Vogue houses are based on the high fashion houses, like House of Chanel, House of St. Laurent and so on. Each vogue house develops a style and an image. They raise money to throw balls, which consist of various competitions, vogueing being the most prestigious. Early on, the gay male competition categories were : Overall Performance Vogue, Pop Dip and Spin (the judges call the next move and you have to execute it). Big Boys Runway Models Effect for boys 250 pounds and over. At that time there were only two categories for straight females : Best Face for Girls and Best Dressed Woman. Then there were the lesbian categories for women : Looking Like a Man, Looking Like a Boy, Best Dressed Butch in Executive Wear. The categories change all the time, and often relate to current issues. So, during the Gulf War there were military categories like Ground Wars versus Aerial Wars. A vogue house is also a family unit. House members stick together like family because some of these kids can't face their parents, can't live with them once they tell them they are gay. So they look up to the older members to give advice and support to the younger members of the group. "House childeren" is what you call the house members and then there are the house mothers and house fathers who run the houses.So the fashion house is also just like a real home - a family unit.