XAVIER, 25, from Melbourne, describes his look as the 'Demonic Drag Clown' of your dreams... Or even your 'nightmares!' Xavier has been dressing this way since leaving school and his family home as a teenager. Xavier told Transformed: "When I was 18, I moved out of my parents home and went out on my own. I gravitated to the dark, spooky & alternative and was able to come to terms with my identity and queerness. I tried to be a boy and that didn't work, I tried to be a girl but was never good at any of them... So I became something different entirely!" Despite Xavier finding his confidence in his 'Demon Clown' look, he has been subjected to hate and judgement. Xavier said: "I get stuff like, 'I hope Jesus comes to save you' and I respond, 'I hope the devil comes to save you'... But thank you very much! Being a 'Demon Clown' I know why people stare at me but I'm proud of it." Today, with the help of makeup artist Merton, Xavier will transform from his 'Demon Clown' aesthetic, to an 'Androgynous Smart Style', to surprise his friends and housemates at his housewarming party. But will Xavier's friends even recognise him? Or will they still see the 'Demon Clown' lurking within?
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00:00I am the demonic drag clown of your dreams or possibly your nightmares.
00:05I've always been on the dark side.
00:07I was born a few days after Halloween so that may have something to do with it.
00:11If I could describe my look in a few words,
00:13it would be hellish, hot, and a little bit horrifying.
00:18I am transforming from demonic drag clown to smart, androgynous,
00:22and suited up to surprise my friends at the housewarming party.
00:25This is going to be absolutely wild.
00:28Oh my god!
00:30Um, what the f**k?
00:34Who are you and what have you done with Xavier Switchblades?
00:43Hey Xavier, I'm Merton.
00:44Hi Merton.
00:46Xavier, nice to meet you.
00:47Ready for your transformation?
00:48Ready as I'll ever be.
00:50Let's get started.
00:50My name is Xavier Switchblades and I am the demonic drag clown of your dreams
00:56or possibly your nightmares.
00:58I am a drag performer, performance artist,
01:02burlesque artist.
01:03I am a DJ.
01:04I also do some modeling.
01:06Key elements of my look.
01:08So red and black or like red, black, and white.
01:12My sort of color scheme.
01:13I'm like very, very like gothic, demonic, evil.
01:17Kind of eyeliner, fishnets, chains.
01:19Any kind of like vampire, like demonic sort of mythology.
01:23Everything you can imagine.
01:24It's inspired by drag, alternative like music and culture as a whole.
01:29So very punk, very gothic, very emo.
01:31I always say you can't spell a demon without emo.
01:36I do receive a bit of judgment for my demon clown look.
01:40I get, oh like you need Jesus.
01:43Like why do you look like that?
01:44I'll have people like, they'll like see me from the back and like see the long hair
01:49and they'll try to catcall me and I'll turn around and they'll see my face
01:53and they'll literally go like, like run off in terror.
01:56They say like, you know, God bless you.
01:58Like I hope Jesus comes to save you.
02:00I'm like, well, I hope the devil comes to save you.
02:01Thank you very much.
02:03Being a demon clown, it's, I know why people are staring at me
02:07and I can be proud of that, I guess.
02:09I am transforming from demonic drag clown to smart, androgynous, and suited up.
02:14Ready to surprise my friends at the housewarming party.
02:17This is going to be so wild.
02:18I can't wait.
02:19So we're going for something that's a little bit more androgynous.
02:23So we'll be pairing the look back quite a bit
02:25and chiselling up the cheekbones, strong brows.
02:28The main challenge that I'll face today is removing the clown white makeup.
02:32I think that's going to take a little while to take off.
02:36So how are you feeling?
02:37Are you feeling a bit nervous to, for the big reveal later?
02:41Um, I am a little bit nervous.
02:43I'm, I'm excited.
02:45Um, I feel like I'm like not going to recognise myself.
02:47I think it's going to be weird, but I like weird.
02:50So yeah, let's do it.
02:52I had kind of a shouldered childhood growing up.
02:54So when I was 18, I like graduated from high school,
02:57like moved out of my parents' house and like went out on my own.
03:00Kind of, yeah, gravitated towards like the dark and the alternative and the spooky.
03:05And coming to terms with my gender identity and like questioning that,
03:09like realising my queerness and like started transitioning and all of that.
