A Lot of Lift and Tuck

The Movie: “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar.”

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The Setup: Fresh from a drag queen beauty pageant in New York, Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze, pictured right), Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes, pictured left) and Chi Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo, pictured center) hit the road for Hollywood.

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The Costume Designer: Marlene Stewart, whose credits include the movies “True Lies,” “The River Wild,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Falling Down,” “The Doors” and “JFK” as well as 11 Madonna music videos.

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The Approach: “I just treated them like actresses. Some actresses have to have things pushed up, some have to have things pulled in. Everybody does, even people with fabulous figures. There are very few women who I’ve made dresses for that I haven’t also made an undergarment or padding,” says Stewart. So, with a lot of infrastructure, the ladies’ wardrobes took shape. Practically everything, from shoes to corsets, was custom-made.

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The Look: Noxeema is into trendy little tube dresses; Chi Chi shows off a pair of outstanding legs in baby doll dresses and short-shorts, and Vida, the most fab of all, is the heiress type in dresses inspired by a Philadelphia Main Line matron, circa 1950.

Pumped up and packed away in Donna Karan bras (size 38 C), silicone falsies, hip pads, corsets and straps (known as “gender benders” on the circuit) to hide their penises, they strut in tight skirts, skinny pants and even bathing suits.

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Quoted: “They didn’t realize how restrictive the clothes were going to be. There were points in fittings when their feet would hurt from their high heels, their panty hose would make them sweat, their underwire bras hurt them and I’d say, ‘You can’t complain until you get really bad cramps,’ ” Stewart said of the actors.

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Noted: Stewart says that Snipes posed the biggest challenge. “John was easy and fun because he had a body in a [size] range you didn’t have to do too much to. Patrick was wonderful because he’s a dancer and very, very aware of his body. Wesley’s very masculine. There came a moment when I couldn’t hide any more during one of the fittings and I said, ‘Just think Naomi Campbell and maybe some of it will rub off.’ ”

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Trivia: Getting into costume took five or six hours, including makeup and hair. By then, the actors had to shave again.

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Research: Stewart went to such clubs as Boy Bar, Webster Hall, La Escuelita and Sally’s in New York and Drag Strip 66 in Los Angeles. But “I didn’t try to copy drag queens,” she says.

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Sources: Most of the clothes were made in New York and Los Angeles. Todd Oldham provided some of the prints for Noxeema’s dresses. Shoes were made by DiFabrizio in Los Angeles.