem.  I did not have anyone to send them to. There are no stamps to heaven. This was my hidden pain.   It was a way of self soothing  my emotions. Now I write for a different reason.  I pushed through all the bad things in my life.  I feel good about writing a blog. It was like an open letter to the world.  I know a few people have read it.           

I had a dream. No, I’m not the remarkable Martin Luther King.  It was not that sort of dream. But it did make an impression on me.  I dreamt that I was fishing.  I was floating along on a piece of wood.  I was slowly moving.  The water was lapping over the edges of my make shift raft.  If I remember correctly it was the remains a door, like a barn door.  Then I felt a tug on the fishing pole I was holding.  I pulled back to discover that my pole had broken.  I wanted to reel in the fish, but my only option was to pull on the string with my hands.  I was exhilarated. I pulled and pulled. I finally dragged a big bass on the drifting door with me. It was a great catch.  I did my best to keep the fish from getting away.  I awoke with the vision of this big fish and how once I got him, I did not want to let him go. 

I did some research in to the meaning of my dream.  There were so many significant things in my dream.  It seemed to mirror my waking life.  In my dream I was drifting along with the remains of a door.  To me this means I am single with only the fragments of a former love closed behind me.  I want to test the waters of love again, and hope for a great catch.  A new love perhaps?   My inner self is telling me there are more fish in the see. Like the old saying.  Also it may be a struggle but it will be worth it in the end.   I feel I should be open to new love, and use the past to keep me afloat.  I am stronger than I realize.  I am finding about my inner strength every day.  Give a man a fish and he eats for a day...teach a man to fish, and he brings home a fisherman.

Friday was a bust.

My Friday night was a bust. I wanted to go out. But my body told me to go to sleep. So I did.  Super early.  I woke up a couple times, but fell right back to sleep.  I saved money by staying home. That was a good thing.  My Saturday was good.  I was up at 6am.  I went fabric shopping in the morning.  I found some really nice things at the Harry Hines warehouse stores.  I have to make something white for an upcoming event.  White is a color I do not wear often. It is reserved for angels and virgins. And I am neither one.  I Also I did some light grocery shopping at my local Fiesta Store # 73. This is not my usual store, but I did notice good prices and shorter lines than the Wally World by my house. 

                I  watched a movie on Saturday afternoon.  It was a great movie. It was a relaxing afternoon.  The rainy weather put me in a lazy mood.  I feel better when it is sunny outside.  Plus I can wear shorts.  I stayed home in the evening and fell asleep in the chair watching TV.  It was an uneventful day. It was nice.

Happy Friday.  For everyone who has been counting the days until Friday…it is finally here.  I my self have no real plans for the weekend. I hope to maybe venture out to my local gay bar and consume a couple of refreshing adult beverages.  It would be nice to catch a show and say hello to some friends, but I am not sure what the events of the weekend are.  There is just one catch to all this festive gatherings, it will be interrupted on Sunday. I have to go to work for a few hours.  There is a project at work that requires about 6 hours of my time.  I will make the best of it. 

I am thinking, that I may visit my local fabric warehouse on Saturday.  It is not you typical Joann’s or Handcock fabric store…oh no no.  It is a huge warehouse.  In Dallas we have a warehouse area where you can by almost anything imported for overseas.   I usually shop for jewelry, hand bags, and of course fabric.  If you hear someone in Dallas mention Harry Hines, they are going there to find two things…prostitutes and cheap merchandise.  Luckily the hookers are only out at night.  The day time is filled with rich white ladies driving mini-vans and high dollars SUV’s.  They are like vultures at the rhinestone jewelry place.  They scurry around with baskets around their arms, and hollering  at their comrades… who are appreantly named  Jessica, Sarah, and Megan.  They fill their baskets full of cheap jewelry and then leave half of it at the register, because they changed their mind, but wanted to grab it before another shopper did.  My dog does the same thing. He gobbles up all the food, so the other dog does not get as much.  Greedy bitches.

I need to find some moderstly priced black stretch velvet.  I have a dress to make for a client from Austin.  She want black velvet and shear sleeves and a train.  She and I did a consult over a month ago. And I need to get it complete and checked off my list.  I have fabric for four other people right now.  I need to knock a few out, so I can take on some other new clients.  Plus I have one dress to make for new  queen I have never met.  I donated a custom dress to a charity auction.  And now it is time to make it for her.  I hope I can find what I need at the warehouse store.  In fact I love it there. It is like a kid being in a candy store.  So much fabric, so little time. 

