On the first Friday of the month, there’s always Strapped. When I went for the first time, I was taken by the difference in the Empty Bottle’s atmosphere. It felt more like a birthday party than a bar, with people introducing themselves to strangers by complimenting their hair, or jumping into a convo in the bathroom about the zodiac signs of all of our mothers. I even lost my wallet at one point in the crowd and everyone around me immediately offered to help look. This comradery is not foreign to a show at Empty Bottle, but it’s rarely everywhere you look, every time you go. It’s almost like someone took a magnifying glass to what’s good and wholesome about going out and multiplied it. 

Strapped is a lot of things. Part drag, part burlesque, part variety show, part whatever the creators Michele and Reggie want that Friday. Michele, also known as Siichele, and Reggie, also known as Irregular Girl, both had been hosting, producing and performing in the drag scene for years before the conception of Strapped. Their goal when starting out was simple: “I think we just literally wanted it to be a crazy, slutty, lesbian party.” Michele tells me. It was her tweet, calling out the lack of lesbian centered parties in the drag scene that started it all. Reggie asks her, “Did I see it and DM you?”

“I wish I could find the actual Tweet but my account was suspended for telling white supremacists to kill themselves. I don’t even remember what exactly it said, but it was something about, and correct me if I’m wrong, at the time there wasn’t a lesbian drag show in Chicago. There just wasn’t. Am I crazy? There were lesbian parties, but there wasn’t a lesbian…” 

They glance at each other and emphasize in unison, ”drag show.”

On Saturday, Reggie and Michele sit across from me at the Cozy Corner on Clark. Out of their glam from the night before but still glamorous, they’re a cozier version of the sexy, impenetrable creatures I saw on stage. Both tell me that their stage personas are not personas at all, not separate characters from who they are (Irregular Girl and Siichele even share the same zodiac signs as their creators). It’s rather a choice in what aspects of themselves they want to examine and explore. Reggie tells me, “I feel like Irregular Girl allows me to get more vulnerable and in touch with my heart.”

“I feel like I’m magnifying specific traits in me with Siichele. The cunty traits. Siichele is so pussy pussy and sometimes I feel like an elementary school art teacher outside of drag.” Michele sitting across from me is an expert accessorizer, it’s clear. “All of my confidence I store up and put it into her, that’s also where my sexual confidence goes. Siichele is ran through, Michele is not.”

“Same here. The sensuality, the desire, the yearning, I feel like all of it is in there for me. I realized that I was trans through doing drag, so I feel that that was a part of it too. I owe so much to Irregular Girl.” 

I think of their performances from last night. Siichele, who tells me she wasn’t in the mood before the second her song came on, fluttering her lashes into a Kubrick stare to Addison's first lines, Tell me who I am… And Regina, romanticizing the crowd immediately, stepping out to the first moody moments of “Criminal” by Fiona Apple, both songs barely audible above the crowd of girls screaming like it’s the Beatles. I think about the crowd after, turning to each other in excitement, in love. I think of an actor friend of mine in college who told me that a performance can be even more real than real life. What is it about watching someone else perform that makes you feel like anything is possible?

Strapped started at Berlin, where Reggie and Michele had been going for years, starting just as fans of drag, then working their way up from the crowd to the stage. Berlin introduced them to the scene and to each other. “Berlin would do one-offs and random shows all the time, which we could throw together in five seconds. I loved that we had a space like that,” Michele remembers. “When I turned 21, I went to Berlin at midnight by myself and handed over my ID and said now you have to let me in. Then I slowly infiltrated the scene by bothering everyone, probably. I was just hosting at first, then my first performance was a burlesque number as the Black Dahlia. Instead of a pasty reveal… I had chopped boobs. Which is really disrespectful, by the way! Back then I was spooky, exclusively.” 

“My first drag name was Mason Jarr. Get into her. Get into her,” Reggie says, tapping her finger on the fork she’s holding up. Suddenly: “Oh my god, a Furry.” We all turn to look at the tailed figure making their way across the slush and salt-covered crosswalk. “It is Midwest Fur Fest right now, that makes sense. Anyways,” she continues. “Berlin was amazing. I think it wasn’t until I went there that I really saw drag, I mean I had watched Drag Race, but Berlin was the first place I saw it in person. It was just so fun and so freeing. I didn’t identify as trans at the time but certainly that was a part of it for me, seeing queer people on stage being hot and sexy and fierce.”

