Passion for circular fashion | Magic Flute’s AI makeover | How to win Eurovision
This week, InSider is on a fashion kick, revealing a dowager diva’s wardrobe donor and the best look to bolster your chances in Eurovision.
A tale of two queens
At a social event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the state, InSider stumbled upon a tale of two queens.
Dr Gertrude Glossip, the alter-ego of queer activist and historian Will Sergeant OAM, is known for her distinct fashion with a sustainable tilt. You may be familiar with the Queen of the Walk from her book of the same name or Rainbow History Walking Tours.
It turns out, her wardrobe is largely thrifted with some of Dr Glossip’s frocks kindly donated by none other than Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith.
Will told InSider that in the early days, he’d often “get a call from Dr Jane saying ‘I’ve got something for Gertrude, come round!’”.
One standout item is a dress by Adelaide designers George Gross and Harry Watt.
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“It’s quite funny, because the George and Harry frock, which is really, very lovely but Gertrude is furious with me,” Will explained.
“I’ve done too much gym work, too broad across the shoulders now, I can’t get into it!”
InSider reached out to Lomax-Smith who, between partying at Mary’s Poppin and enjoying a pie floater at Villis, told us she is “a great believer in recycling my clothes”.
“Fortunately Dr Glossip’s physique is the same size as mine, although distributed differently,” she said.
State Opera puts the AI in Magic Flute?
AI-generated art has already crept into most corners of the internet, but during Mad March, InSider couldn’t help but notice a few clearly AI-generated posters splashed around the city.
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Now, cash-strapped grassroots theatre producers and stand-up comedians dipping their toes into the slop mines for free poster art might be understandable, if a little creatively shallow. But we were surprised to see a major arts org like State Opera South Australia announce the second half of its 2025 season with a poster for Mozart’s 18th-century classic The Magic Flute that bore a suspiciously algorithmic flavour.
Premiering in Hong Kong last night, this co-production between State Opera, Opera Hong Kong and the Beijing Music Festival is part of a new direction for the company that’s being billed as ‘Opera Without Borders’. But with collateral that wouldn’t look out of place on the cover of a self-published dark romantasy novel, perhaps ‘Opera Without a Graphic Design Budget’ would be just as accurate.
It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white
It’s a bookie’s dream when Eurovision rolls around each year and hundreds of millions of people tune in and vote on who will win. The outcome is purely subjective, so who can blame a betting company from crunching the numbers on what winners wear… except, their stats won’t really help you pick a winner.
Australia’s candidate Go-Jo started his performance in an all white outfit before swapping it out for a sparkly blue jumpsuit – perhaps that’s why the ‘Milkshake Man’ singer didn’t go all the way.
Our in-house Eurovision expert (who naturally, has been sleep-deprived after a week of 4am starts) informs us that being barefoot can also cinch the win. There have been five barefoot winners in Eurovision, starting with the UK’s Sandie Shaw in 1967 and most recently, Sweden’s Loreen who won with ‘Tattoo’ in 2023.
Loreen was also barefoot when she won in 2012. She loves to get the dogs out.
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