Snake skin w black

It was 1995..ish.

I have been asked many times, ‘how long have you been doing this’.  And by ‘this’, they mean Drag.  Lets just say, that my first Miss Texas was Celeaste Martinez.  That was 1994-1995…ish.  She came to town and performed at the local gay bar.  There was only one  bar in Wichita Falls back then. Rascals on Indiana street.  It was a cute bar. I was told it was once a restaurant.  It was a down town building. It had a large dance floor in the front of the building, a game room with darts/pool.  And as you moved through the building, there was a back bar area with booths and tables.  It was a good set up.  It was the first gay bar I had ever been to.  I was in college then. I had joined a group on campus. It was a LGBT group.  They became my friends.  The student leader of the group was “Mac”.  She was like no one I had ever met before.  Her real name was Mary Ann Critendon.  Sadly she died in a car wreck about 10 years ago.  I was drawn to her friendly, positive attitude about being gay.  It was so different from the small  and closed-minded town I came from.  She introduced me to many other gay people on campus.  A couple of which, I still talk to on occasion. We all just wanted to fit in, and found a place to belong in this group. 

                The student leaders of our group, arranged for us all to have a night out. The bar did not allow anyone under 21 years.   I was only 19.  We, the 21 and under folks, were allowed into the bar for this one night event.  I had the best time. It was the first time I had ever seen to guys dance together, and women show affection for each other.  It was like the world opened up for me not to be afraid.  It gave me hope that my life could be a happy one.  There are people in the world like me, who live open, happy, successful lives and go on to establish lasting relationships.  I was hanging out with gay friends, but was not out to my family.  I mean, how do you tell your family that you are gay.

The first person I told, was my sister Anita.  She and I have always been close.  As a young boy, I would get jealous because she would play Barbies with her friend down the street, and I could not go too.  I told her my news, and she took it pretty well.  I remember she told me she loved me…the rest was just conversation and questions.  I still love her very much for always being there.  Even when my mom found out, and didn’t talk to me, my sister would come visit me. 

I continued making new friends, and they people I was hanging around with, were drag queens.  They put on special occasion shows back then.  We only had one bar, and drag shows were seasonal.  Like a Christmas show, and 4^th of july show.  That kind of thing.  Some of the ‘girls’ in the group, has been asked to perform in the upcoming Halloween show.  They were buying new dresses and buying new wigs. They stocked up on panty hose and make-up.  I was so fascinated by the work that they put into a one night gig.  It was like being a local celebrity. One friend, Todd,  even rented a limo to drive her entourage to the bar.  Every one thought it was Reba McEntire getting out of that limo.

I was not interested in drag at first. It was something, that others did.  But little by little I thought, I might try it.  There is another small bar in Lawton Oklahoma.  It was about 45 miles away.  My friends had heard that they were having open talent nights.  My friends from Wichita Falls wanted to go enter the contest.  So along I went too.  I was hooked.  The contestants would put on costumes and gowns and parade around mouthing the words to popular dance songs and dramatic ballads.  The crowd would go wild. They would tip dollars and in the end, the winner of the night would be chosen by audience applause.  We cheered for our friends  and guess what…they still lost.  We said  the contest was rigged. But looking back now, those Lawton girls were pretty fierce.

I decided I wanted to try drag.  I entered the Lawton contests.  My friends would come and cheer.  I came back, week after week until guess what…I won.  It was hard at first. I kept doing what the other queens did and kept coming up short.  I figured that it was best to try making my own style and worked really hard to see a success. I made a costume, with hot glue and some scrap fur seat covers. That is a true fact.  I looked great.   My first few times in drag , I has no clothes of my own, and I borrowed stuff from my friend. I affectionately  refer to him as my Drag Mother.  He got me started.  He and I still talk about the old days, and all the drama over the years.  I have seen the success of many shows and drag pageants over my career. (20 pageants won…and several more lost too).  Being a drag queen has made me the man I am today. I know that sounds funny, but with each has been a learning experience. 

I borrowed a Movie

I  did not sew anything last night. I have had the same dress draped on the cutting table for two days.   I ended up watching a movie that I borrowed from our local library.  So far I have really enjoyed going to the library.  It full fills my needs to window shop. And unlike real shopping, you don’t have to pay.  You just swipe your library card and go.   Plus it is really close to my apartment.  It seems I am always on a budget  these days. 