Reggie and Michele connected over the shared goal of a drag night at Berlin just for lesbians. A party specifically by and for lesbians wasn’t something that existed yet, or if it did, it had a tendency to focus on a select group of performers. “Part of the reason why we started Strapped was because we felt a little uncomfortable at some of the lesbian parties or shows where the clientele was mostly white, mostly cis,” says Reggie. “I still feel like a lot of shows are hesitant to bring up trans-masc performers and butch performers. There's a focus on femme, which is fabulous but it’s not as if they’re the only part of the community.”

Michele adds, “I’ve performed at shows where people wouldn’t even like, look in my direction. Or, at Berlin, guys used to come up to me and tell me, ‘That’s not drag, what you’re doing.’ So nasty and random. We need specific spaces where you can leave everything behind and there’s no dos and don’ts about queerness.”

Because of this underlying feeling of unwelcomeness in a scene that exists in order to do the opposite, Reggie and Michele had no idea how Strapped would be received. Their only goal was to do it. “We were so insecure about how it was going to turn out and what the turn out was going to be that I think our goal was just literally to throw a party, “ Reggie tells me. 

Michele goes on, “The first ever Strapped at Berlin, we were like, oh my god people are not coming, y’all hate lesbians and you want us to die. You hate us and you’re gonna hate the show and no one's going to come and it’s going to be embarrassing.” That first Friday, they sat in the Berlin basement freaking out, fully believing that no one would come. But when it was time for them to go up and start the show they saw a line out the door all the way to Taco Bell. Since then, Strapped has sold out every month.

This proves, as Reggie puts it, “There just wasn’t a precedent for a show like that at the time. I think because sometimes lesbians are treated as a smaller version of the larger scene of Drag entertainers in Chicago, it can often feel like there’s not as much support from some of the cis male drag entertainers. Now, there’s a lot more lesbian shows and I think that bolsters everyone's work and allows lesbians to get more well-deserved stage time.” While watching Strapped, you really get a sense that performers are encouraged to do whatever they want. It’s a chance for them to perform something that, at any other show, they may worry is not sexy enough, not drag enough, or to a song that’s too niche and no one will get. “People on their first time performing with us are often like, ‘What should I do?’ We say literally do whatever you want. They’re gonna go crazy for you as long as you’re feeling yourself up there. Especially if it’s an ‘out there’ choice. Many times performers have said that this is the best crowd that they’ve performed for,” says Reggie.

Michele adds, “I especially love when burlesque performers say that. Because a lot of burlesque shows aren’t specifically queer, there are a lot of queer burlesque performers shaking and shimmying for straight dudes who don’t know how to act in crowds. But yeah, hearing that always makes me feel so good.”

Reggie goes on, “I think whenever we curate the lineup, obviously we’re booking drag performers but the performers that we book are pretty varied because there are so many different lesbian performers in Chicago that often just don’t get the showcase that they deserve. So, the whiplash of Strapped’s line up can be pretty crazy. Last month, you got Burlesque, you got Furry, you got Emo, you got Strawberry Shortcake.”

“And then we did the Time Warp.” adds Michele. 

“But it feels really nice to put them all in one lineup. Then we always do a hands-in before the show to help all of us get into the space.”

I ask if they cheer for anything when they release their hands. “We go: ‘Dykes on three!’”

This feeling of encouragement to do whatever you want is contagious, and goes beyond the stage. The crowd is not only lively but welcoming. Not only welcoming, but romantic. Also: “It’s not stinky, it smells good,” Michele tells me. 

“Our guests are hot and wear deodorant. Put that in your magazine,” adds Reggie.

It does feel like even a place like Chicago doesn’t have many spaces where lesbians are centered and encouraged to get it on, which you may not realize is rare until you’re in that rare space. According to Reggie, “For a lot of people it’s a place where you meet other lesbians, where they can meet people that they’re interested in. My friend and her partner actually met at Strapped three years ago. They just had their anniversary, so cute. I love it especially when I look out into the crowd and see people having a great time or like, making out or fingering in Empty Bottle… please use hand sanitizer– actually, don’t. That’s crazy. Wash your hands, dry them, then go crazy.“

Unapologetic sensuality and romanticism is a constant at Strapped, “I had to squeeze by like 5 different couples making out just to get upstairs last night.” Michele adds. 