03:12I've never really fit in.
03:13I like tried being a girl.
03:14That didn't work.
03:16Tried being a boy.
03:17You know, I was never particularly good at either of them.
03:19So I was like, I'm going to be something else entirely.
03:23So now I will be using the Hourglass concealer, but not to cover up.
03:30I'll be using this as a contour shade, just to contour the face.
03:37Now I'm just using the Charlotte Tilbury bronzer as an actual eyeshadow,
03:44just to warm up the eye area a little bit.
03:47So tell me why you want to do this transformation.
03:50I want to do this transformation just because,
03:53you know, my look is such like a big part of who I am and how I express myself.
03:58So we're going to map out the eyebrows now.
04:01I'm using a pencil.
04:02The brand's called Kevin Aucoin and the pencil colour is brunette.
04:07So who are you revealing the look to today?
04:10I'm revealing it to like a couple of my roommates and like a few of my close friends.
04:14So I've just moved into like a new place recently
04:16and we have like another new roommate here too.
04:19So having like a little bit of a housewarming party.
04:20Should be exciting.
04:21So how do you think they're going to react seeing you?
04:25This is your new look.
04:27They're probably going to scream.
04:32All right, well done. Are you ready to see yourself?
04:34Yeah, ready as I'll ever be. Let's go.
04:36Let's go.
04:38Xavier, are you ready for the big reveal?
04:40Yeah, I'm ready.
04:42How are you feeling?
04:43Oh, I'm really nervous now that it's like coming up and, you know, it's actually happening.
04:47Are you ready?
04:48Three, two, one.
04:54What? I have eyebrows.
04:56Excuse me.
04:58It's been so many years.
05:07I kind of feel like this is like the version of myself my parents like wanted me to turn out as.
05:13I really like it.
05:14This suit is amazing.
05:16I love how shiny it is.
05:18You look great.
05:18And like the blush and everything.
05:20I look alive.
05:21That's, that's so crazy.
05:23Do you think you're ready for your house party tonight to surprise everyone?
05:27I don't think any of my friends have ever really seen me like
05:29dress like this sort of conservative.
05:31I honestly have no idea what they're going to say,
05:34but the closer and closer we get to it, the more nervous I get.
05:43How do you feel about Xavier's demon clown style?
05:46I really love his like drag style of like the demon clown stuff.
05:50Like it's just the first time I ever saw him in a club, I was so just like
05:55that I need to be this person's friend.
05:57The entire time I've known him, he's always just been like this
06:00eyebrowless like, like weirdo.
06:07No, even in his day to day, it's like still like the clown makeup.
06:10Look, yeah, quite often, like come home from a night out and I'll be like,
06:13Oh, did you perform tonight?
06:15No, I just went to the shops.
06:16Yeah, it's charming. I love it.
06:24Who are you and what have you done with Xavier Switchblade?
06:34Where'd you find the eyebrows?
06:37When did I find the eyebrows? Who did I steal the eyebrows from?
06:40That is a crime we were reporting about on the news today.
06:46I'm giving news anchor, right?
06:50I mean, if the news looked like this, I would watch it.
06:52Wild.
06:52Oh my god.
06:54Giving a twirl, trying to spin in these heels.
06:57What do we think of the shoes, by the way?
07:00Wearing heels that are not platforms and trying not to fall over.
07:04And he's never been this glamorous, I will say.
07:07Definitely, I prefer his like demon clown aesthetic.
07:10It just matches his vibe a bit more.
07:12Thank you all so much.
07:15I love you all.
07:16This is the first time I'm hugging you without like
07:19stabbing you in the neck with my choker and getting eyeliner on everyone.
07:22Oh my god.
07:24What did you think of everyone's reactions?
07:26I really loved seeing everyone's reactions.
07:28That was, it was so funny.
07:29I definitely love like freaking people out and shocking people and surprising people.
07:33And my friends definitely did not disappoint.
07:36What do I think of my new look?
07:38I mean, it's definitely something different.
07:40I feel very different, very fabulous, very sparkly.
07:43Who knows?
07:43Maybe, maybe I'll be investing in a lot more shiny suits.
07:46What this experience has taught me is that my friends do like see me
07:51and love me for who I am, even when I kind of look different.
07:54It's really reassuring to know that people see the inside as well as the outside,
07:58even when the outside is especially crazy.