MontrealMirror.com – Matthew Hays
Amanda Lepore, the ?world?s number one transsexual,? on cosmetic surgery, her Hollywood influences and how to make your own glamour
New York-based model and performer Amanda Lepore knew she was different from a very young age. She had her first plastic surgery at the age of 15, getting a sex change in her last year of high school. She had a stormy, five-year marriage, and then moved to New York, where fashion photographer David LaChapelle made her one of his top models, using her in numerous shoots.
Lepore?s glamour quotient grew, and she began making club appearances, singing her two club hit singles, ?My Hair Looks Fierce? and perhaps most memorably, ?Champagne.? Lepore?s outfits are retro Hollywood glamour taken to ludicrous extremes. Her act is wild, and Lepore has been known to make public appearances in nothing more than her birthday suit. Billed as ?The world?s number one transsexual,? Lepore will be gracing this year?s Divers/Cit? celebrations. The Mirror caught up with her at her Manhattan home.
Mirror: Your act seems to be rooted in Hollywood movies. What would you say your major influences are?
Amanda Lepore: That?s right, I used to watch a lot of old movies as a kid. I was always fascinated by Jean Harlow, Mae West, Jayne Mansfield, and especially Marilyn Monroe.
M: You had a sex change in high school. When did you realize you wanted one?
AL: I always felt like a girl. I didn?t understand why my parents were dressing me like a boy. It got harder the older I got. I really didn?t want to be a boy. My brother would pressure me to do boy stuff. As I got older kids didn?t really want to hang out with me. I spent a lot of time alone.