NOTE THE PAGES ARE NOT COMPLETE MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE.

Per Walter W Cole/Darcelle:
Now we didn’t know it was going to bring us disco, but it was a new chapter in our lives here at the club. For financial reasons Roxy and I incorporated and named the company Darcelle XV Productions. After that, our first big foray was to change the Mardi Gras celebration. This celebrated the beginning of the Demas Tavern, now Darcelle XV Showplace from being just a tavern serving beer and wine to a drag venue which started with Tina Sandell (Jerry Farris) and myself (Walter W Cole/Darcelle) performing drag for the ‘lesbians’. Some people do not believe me, but we were. In fact, in the book “The Gay Insider USA” by John Francis Hunter copyright in 1972, page 544 it states, “Now we will stop at Demas to see the new décor and catch a glimpse of the drag show. The reason this packed place looks like the Isle of Lesbos is that our sisters have taken over tonight.” And don’t get me wrong, we loved Mardis Gras, but we thought let’s find another way to celebrate our anniversary at the club. Why not a contest?

Since we were doing drag on stage - you know dressing up as women, how could we get our audience to do us a favor and dress up in drag for an event? That would have been fun, but then Roxy and I started trying to figure out ways to celebrate our club’s anniversary and have those who wanted to showcase their drag personalities and not just the ones on our stage. One evening looking through a program we picked up in France entitled Le Rouge. Inside read: ‘La Femme’ The Woman – I said, “That’s what we’re going to call it La Femme. That wasn’t enough I added Magnifique!” The word translated means magnificent, wonderful, splendid, gorgeous, great, lovely, superb, marvelous, grand, and rich. La Femme Magnifique.

I confess that’s also where I got the logo. If it works, why re-invent?

Since the mid-1960s there was another organization that honored drag, but it was a court system crowning Emperor and Empress and over the years I was one of those that received the tiara to be Empress (Empress XV to be exact). This was going to be different. This was a contest from as far and wide as anyone would come and out of those who applied and completed would be one that would be considered the most qualified glamourous female impersonator.

And, those ‘girls’ were going to be judged by local dignitaries and celebrities like television personalities, celebrities, and even governmental officials like Mayor Vera Katz.

Our dear friend David Hamilton or as he was known as Mame, Auntie Mame loved going down to New Orleans and celebrating the real Mardi Gras. To keep part of Mardi Gras alive we announced that the winner of La Femme was given tickets to attend the Mardi Gras festivities - air, hotel.

Our first La Femme pageant was held in 1982, down at the club that holds about 135 people. Well, to our surprise we filled the club to capacity and still had 100 people waiting outside. No way were we going to let them inside, the fire marshal would have shut us down for sure.

Over the years we’ve held La Femme it at various locations – Erickson's Saloon, Melody Ballroom, Red Lion (hotel) Jantzen Beach, Montgomery Park, and now the Oregon Convention Center. Every place we went before the Convention Center we had to bring in our stage, sound, and light system it worked – thank God we found the Convention Center. I physically made the sets in my backyard someone had to do it. One year at the Red Lion the stage wasn’t tall enough so my light guy went over to Home Depot, got some lumber, we used it and then we returned it the next day and we got a full refund.

Contestant from Washington, Canada, California, and Colorado as well as others Up until a few years ago there was one criterion, THE criteria, you have to be male – and not in any stage of transition, we do ask the contestants to open their shirts. You can tell if they are on hormone treatments or the like, but their breasts. At one point, I think it was on Le Femme’s 30th pageant, I got on stage and said, “This is it, we’re not doing it anymore.” I didn’t say, why.

But I’ll tell you why. I was doing everything – the ticket sales, advertising, seeking contestants then screening them – the whole nine yards. For a while we had Faux Frontal – which was the counterpart to Le Femme – this was for women who dressed up as men. It didn’t last very long –I guess three years – people just weren’t excited about it – they wanted the drag look.

“…female impersonation is an art form, and should be looked upon as such.” LaVern Cummings [LaVerne Cummings was a stage performer as a female impersonator who performed for decades at the legendary Finnochio’s nightclub in San Francisco.]

During this time Sister Paula Neilsen was my secretary and she wrote up a synopsis that has continued to be in each La Femme program.

The Creation of a Legend by Paula Neilsen

In 1982, Darcelle XV, a Portland, Oregon cabaret, decided to start a beauty pageant for female impersonators. An outlet for up-and-coming drag entertainers in the Pacific Northwest was needed. In 1981 the National Fountain tagged Portland “Drag City.” In this atmosphere, La Femme Magnifique was born. And it didn’t take long for the idea to catch on beyond the Pacific Northwest.

During the early years of La Femme, five Pacific Northwest cities held contests. As time progressed, other cities, such as Denver, Honolulu, and Los Angeles started holding local La Femme pageants. Winners from various cities migrate to Portland over the Labor Day weekend annually to compete for the International title of La Femme Magnifique, proclaiming “the most glamorous female impersonator in the Universe.”

The first titleholder to the coveted La Femme crown was Portlander, Lorelei Lee, whom the press hailed as “a haunting expression of Marilyn Monroe.”

The rules for entering La Femme are simple. When in orientation phases, prospective contestants are programmed with a keyword – GAMOUR. Talent also is a prerequisite for those who aspire to the La Femme “Hall of Fame”. At the conclusion of each year’s International Pageant, held the Sunday evening of the Labor Day weekend at the awesome Atrium of Montgomery Park in Portland. IN 1999 the pageant moved to the opulent ballroom of the DoubleTree Hotel at Jantzen Beach. Spacious and comfortable, the ballroom overlooks the Columbia River, and the final place produced was the Oregon Convention Center.

Contestants are judged in four categories: Formal Wear, Theme Look, Talent, and Showgirl Look. Contestants are told that merely ‘passing as a woman isn’t the key. Glamor show business, with the ability to strut proudly in high heels, while wearing Las Vegas showgirl headgear, appearing to be just as comfortable as if wearing tennis shows, and a dynamic charisma that wows the audience, are what it takes to be proclaimed La Femme Magnifique.

Since 1982, the La Femme Magnifique beauty pageant has become a legend. Each year the contest becomes more popular and expands to more cities. Will your city be next?