The Fabulous Drag Queen Who Gets Mistaken For A Real Woman When Out ‘Glammed Up’

By Liana Jacob

MEET THE heterosexual man who takes his drag alter ego to the STREETS at least one day a WEEK where he has been mistaken for a WOMAN by strangers – and he even introduces his female counterpart on DATES.

Freelance videographer, Logan Tritt (24) from Kansas, USA, was first fascinated by drag in October 2014, during his first year of university where he was still settling in and finding friends. As a creative outlet, he decided to explore the world of drag.

The feminine look he created called Jess Anderson, was inspired by Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess from New Girl and as an aspiring filmmaker, he wanted to merge two of his passions together.

Over the next few years he began taking Jess out in public and he says that strangers assume that he is a woman until he speaks and the ‘illusion is over’.

He had one negative experience while trying clothes in a local charity shop; an employee, after hearing his voice, pulled him out of the women’s dressing room and told him he needed to be in the men’s.

After years of Jess being half of him, he has now decided to tell the girl he is dating on the third date about his alter ego and even posts pictures of him as Jess on his online dating profiles.

He says that Jess has taught him so much about the female experience and now empathises more with women through his drag personality, as he takes an hour-and-a-half to transform into Jess, including wearing makeup, shaving, wearing skirts, dresses and he even wears fake boobs.

“I first got into drag during my freshman year of college. During my freshman year of college, I had no connections and no pre-existing friendships in Arizona,” Logan said.

“This, in combination with a heavily textbook-based film school, left me desiring a creative outlet. I’ve always for some reason seen the feminine aesthetic as the ultimate creative canvas.

“After purchasing the most obnoxious neon eye shadow palette I was hooked; I have a handful of creative inspirations behind Jess.

“The name Jess Anderson comes from a combination of Zooey Deschanel’s character in New Girl ‘Jess’ and filmmaker Wes Anderson.

“Zooey is my inspiration in terms of aesthetic and Wes is what I aspire to in terms of storytelling/filmmaking.

“The normal process for Jess actually starts the night before I want to get glammed up. In the shower the day before I’ll shave everything and do a facemask afterward.

“The day of starts with styling the human hair wig, then makeup; I’ll start by shaving my face, using a concealer to cover any remaining beard shadow.

“Next, I’ll do my eye makeup, brows, foundation, powder all of that down with a setting powder. Contour. and finish it off with lip colour and a setting spray.

“I will then glue the boobs on; this involves two prosthetic silicon boobs and an intense amount of medical adhesive. It takes the girls about fifteen minutes to fully dry onto my body. Once they are dry, they are stuck.

“I can go braless, go swimming, even exercise without fear of them falling off. I use a B cup size prosthetic. The boobs are very realistic in terms of weight and feel.

“I go out in public as Jess probably once a week; I’ve developed enough bravery to go just about anywhere I would go to if I wasn’t glammed up.

“That being said, on days when I need to sit and edit videos for work, I love getting glammed up and going to the public library.

“If I’m going to look fabulous, I want to be out and show it off, not sitting in my room. I have got to the point that in public second glances are minimal.

“It’s not too often that I get clocked when just keeping to myself. However, the moment I use my voice in public, the illusion is over and the glances begin.

“I’m very fortunate in that I have only had one negative interaction out in public. Otherwise, people are very friendly and ask good questions.

“I’ve always been nervous of doormen at bars but have yet to have an issue. They typically say nothing or have a very nice compliment for me.

“The one negative experience involved trying on clothes at a local charity shop; I was in feminine form and went into the women’s dressing room to try on clothes.

“The store employee upon hearing my male voice pulled me out of the women’s dressing room and told me I needed to be in the men’s. A very embarrassing experience having to walk past all the onlooking women, to say the least.”

Logan even opens up to girls he is dating about Jess and uses his female personality when online dating to be open from the start.

While his sister, aunt and friends know about Jess and have been accepting of his hobby, he hasn’t yet told his parents.

“Currently I’m still working my way out of the closet. At this point all the most important female friends in my life know and have met Jess. A couple of my male friends know,” he said.

“In terms of direct family, an aunt and my sister know. My parents don’t know yet. My rule is I tell people who it’s of benefit for me to tell.

“At this point, there’s just not a benefit to share this information with my parents. We will get there one of these days, but not yet.

“Jess only affects how I approach dating; Jess isn’t going away because of a relationship. My philosophy is to tell a date about Jess on the third date.

“The third date gives me enough time to evaluate if the connection has any substance and if the girl would be open to Jess. If I choose to tell someone on the first date that would most likely be very overwhelming information to receive.

“But waiting longer than the third date might lead to doubt about what other secrets I might be hiding. It’s a balance.

“Now in terms of online dating, Jess is on my profile; everyone knows exactly what they are getting into the moment we start talking.

“I love that drag provides the ultimate opportunity for self-expression and escapism. Drag provides the opportunity to be a totally different person for a moment of time, and it’s a persona that can be one hundred percent controlled.

“Jess can be manipulated in terms of appearance, personality, and gusto in any way I choose. It allows me an opportunity to temporarily step away from everyday issues.

“Having this alternative persona, if you will, gives me a whole new level of bravery to try new things. I would put money on the bet that in fifteen years the line between masculine and feminine aesthetics is going to be totally grey.

“Crossdressing/androgyny will be the norm in the near future. I think there are early signs of it now; examples range from the rise of drag on cable television, to male makeup artists having such a large social media presence, and finally once feminine clothing becoming masculine like rompers.

“If nothing else, at the end of the day, Jess has given me an abundant amount of empathy towards the female experience.

“I have learned so much about daily female struggles that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about. I’ve gone running fully glammed up and learned about the back pain that’s caused by bouncing weights on your chest.

“I’ve learned about the chaffing that happens when wearing dresses and skirts. And I’ve learned about the struggles of sitting on leather chairs.

“While the things I have learned are just the tip of the iceberg to what a cis woman would experience, I believe knowing these things could/will make me a better man and future partner.

“Lastly, I hope that my Instagram and silly videos can be just a speck of inspiration to inspire other ‘Gurls’ to go public.

“I want to get other closeted dressers and queens out and fully embracing the feminine side of themselves.

“I just want to grab another dresser and say, ‘put your bra on, let’s go’. Right now is the best time in history to be in the cross-dressing community; The social acceptance is on the exponential rise.”