This “do whatever you want” attitude feels perfect for a historically punk, diy centered place like Empty Bottle, where the girls had decided to move the show even before Berlin closed down. This decision came about, not only because they and their guest performers weren’t getting paid enough, but because they wanted the freedom to curate a more specific audience and pull a bigger crowd, as often at Berlin, the crowd of mostly cis gay men weren't used to or interested in a show that wasn’t for them. “Empty Bottle is amazing and we are so happy there. I feel like the vibe of it is so much more punky and raw which lends itself to Strapped. This show has always felt, even though it’s not really DIY or punk, it feels that way. It feels counter-culture-ish because we are doing whatever we want, and there's something beautiful about that happening in that space, in a music venue,” Reggie tells me. I would argue that Strapped is in many ways the definition of punk.

A few lines from the riotgrrrl manifesto come to mind:

• Burn down the walls that say you can’t.

• Be a dork, tell your friends you love them.

• Recognize empathy and vulnerability as positive forms of strength.

• Resist the internalization of capitalism, the reducing of people and oneself to commodities meant to be consumed.

• Don’t judge other people. Learn to love yourself. 

The outside world no longer exists when you’re at Strapped, all the rules and definitions of who you are or who you’re supposed to be or what you’re supposed to look like fall away and you’re revealed to yourself, who you are without all those things.

The fact that it’s grown so much from where it began is proof that punk in artistic practice not only works, but is a positive force, resulting in change. This is clear as ever to me when Reggie tells me about her favorite Strapped moment so far. “I think it has to be my face reveal from Super Sapphic this past summer. It felt really personal to me, just thinking about what Strapped has offered us, helping us bolster our careers. I wouldn’t have been able to afford FFS or my tits if it wasn't for being a part of something bigger than me, and it felt really gorgeous as the author of that work, to share that.” I ask her what song she chose for that moment, she responds perfectly: “I performed ‘Dreams’ by the Cranberries for that because, of course. Because, dreams.”

Strapped is a lesbian party where anything goes, but so much more because of the fact that anything goes. By performing what they want, they make a space for everyone watching to be who they want, and its popularity proves that it not only works, but is necessary.

Everybody wins at Strapped, even between shows. Reggie tells me, “We have a close friends on Instagram where we do early ticket releases and giveaways because we want it to feel like you’re in there with us. I think connecting with the audience is really important to us, and makes them feel included because they literally are helping shape the show.” The night before was “unStrapped”, where the typical Strapped night is broken up with chances for audience members to join performers on stage and participate in games such as “Pin the Dildo on Cythia Erivo” and “Unnamed Balloon Humping Game”. Irregular Girl and Siichele approach contestants on stage before the game begins, asking for their zodiac signs. The first one approaches the mic: “Bottom,” she says innocently, matter of factly. The crowd roars. Participants are showered with gifts post-game only after answering correctly to one question: “are you gay?”

Every month Strapped has a new theme or focus. Michele tells me about her personal favorite, “Strapped: The Musical. It was made out of pure greed.” 

“Like, for money?” I ask. 

She laughs, “No, like wanting to do it, the trauma of not being cast in musicals as a kid being like, well I’m just gonna do it. It’s my turn.”

Reggie adds, “I’m gonna do it now for my awesome lesbian friends.” 

“So yeah, pure revenge and greed,” she says. Michele jokes about it but adds, “Strapped definitely feels like finally getting to be a part of something.”

Want to be a part of it? Upcoming Strapped events include Disco in March, a currently undisclosed Strapped in April (if you love to laugh come in April, they tell me), and Estrapped, a Latine showcase, in May for Cinco De Mayo. Then: “June is just Pride, which is always like, do you love to be gay? Yes. Let’s celebrate that.” When they told me what big group number they had planned for Pride… well I’ll just say I had full body chills.

Whatever the Strapped theme is, it’s always on the first Friday of the month at Empty Bottle. Be there or be straight.

Check them out on Instagram at @strappedchicago, @imirregulargirl, and @siichele.