The movie I borrowed was Mame.  It starred an older Lucille Ball. The musical revolves around the antics of Mame Dennis, a fun-loving, wealthy eccentric with a flare for life and a razor sharp wit. Her life is suddenly changed when she becomes the guardian of her late brother's only child, Patrick Dennis. Her adventures take us from the speak-easies of the roaring 20's to the depression following the great Stock Market crash. She is rescued by a wealthy Southern plantation owner, marries and is widowed suddenly, and through it all, manages to keep things under control. With some help from her dearest friend, Vera Charles, she helps keep things at #3 Beekman Place a rousing free-for-all.  

I had no idea Lucille Ball could sing, and in my opinion. She can’t.  But some how she pulled it off. You see, the Mame character was not an actor or singer.  She was just a woman who enjoyed life.  The story was about her love of people.  She loves her friends, and adds her nephew to her life. She shows him that he must live life to the fullest.  Even in hard times and tragic happenings.  She does what she has to do, in order to keep going in life and uses songs/music to enhance her life. 

The relationship of the characters made this a great movie.  I really felt a connection to Mame.  She sang, even though she was not the best singer.  She cared when her own heart was sad.  She found a way to live life to the fullest.  This movie came out in 1974, the year I was born. But it took me 36 years to watch this movie.  I feel, I am on my own journey to live my life to the fullest. I have done shows for charity, when my own life was a wreck. I can not count the number of times, I have done a benefit shows  and  I was so broke I could not rub two pennies together.  That was not the point.  I use my talents  as a drag entertainer to help those in need.  In short, I love what I do!  That is in part what this blog is about.  I needed to put my voice out there in the universe.  I want to share my unique story. My goal is to live life to the fullest, too.  Who knows.  I may end up being “Queen of the Blogging Universe”.

Late night callers

I got an unexpected phone call last night.  I was finishing up some house work and we preparing for bed.  It was some one from Oklahoma City calling.  It was another drag queen named Jozlyn.  She and I meet a few years ago through mutual friends.  I am still friends with people in OKC, because I used to live there about ten years ago.  I was in my mid-twenties then. I was working  and living in Wichita Falls and wanted to make a change.  So I moved to OKC, where one of my good sisters was living.  I lived there about  a year.  I had made some success doing local pageants and local drag shows.  I was enjoying myself and made some good friends. 

                The call last night was an invitation to come back for the Miss Oklahoma at large pageant, one of the many titles I have held since my drag career began.  I am now a former, and they wanted to ask formers to come be recognized and perform a solo drag number for the crowd.  I was so excited, I could hardly talk on the phone.  I felt good to be remembered. Also it is the chance to see old friends again.  I quickly wrote down all the information and thanked Jozlyn for calling me.  I  immmediatly called my sister in OKC.  “guess what?”  I told her about the booking and how I couldn’t wait to be in town in the next few weeks.  She said I could crash at her place and it would save on hotel cost.  She is always looking  out for me.

                This upcoming  trip to Oklahoma is all I could think about this morning.  I am trying to weigh the pro and cons of it.  If my memory serves me right, I did not have such a great time at last year’s pageant.  I felt very out of place and unprepared.  I did some sappy ballad number and wore one of my favorite costumes.  But this year, I want to wow them!  I am going to work hard in the next few weeks to create a new costume and find the perfect song.  I want so much to shine.  Sometimes, a plain old show number just will not do.  Also I will have to put in extra hours at work, so I can afford to make the trip.  It is about three hours drive, plus food, plus pocket money.  I want to  make it a long weekend and visit friends and family. 

I need a clone.

The weekend flew by. I worked over time on Saturday plus I was not feeling well this weekend, and slept a lot on Sunday.  I slept so much, I did my grocery shopping at 2am. Thanks goodness for the 24 hour Wal-Mart.    Crazy, how I could still over spend at that late hour.  But I manage to do it every time.  I think pushing my body with work and shows for the past few months has finally caught up with me.  I have been working 50 plus hours a week, and trying to fit in shows when I can.  In fact I had two show invites this past weekend and had to pass up both, due to work.  Back just a year ago, I was doing drag two or three shows a week, plus working all day, and trying to have a social life too.  And I was loving it.  But after too long, it wears you down.  I am trying to make this year about doing what is best for me.  So far it has been running along with out too much complaint.



Just two of my samples.



