"Derkas ?", dressed in drag, on stage. Photographic postcard, 1928.

Derkas ? Imitador de estrellas Españolas. Sinceramente Derkas. London - Mayo 1928

Part of James Gardiner Collection: photograph album labelled ‘Drag’.

The Spanish-language inscription on this card shows that the question mark after the name of a performer identifying gender ambiguity was international. As this card is autographed and inscribed London 1928, it also shows that there was sufficient interest in this form of entertainment in the 1920s for successful drag acts to be imported. "Derkas?" wears the towering feathered showgirl headdress pioneered by Gaby Deslys in the 1910s, and developed by Mistinguett in the Folies Bergères shows of the 1920s. Long afterwards It remained an integral part of costuming in spectacular revues, particularly in Paris and Las Vegas

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Item Information:

Identifier: xw42n8192
Collection: James Gardiner 20th Century Drag Postcards
Institution: Wellcome Library
Date Issued: Jan. 1, 1928
Genre: Photographs
Prints
Topic(s): Female impersonators
Resource Type: Still Image
Analog Format: 1 photograph : photoprint ;
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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