This research documents the fashioning of Charles Pierce, a prominent female impersonator in the mid-to-late twentieth century. During his career of over forty years, Pierce delivered acclaimed comedic impressions of gay icons such as Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn. This paper contextualizes and interprets the development of Pierce’s cross-dressing from tuxedo and a few woman’s fashion accessories (to avoid arrest) to full drag. Pierce’s career as self-styled “male actress” coincided with the gay liberation movement. Much has been written about drag, less about female impersonators, and no known research examining their costumes. This article thus provides a rare analysis of the material culture of female impersonation through Pierce’s costumes and accessories at the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California plus the Charles Pierce papers at the Billy Rose Theater Division of the New York Library for the Performing Arts.

这项研究记录了查尔斯·皮尔斯 (Charles Pierce) 的形成过程，查尔斯·皮尔斯 (Charles Pierce) 是中后期著名的女性模仿者 二十世纪。在他四十多年的职业生涯中，皮尔斯对贝蒂戴维斯和凯瑟琳赫本等同性恋偶像的喜剧印象广受好评。本文对皮尔斯的变装从燕尾服和一些女性时尚配饰（以避免被捕）到全拖拉的发展进行了语境化和解释。皮尔斯自称为“男演员”的职业生涯恰逢同性恋解放运动。已经有很多关于变装的文章，关于女性模仿者的文章较少，并且没有已知的研究检查她们的服装。