               



 

I made two dress this weekend.  I have been so busy lately that sewing was put on the back burner.  They look great. One lavender stretch  and lavender penne velvet.  Some thing simple and  sleek.  I used my new method of cutting and draping to crate an elegant show gown. Flowing sleeves fitted waist and split on both legs.  Super sexy kind of dress.   It a size 16-18.  Most of the clothes I make are plus size.  In fact most of the clients I sew for are plus size.  I need to find some one who can start listing them on Ebay.  I have seen some very successful auctions on ebay, and it would seem that it is part of the market I am missing out on.  I tried to get my sister to help me with this, but there always be some kind of drama with her.  I try to show her a new way to make money…she never takes me seriously, and misses the opportunity.  I tried to tell her how much she could benefit form learning to sew, but she showed no real interest.  So I continue to be a one man show. 

I also made a mint green burnt velvet dress with a stretch lining  and nude panels in it.  I say it is done, but still needs hemming.  I like they way it looks.  Very see through, with just a hint of skin showing. My motto is flashy, not trashy. I will probably put rhinestones on it, to really make it sparkle and shine. Its like a nice cake and then you have to frost it!   I will push myself to work over time at my job every day, plus I hope to make more dresses this week.  My goal is at least two more.  I have tons of fabric. Just wish I had the time.  I need to get a clone, I can relax while the other me, works himself to death…then get another clone.

I try to not make any two dresses look alike.  Only once or twice have been asked to duplicate a dress exactly.  They did look great, but I don’t recommend it.  Especially of the two clients know each other.  That could be awkward.

Friday Friday

Well I made it to Friday, payday friday.  I feel like jumping for joy.  I went from broke ho, to rich bitch  in one drirect deposit.  Things have not been easy in the last few years.  But I have managed to keep things paid and have a place to call home.  The economy has been rough, gas prices are high again.  I appreacite  my job these days.  There are so many people without one. The last company I worked for closed last year. I left a year before that.  So I got lucky to get a better job when I did. I have been working here for two years and two months.  My bosses are good and the pay is great.  I do not look forward to paying those bills all by myself.   No one to split them with.  I am single.  No live in boyfriend, no long term companion, no room mates. Could you imagine, room mates, at my age?  That just would not work.  Right now I use my sewing and drag shows for extra income....if I need money I get to sewing.  I have several great friends who are always in need of new gowns and costumes.  I also put my talents on sale at sample shows. 

There is a show in Fort Worth tonight, a charity show. I was asked to come and entertain.  But honestly I have to work over time in the morning.  Weekend’s  sure aint what they used to be.  I push myself all week and still find myself working on Saturday.  I look forward to up coming, memorial day off. It will be a three day weekend, and I should start making plans now.  What should I do…travel out of town, or just stay home and explore the quiet and time off. I should really make a trip to cemetery.  It has been a while since I have been there.

What is drag and more of my back story.

A drag queen is usually a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman Example: (Tu Wong Fu, Pricilla, Torch Song Trilogy) often for the purpose of entertaining or performing.
(Thanks wikipedia for setting the world straight. I used them as a reference).

There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in movies to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and can vary even within the same city. Although many drag queens are presumed to be gay men or transgender people, there are drag artists of all genders and sexualities who do drag for various reasons. There are also different size categories in drag pageants. Regular and Plus Size.

I feel I am a regular kind of drag queen. Not a tranny.  I am plus size.  I do not claim to be female. I have never had hormones or plastic surgeries or nothing of the kind, to enhance my appearance.  I think of my self as naturally drag pretty. I do not want to be a transexual drag queen. 

Generally, drag queens dress in a female gender role, often exaggerating certain characteristics (such as make-up and eyelashes) for comic, dramatic or satirical effect. Other drag performers include drag kings, who are women who perform in male roles, faux queens, who are women who dress in an exaggerated style to emulate drag queens and faux kings, who are men who dress to impersonate drag kings.

The term drag queen usually refers to people who dress in drag for the purpose of performing, whether singing or lip-synching, dancing, participating in events such as gay pride parades, drag pageants, or at venues such as cabarets and discotheques. In the United Kingdom, alongside traditional drag work such as shows and performances, many drag queens engage in 'mix-and-mingle' or hosting work at night clubs or at private parties/events. Drag is a part of Western gay culture; it is often noted that the Stonewall riots on June 27, 1969 in New York City were inspired and led by drag queens, and, in part for this reason, drag queens remain a tradition at gay pride events. Prominent drag queens in the gay community of a city often serve as official or unofficial spokespersons, hosts or emcees, fund-raisers, chroniclers and community leaders.

