Miss Katherine takes afternoon tea with the gracious and the ever so lovely Miss Estee Larder (aka Club West’s Terry Larder) in her front parlour to discuss Haley’s Comet, make up, grand pianos and charity works.
Miss Katherine: Hello Miss Estee, welcome to my parlour! Are you a Perth girl?
Miss Estee: Thanks, Miss Katherine, it is lovely to be here! I am from Sydney. I arrived with my late husband in 1988, so it is nearly 20 years.
Miss K: What brought you to Perth?
Miss E: Haley’s Comet – saw Haley’s comet with the naked eye from Ocean Reef in Sydney, and seeing it was going in a westerly direction, decided to follow the comet to Perth. It seemed like an omen at the time – we needed a jolt in our relationship, to develop new friendships and explore interesting places. Perth at the time was burgeoning and certainly a lot more affordable than Sydney.
Miss K: What work did you do in Sydney?
Miss E: I was a make up artist for Lancôme. I also did drag shows at Patches with Trixie Lamont on Oxford Street and Leather Lugs Lani around The Rocks, The Boomerangs and The Pollynesians, which is where I first started.
Miss K: What did you do when you first came to Perth?
Miss E: After I arrived here in Perth I had no idea what I was going to do. I did have a name in make-up in Sydney, but did not have a name here, that has certainly changed since then… I applied for a job at the University of Western Australia and have been there since 1998. I am the manager at the Visitors Centre, my role is protocol and P.R. It scares me to think I am the public face of the university.
Miss K: How was Club West born?
Miss E: Before I came to Perth, I worked for Ankali in Sydney as a volunteer doing nursing and home care visits. Once I had settled into life in Perth and made friends, it was time to start volunteer work again with the W.A. Aids Council. There was a need to fundraise with a bit of camp involved, so the idea I had was to structure a fundraiser around a drag show. The first was in August 1990 and it is still going strong. We are the only community group in Australia to incorporate sign language for the deaf… Miss Katherine, you have graced my stage and I hope you will continue to…
Miss K: Favourite charity organization?
Miss E: Bear Care Project, we [Club West] fundraise for them at the moment. They are a HIV orphanage in Uganda who care for 33 children under 13. It was named after its founder, Murray Kidd, who was really into teddy bears. It is a non religious based charity. 45% have HIV and the other children are orphans of HIV parents.
Miss K: Do you still do any work as a make up artist?
Miss E: Yes, I am a freelance make up artist… I don’t really like drag make-up, I don’t even like to do my own! I like women’s faces because they are more interesting. My favourite make-up is Bourgeois, it is the chemist line of Chanel, the oldest make-up house in the world, est. 1831. My favourite foundation is Make-Up Artists of America, which is used at Universal Studios – brilliant make-up!
Miss K: You also have a talent for the piano. I just love that grand piano of yours…
Miss E: I bought my Yamaha Grand in 1973 when I was 17. I did not have a car until I was 21 because I was madly paying that piano off to a finance company. It has been everywhere with me – it has crossed the Nullabor, lived in two homes and renovated seven, so the piano and I have been in 9 homes together. I have just sold my home. I have always dreamed of retiring one day to France and am eyeing a house in Lot-et-Garonne, so who knows where we may go next!
