Contains: 2 images
In copyright
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Credit
"Derkas ?", dressed in drag, on stage. Photographic postcard, 1928. In copyright. Source: Wellcome Collection.
"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. The question mark following Derkas printed on the postcard suggests they perform with an androgynous gender expression. As this card is autographed and inscribed London 1928, it shows that there was sufficient interest in this form of entertainment in the 1920s for successful drag acts to be imported.
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