Ladybeard is a Wrestler and a Vocalist for Kawaiicore Band Ladybaby
The six-foot-tall Australian lived in Hong Kong for six years while recording death metal covers of Cantopop in a dress.
When did you start cross-dressing? I’ve been cross-dressing since I was 14 years old. One day a friend of mine had a school uniform party, and I thought it would be hilarious to put on my big sister’s school dress. I went to the party like that, it was a hilarious night and everyone had a lot of fun. I started going to parties and rock and roll shows in Australia wearing a school dress. When I showed up in a dress, the party would start instantly. People would want to talk to me or want to dance straight away.
How do people in Hong Kong react to a huge guy in a dress? When I cross-dress in Australia it’s funny but it’s not this huge thing—but when I started cross-dressing in Hong Kong, the reaction was just incredible. Conservative Hong Kong society said, “What the hell are you doing? You’re out of your mind!” I got really great reactions. I would turn up to parties and shows in a dress and people would just go nuts! I found that I would have a lot more fun when I did it, and everyone else around me would have a lot more fun, too. So only good could come of it.
Do you have any trouble when you cross-dress? I found out when I was younger that at every party there were dudes who wanted to fight me because I was talking a lot and was outgoing. Inevitably some dude would turn up and want to fight me—when I had a dress on and entered the room, that dude would make himself obvious straight away. I would deal with him, defuse him, and go back to enjoying the party. It’s fun being the guy in the dress because you make yourself a huge target for the guys who just want to fight: But if you get knocked out by the guy in the dress, you’ll never hear the end of it. In a strange way it became a form of self-defense where I made myself so obvious, so much of a target, that I neutralized the attacks.
What’s your favorite dress? I like different ones for different times. There were all these styles that I wanted to try in Hong Kong, but I couldn’t find a size that fit. When I met Naoko, my manager, she opened up a lot of options for me to try new dresses, because she’s very well connected.
Do you still wrestle in Japan? Yep, my first two years were with Union Pro Wrestling. Union unfortunately shut its doors just a few months ago, but I now wrestle for DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) Wrestling. I really enjoy wrestling for them, and the standard is very high. And it’s good training for throwing [Lady]babies. When I first saw the ‘babies, the first thing I thought was, “They’re small—I wonder how far I could throw them. They’re very throwable.”
Your fans want you to get bigger and bulk up—how’s that coming along? I’m doing my best—it’s hard to eat enough! When you talk to bodybuilders, they say the most important thing is to keep eating all the time: As you do your weight training you need to eat every two hours. The problem with that is that I’m always wrestling or dancing or rehearsing. If I eat and go straight into a rehearsal, I throw up everything I just ate. The training’s okay, but getting enough food is very difficult. But I’m working on it. I hope I can get bigger and make everyone happy.
How do you think your show will be received in Hong Kong? I’ve always felt that audiences liked what I was doing, and I’ve always felt like my problem was my styling and the way I packaged the show. I came to Japan and met my manager, and we’ve come a long way since then. And the thing about Hong Kong is that you’re never sure who’s going to be in your audience, so it’s not like any other place. I don’t know what exactly is going to happen. But I really hope they’ll like it.
