OFM Holiday Galleries: Make Your Yuletide Gay

Need a reprieve from the Holiday craziness? Come escape into the historically accurate, gorgeous world that is the Molly Brown House. Best known to millenials from her cameo in Titanic, played by Kathy Bates, Brown was famous for marrying a gold miner who struck it rich and rising in the ranks to make her own legacy at 1340 Pennsylvania St. in Capitol Hill. From there, she was active in suffrage and women’s rights movements, contributing to the feminist legacy in Denver. 

Fast forward a few decades later, and the house came into the possession of Art Leisenring, who rented his home out as a “men-only” boarding house, creating a safe haven for gay men in Cap Hill. He held onto the home until the 1970s, when he moved, and then the home was in danger of being torn down. Before the worst could happen, Leisenring helped rally a group who called themselves Historic Denver, Inc. and fought to save the home and turn it into a museum. 

Today, OFM pays homage to the space with a special photo shoot featuring OFM employees and local drag personalities Shamy Lee and Victoria Page Mathews. We lived our opulent fantasy for a day and truly made the space merry and gay. 

Mystery Under the Mistletoe

This gorgeous photo was provided to OFM by the Molly Brown House. The keepers of the house don’t know who the women are or where the photo was taken, but they were dedicated to the home in the 1970s, when interest in historical preservation of Cap Hill and its queer history was on the rise. We like to speculate that these two women planned a special photo shoot to escape societal norms for the day and live out their gender euphoria in these savvy suits. 

Twas the Night Before Christmas and My Nails Were on Point

If you’re looking for some of the most impressive (pun intended) press-ons out there, you need to work with Yuri SerratoCano. The nails she created for this shoot—and the work she brings to any shoot or custom order—is nothing short of breathtaking, with use of real gold leaf and crystals on her sparkling creations. As of now, her books are closed to everything but press-ons, but when they open back up, she also does a mean gel manicure. Find her over at Reign Rituals doing her thing, and follow her on socials to see all her awesome work. 

Photos by Julius Garrido