Dressing in drag
Sartorial adventures since the Victorian era
Alex Q. Arbuckle
c. 1885-1930
Patrons, many dressed as men in tuxedos, sit, talk, laugh and kiss, at Le Monocle, a famous nightclub for women in Paris.
Credit: Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images
Cross-dressing has been practiced since ancient times, and has been a recurring theme in the mythology, folklore, literature and theatre across numerous cultures. People may adopt the dress of the opposite gender for reasons as varied as personal identity, disguise, provocation or humor. Some acts of cross-dressing which were once considered transgressive and forbidden, such as women wearing pants or other male garments, are now considered unremarkable, while men adopting women’s clothing can still be subject to widespread prejudice.
A stereoscopic card titled "Looking for a Man."
Credit: The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images
French painter and graphic artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec dressed in a plumed hat and an ostrich boa over a frock coat.
Credit: Maurice Guibert/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: PYMCA/UIG/Getty Images
Credit: Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images
The Orchestra of the Cologne Milkmaidens perform in drag at the Cologne Carnival in Germany.
Credit: Haeckel Brothers/Paul Thompson/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Two male undergraduates dressed as women are followed by young boys on the Harvard University campus.
Credit: Paul Thompson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Students at the University of Dublin parading through the city streets during Trinity College Rag Week.
Credit: Walshe/Getty Images
Irish students at the University of Dublin during Trinity College Rag Week.
Credit: Walshe/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
Marguerite Radclyffe Hall, a prizewinning writer whose novel "The Well of Loneliness" was originally banned in Britain for its sympathetic approach to female homosexuality, with Lady Una Trowbridge.
Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images
Men dressed as women at the Eldorado nightclub in Berlin.
Credit: Herbert Hoffmann/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Actor Douglas Byng dressed for the opera.
Credit: Gordon Anthony/Getty Images
Celebrated cross-dresser Bert Errol in full drag and makeup.
Credit: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images