A drag show is an entertainment consisting of a variety of songs, monologues or skits featuring either single performers or groups of performers in drag meant to entertain an audience. (Thats me, lip-synching  to love song at a local show: pic above)  They range from amateur performances at small bars to elaborately staged theatrical presentations. Many drag shows feature performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime, or dancing. The performers often don elaborate costumes and makeup, and sometimes dress to imitate various famous female singers or personalities. There are generally two types of shows.  Charity shows help various organizations raise money. The tips, given to performers during the shows, are collected and given to charity .  Then you have paid shows, the entertainers keep the tips plus and are paid money for being apart of the show cast that night.  Usually it is not much, but can be substantially more if the entertainer is well known and “booked” regally as a quality entertainer.  I myself have made 150 a show, plus tips and in the beginning worked for tips only.  This was when I first stared out locally.  And some events are centered around drag, such as Southern Decadence where the majority of festivities are led by the Grand Marshals, who are traditionally drag queens.

There tend to be three types of drag names:

*The first are satirical names that play on words, such as Miss Understood, Peaches Christ, Ciara Mist, and Lypsinka. There is my one local favorite...Roxxanne Dubree.  It makes me laugh.  She is a performer who comes out once a year to raise money for turn-a-bout month.  That is when non-full time drag queens, put on the persona and have fun raising money for charity.  Usually its your bar staff and and husbands/boyfriends of the usual drag queens,  but it is not limited to just them.  Other local names include Sofonda Furr, Rhoda Heffer, Amanda Rider, Julianne Fries, London Raine
*The second type are names that trend toward glamour and extravagance, such as Dame Edna Everage, Chi Chi LaRue, Margo Howard-Howard, Betty "Legs" Diamond and The Lady Chablis. This is the type used by the character Albin in the movie and musical La Cage Aux Folles for his drag persona, "Miss ZaZa Napoli". Local names in Dallas Fort Worth include Amber Diva Daniels, Chelsea La Rue, Linze Serell, Rozlyn DuBois...plus many more.
*The third type is considered simpler but can have an in-depth backstory, cultural or geographical significance or simply be a feminine form of their "boy" name. Sometimes, Drag families emerge and all have same last name. Or someone uses another’s name as a way of making it seem like they are part of of well known drag family. This is stealing, sort of. Often a drag queen will pick a name or be given one by a friend or "drag mother" as a one-time occasion only to discover they like performing and go on to use a less-than ideal name for years. Drag queens do change names as well even using two or more concurrently for various reasons. Some examples of simpler names include, Betty Butterfield , Coco Peru and Divine.  I have even known girls who just keep adding names. In my opinion the more last names you have, the less talented you are.  I say, stop trying to ride the coat tails of other, make your own path.

I guess My name falls into this category.  I took a name that my siblings called me as a kid and turned it into MATTIE... and MADISON was a popular girls name.  I do not feel it is necessary to take the name of a drag family.  I have never been “drag” adopted by another better known queen/friend. I have chosen my own name and made it unique and my goal is to be my own person!
 I have even known girls who just keep adding names. So-N-So  Davenport, LaRue, Edwards, Ohara, smith and Wesson....too many names makes you an idiot.  In my opinion the more last names you have, the less talented you really are.  I say, stop trying to ride the coat tails of others, make your own path.


(Thanks wikipedia. I used them as a reference. )

this morning.

This morning, I woke up. I had to go to my regular job. I work Monday through Friday at a warehouse in Irving.  It is my job, but not my passion.  I need to hold this job.  It provides me with a steady income, health insurance and allows me to do what i enjoy.  I call it my job, but not my career. 

My bio was just a sample of who I am.  The past has been a very difficult place to be but I am working hard to be the person I want to be. 

Here is how things are right now today.  I live in Texas.  I am 36 years old.  Widowed.  Hispanic.  I have one brother, and four sisters.  My mom and dad are no longer living. I grew up in a small town in Texas and do not plan on ever going back.  I have traveled some, and want to travel more.  I have paid my rent, and have been living the last two weeks on about 40 dollars.  Pay day is in two day, and I think I’m gonna make it. 

Now let be break all that general information into an elaborate story about who I am.  I have lived in Texas most of my life.  My mom told me about when we lived in Kansas when I was a baby, But I don’t remember it.  I was born in Wichita Falls Texas in the fall of 1974.  My parents lived about 30 miles about side of Wichita Falls and it was the nearest birth hospital. My mom always told me stories about how I was almost born on the side of the road. Dad drove her to the hospital, but the baby was already  making it way into the world.  If he would have stopped, I would have been born on highway 287.  I’m not sure if it was true, but she loved embarrassing my with that story every year. 

