She traded outfits for hormones. She built the look in cellophane and stretch velvet. She manifested all of it—and Brooke Candy thinks she's a witch. Amanda Lepore—icon, muse, living artwork, and the most expensive woman in the world—sat down with Temptress to talk cash, dominatrix aesthetics, budget bombshell tricks, and why staying in the hotel long after the boyfriend left was actually the smartest business move of her life. Amanda is on the cover of our new Money issue—preorder now 💋 [LINK]
Our new issue is all about money and everything that comes with it, so I will ask you a few questions on the subject. To start simply: who did you want to be when you were growing up?
At first I wanted to be a nurse, then an airline stewardess—I think I was inspired by Barbie. Then I wanted to be a fashion designer, like my mother. And for a while, I thought I'd just find a man who would pay for everything, and I'd just look pretty. That's what I thought growing up. My life didn't turn out like that. I mean, I ended up pretty—but not because of a man.
What's the strangest way you've ever made cash?
I was kind of enterprising as a kid. I was really into David Bowie and Glitter Rock, so I would make costumes to just go out. I would go out very young using a fake ID, going to clubs and stuff. And I would always make these outfits.
I would make pasties and bras, G-strings and earrings—all these really beautiful outfits. And I ended up selling them to dancers. I was friends with an underage hooker, she also go-go danced. She introduced me to this transsexual go-go dancer, who would trade me hormones for outfits. She really helped a lot, because I was able to transition and get breasts when I was extremely young. So that was very rewarding. And unexpected.
You used to work as a dominatrix.
What drew you to the job?
I was married at the time, but it wasn't working out because of my husband's prescription pill problem, so I left.
I ended up living with a friend who was a genderfuck and a hustler. I'd spend a lot of time at a coffee shop just to get out of his tiny apartment. There I met a marine and we started dating. He was into all kinds of freaky things, he was very into S&M. He would tie me up and wanted me to tie him up and do all kinds of things. He said that his ex-girlfriend worked at this dungeon and she made a lot of money. He said I could be very successful doing this.
I thought it was kind of funny, it wasn't really my thing, but I did like the outfits, the aesthetic of it. You know, because it was really strong, and everything was really tight and sexy. I liked those outfits a lot.
So I started doing that and it became like a part of my look. I still have some fetish elements in the way that I dress: stockings and garter belts and see-through clothes, very high heels and corsets and gloves. So I kind of got a lot of style out of that.
What's been your most meaningful creative project or collaboration?
Definitely with David LaChapelle. He made me famous in the art world and the fashion world. He really did a lot for me. You know, when he first photographed me, people thought it was computer generated, but nothing was really photoshopped. It was amazing to work with an artist like that.
There's something almost fated about you and David finding each other.
Before he met me, when he was, like, 15, he would draw women that looked like me. So when he met me, he freaked out. He said you are that girl I would always draw, you look just like her. She was always naked and had big tits and an hourglass body and always had different hair and always ended up in strange situations.
You look incredible all the time, and I imagine it's also quite an investment. What is one beauty procedure that was worth all the money for you?
Well, to me everything was money well spent. The plastic surgery is a lot better now, so I think my latest work was the best. I actually think I look better than I ever did—I wish I looked like this in my 20s.
Do you have any glam tips on a budget? For when you want to look expensive but don't really have the funds.
I just posted some pictures from the late 90s, and I look really good. I kind of look like Jayne Mansfield. I look like I spent a lot of money, but in reality, I didn't.
The fur I got was from a vintage store, and a friend made me a see-through vinyl corset. Then I just put cellophane over myself and made a tight bombshell dress out of it. And I had red hair back then, very bright fire engine red, kinda orange hair. And my pussy was dyed that color, too. So you could see that through the dress, but the silhouette was very Jayne Mansfield. So that was really cool.
