Painting Myself Green on a Construction Site (and Unlearning Masculinity) | Part 1

This week on Fashion Is My Foreplay, I’m joined by Ruben, creative, designer, body-paint enthusiast and self-described fashion alien.

I originally found him on Instagram after a Reel where he talked about working on a construction site while secretly listening to Drag Race in his headphones. Fast forward to painting himself green, building avant-garde queer fashion, and unlearning internalised homophobia, and I was obsessed.

In Part 1 we talk about:

• Being queer in hyper-masculine spaces (like building sites)
• “Performing masculinity” vs performing authenticity
• Growing up in a Steiner school (yes… eurythmy included)
• Why lockdown changed everything
• Drag Race, Bimini & Gottmik’s impact
• Internalised homophobia & trying to be “palatable”
• From furniture design to Berlin nightlife fashion
• Making clothes for queer bodies , without formal fashion training

This is about creativity, queerness, identity, fantasy, and the freedom that comes when you stop trying to be “normal.”

This is Part 1 — Part 2 drops next week.

Follow Ruben:
Fashion: https://www.instagram.com/rubenbodower/
Personal: https://www.instagram.com/rexyruben/

Follow the podcast:
Host: @fashionismyforeplay
Email: fashionismyforeplay@gmail.com

⚠️ Content note: Discussion of mental health, internalised homophobia, queer identity, nightlife culture and brief mentions of anxiety/depression.