My mom, told me how much she had wanted another baby, she had miscarried triplets before she conceived me.  She only told me that story once.  I’m not sure I want to tell you about it, it was difficult for her.  Then she had me, all 9 lbs and 10 oz.  I was a large baby.  So fat, I looked like a baby sumo.  Little did my parents know that the joy, would soon be hurt.  I was sick.  As a baby, my weight dropped and with in a few weeks, my mom thought I was gonna die.  She kept taking me to the doctor but they could not figure out what was wrong with me. My mom, said I would throw up milk and would not eat.  She said I was so sick,  I could barely cry.  My body was rejecting all nutrition.  My mom prayed and prayed. My dad was so hurt, all he could do was comfort my mother.   Finally , they learned I was allergic to milk.  It seemed crazy, because that is what babies drink, mothers milk, cows milk, formula.  My body could not digest it.  So they did what every parent would do, yep, they bought a goat.  I’m not sure who milked it, but it worked.  My health quickly  returned and I lived.  Mom said she thanked god for my life. My mom died in 2003 of kidney failure and my dad died in 2005 after a short battle with cancer. 

I have one brother and a sister who are older that me.  Just by a couple of years.  We were all very close growing up as kids, but we don’t talk anymore.  They don’t approve of my life.  I know a lot of people like me. We make our friends into our family and treat our real family life strangers.  Having good friends, makes the pain of family betrayal a little easier to bare.

In the beginning. My first post.

Mattie Madison is a fashion designer that specializes in one of a kind and custom order evening gowns, dresses and costumes.   We also produce prom, pageant gowns, short cocktail dresses, and all other types of women's formal wear attire.

All of the elegant gowns and black tie social evening wear designs shown can be made to order in any size, all colors, any fabrics and with any changes to our existing designs. Custom formal dresses and ball gowns are also available of where we will sketch a couture design for you or we can work from your own sketches and/or a photo that you provide.

So if you have been endlessly searching the internet, looking at pictures in magazines and shopping local bridal stores and not had any luck finding exactly what you want your search for designer dresses is over.   There is no need to retail shop any further.  Regardless of what your needs are (be it plus size, petite, long sleeve or wanting a unique design) we can make it happen for you. For we are not a traditional bridal store or online catalog company. We are the actual dress designer/creater so the sky is the limit.  

It is our goal to provide you with a quality product. All creations are professionally serged/hemmed  and fabrics were hand selected by the designer.  Fabric are from vendors across the south west.             

We are based out of Irving TX just a few miles west of Dallas, Texas. We look forward to making a very special garment for you and look forward to working with you very soon.

Ok, here is what my Bio says....then I will tell the rest.

BIO:  Tomas Flores  AKA  Mattie Madison

 Tomas Flores is an entertainer also known as Mattie Madison.  Born and raised in Electra Texas, Tomas moved to Wichita Falls in 1993 after graduation from Electra High School to attend the Midwestern State University.

It was during this time in college that Tomas discovered the world of drag & fashion.  It became his passion.  His mom loved to sew. Tomas taught himself to sew on an old machine that once belonged to his mother.  Tomas’s uniquely creative flair and true understanding of drag, helped him to begin making dresses and costumes. 

After some moderate local success in Wichita Falls, Tomas began sewing for friends in the drag world in Dallas.   Tomas, as a new fashion designer, decided that he was ready to take his evening gown and dress designs to the next level. It was then, that the marriage of determination, passion, design, & fashion sense were perfectly melded into Tomas producing his own designer collection of formal evening wear gowns.

He introduced his first collection known as “Mattie Madison Originals” at the Dallas coronation in October of 2009.  He has experimented with selling his designs to individuals across the world via the internet as well as to select clients in the Dallas Metroplex area.  He has continues to showcase his collections at sample shows such as the one presented here today.  This has worked well since most of the sales generated are from the direct contact with a unique customer base. Today’s sale allows Tomas to meet clients personally. He can then produce a custom look for all body types.  We understand it is simply too hard to find something off the rack at any bridal/gown shop.

Tomas Flores dreams of opening a new showroom in the near future.  The current collection has developed into a sleek and elegant collection of fine custom social occasion evening wear.  Mattie Madison has clients in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, OKC, Las Vegas, NYC New Orleans and San Francisco and other large cites in the US. Our goal is to make provide custom sewing “for the Diva in us all. “