On any given Thursday, around 6 p.m., John Sefakis starts his weekly transformation into Stella Doro, his drag persona. Facing three lighted mirrors and in front of a bouquet of bright, plastic flowers, the 74-year-old Greek American slicks down his thin, dark eyebrows with a glue stick, making sure that every hair is laid flat. On this particular night, he is performing at the Barracuda Lounge, a gay bar in New York Citys Chelsea neighborhood, he tells me as I stand next to a living room table, now transformed into an improvised vanity.

Every year that passes, getting into drag becomes more arduous. Even with stencils, Sefakis struggles to design the eyebrows. I gotta make sure that theyre sort of even, he says. Some people paint them in. I have no arm for painting. His naturally aging skin also makes the process more complex; while applying powder to get a smoother appearance, he needs to avoid the skin around his eyes. I see what the queens do on [RuPauls] Drag Race when they make up. They are so severe because they dont have any wrinkles, he says. Which I cant do because Id be Wrinkle City.