And a lot of times, when I really didn't have any money, I would just buy a yard of some four-way stretch fabric. I liked stretch velvet a lot because it looked expensive. And I would just make a tube dress, and sew a bra into it. It would look like a million dollars, but in reality it was not that much money.
Were you ever very broke?
Oh, yeah. I had very little money when I stopped doing the dominatrix work and just worked at the clubs.
But luckily, when I was a dominatrix, I started going out with this guy. We were in love. We almost got married. He got an engagement ring and everything. And he lived in the hotel where I live now. He started working as a manager there, and they gave us a room for free. So that was very thrifty.
What happened to the guy?
He was really into grunge and all that stuff. And at first, he was selling pot, then he started doing cocaine, and then we weren't having sex, and then we were fighting all the time.
And then when we were fighting, they gave me a room at the hotel for really cheap just to shut us up, so I just stayed here. That was very smart and thrifty of them. And I still live here.
Oh, wow. You still live there?
Yes. And I think that was a really good decision. Because I don't have to stress about money, ever.
What advice would you give to young people who are broke?
I'm not a good person to ask that. I think, in some ways, I'm thrifty, and in some ways, I'm very extravagant. I don't really invest in money, I'm not smart with it. I have friends that are very smart with money, and I'm nothing like them.
I'm more of an artist. I don't really have a business kind of brain. I wish I did, you know? Because I did make a lot of money at different points in my life, and still kind of make a lot of money now. But I spend it all on my looks: making outfits and getting things and everything. But I always look amazing, and I'm always able to take care of myself. I'm independent, and don't owe anybody.
Do you consider yourself a spiritual person?
Yes.
What do you believe in?
When my mother died, I always felt like she was with me, so that's very spiritual to me. I don't really go to any sort of church. The church to me is more like my community in the nightclubs, I guess. Because I don't really have a family, like genetically. So they're my family, and that's spiritual to me.
And when I'm not working, I like going to the gym and taking care of myself, it's very meditative. I like to do chill things, quiet dinners. I don't really go to clubs in my free time anymore because I associate that with work.
So you're only at the club if you're getting paid?
Yeah, pretty much. Unless it's something special—then I will go to that.
But generally I associate it with getting done up, and I spend a lot of money and time on that, so I mostly do that for work. And in the daytime, I don't really wear much makeup. I just do skincare and I always have a lip and my hair done. And I wear flats too.
Flats just seem impossible to imagine on you—there's not a single photo to prove otherwise.
They exist, usually the airport or the grocery store. But I always look cute. I always have cleavage and a cinched belt, and I always wear leggings. You won't catch me in sweatpants or anything like that.
One question left. It's kinda abstract.
What is it?
What do you dream of? Do you have a dream?
I don't really remember my dreams, but judging from what I was like as a child, I think I'm living my dream. I think I manifested everything. I recently did a Brooke Candy interview and she thought that I was a witch.
So you always wanted to be exactly who you are now and exactly where you are now?
Yes, most definitely.
That's amazing. How did you achieve this? Do you have any manifestation tips?
I guess I am very focused, and I kept doing the same thing, the same aesthetic… I don't know, strange things happen to me.
I kind of make things happen without pushing or being manipulative or anything. It's like some sort of mind control or something. I don't really understand it, but stuff happens that really surprises me sometimes. It doesn't really make sense, it just comes out of my brain, I don't consciously make it, you know?
That does sound witchy.
Yes, maybe that's my religion.
Star AMANDA LEPORE @AMANDALEPORE
Photographer ALEXIS KLESHCHIK @ALEXISKLESHIK
Stylist DOT BASS @DOTTTTBASS
Stylist Assistant GABBY WEIS @GABBYWEIS
Photo Assistants HALE ÇELIKKIN @HALECELLL KEYA GOLDFEIN @KEYAGOLDFEIN
Models ZACH TAFUR @BESOS.SUCIOS JULIAN WOLFE @7VLIAN
Makeup artist ESTEBAN MARTINEZ @estebanmartinez.makeup