Chappell Roan reveals the reason why she wears white makeup

ICYMI Chappell Roan is *theeee* girl of the moment. The musician, lowkey drag queen and patron saint of the lesbian pop culture renaissance has been living in our heads rent-free.

From her breakout album Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess to her stunning VMAs performance, to the fact she rocked a literal sword on the red carpet (Joan of Arc much?) and clapped back at a photographer who told her to “shut the clapped back at a photographer who allegedly told her to “shut the the f*** up”, she is showing us all how to live our boldest and most authentic lives.

The 26-year-old has a reputation for rocking some amazing beauty looks: from a Marie Antoinette bouffant wig to increeeed XXXL sword nails. However, there is one staple of her theatrical makeup aesthetic: matte white face makeup, which she often rocks on stage as part of her camp performance looks.

Now, the artist has opened up about why she rocks this makeup look. On stage on 13 September, at a date on her ‘Midwest Princess’ tour in Manchester, she spoke about the defiant message she spreads with her clowncore facepaint and how it relates to her experiences of queerness growing up in a small American town.

“People in my hometown call gay people clowns,” she explained to the crowd. “That’s why I actually wear my white face… Like b**ch, I’ll show you a clown.”

A clip of Chappell explaining this aspect of her artistry was shared to the pop culture X account PopCrave and has since been seen over 950,000 times.

We love you Chappell!

Megan Wallace (they/them) is Cosmopolitan UK’s Former Sex and Relationships Editor covering sexual pleasure, sex toys, LGBTQIA+ identity, dating and romance. They have covered sexuality and relationships for over five years and in their spare time, they can be found exploring the London kink scene and planning dates on Feeld.