Woman or Victorian Crossdresser? Cabinet card. Private Collection.
So once in a while I’ll spot a Victorian woman I find suspiciously looking like a man. Not a very flattering thought if indeed this woman in bustle dress was her own gender. She has some thick brows and a masculine jawline. The idea intrigues me.
I don’t see a crossdresser posing with family in this way either, and these don’t look related enough to be siblings…but maybe I’m wrong. Never say never…but this may not be her family either. The gent with the shaved head above her does look like her some. A possibility could be these are stage actors and the man is dressed as a woman for a role. A bit far fetched but…
To note the mustached gent standing up looks so very Victorian!
You be the judge.
And look at her tousled hair (or wig). And the crazy looking hat…By the style of dress I’d say this was taken in the 1880’s.
Photographer: Beach. Bryan O.
Bowlers And High Collars 
August 30th, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Definitely a chap but as you say they could be thespians ;-)
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August 30th, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Ok! So you agree! I’m going to post it on a Victorian Image group on Facebook see what people think. Them being actors seems to be the most logical option. They’re all mostly too old for ‘one of those’ brothels lol!
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August 30th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
Or late “coming out” 😉
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August 30th, 2015 at 3:18 pm
Lol! But then they’d all be in dresses wouldn’t they?
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August 30th, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Perhaps not they could just be gay rather than a transvestite 😊
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August 30th, 2015 at 4:05 pm
True but here we’re speculating…hard. Lol
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August 30th, 2015 at 5:03 pm
That’s half the fun
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August 31st, 2015 at 6:18 am
It is hard to say definitively whether this is a man or a woman, but I can definitely see where you are coming from. The hair certainly looks like a wig and there is something of a smirk to the expression on his or her face. I have had the same thought about some women in some of my photobooth photos.
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August 31st, 2015 at 8:39 am
I’d love to see those photobooths!
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