The Art of Drag

by Jake Hall

Overview

Take a peek into the cultural phenomenon that is Drag, in this lusciously illustrated guide to the history of the phenomenon, from ancient theatre to the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Lights. Glamour. Action!

The history of drag has been formed by many intersections: fashion, theatre, sexuality and politics – all coming together to create the show stopping entertainment millions witness today. In this lusciously illustrated guide, journalist Jake Hall delves deep into the ancient beginnings of drag, to the present day and beyond. Vibrant illustrations enhance the rich history from Kabuki theatre to Shakespeare, the revolutionary Stonewall riots to the thriving New York ballroom scene. The book also comes with fascinating glimpses into the future of drag with insights from personalities including The Vixen, Crystal Rasmussen, Sweatmother and Don One.

From Paris Is Burning to Pose and from Lady Bunny to Victoria Sin, nothing will go untouched in this must-have documentation of all things drag.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838749767
Publisher:	Flying Eye Books Ltd.
Publication date:	05/20/2025
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	7.94(w) x 10.63(h) x 0.44(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

About the Author

Jake Hall is a freelance writer who has written for Dazed Digital, i-D, VICE, Highsnobiệty, INTO, Refinery29 UK, and British Vogue, among others. They have written on topics from sustainability in fashion and body-shaming in queer communities, to government crackdowns on queer people, and intersex genital mutilation. Alongside this work, they are studying for a PhD at the University of Birmingham. Jake's research aims to illuminate the link between high fashion and queer theory, as well as arguing the potential of clothing to radically challenge and subvert the social constructs of gender, sexuality, and race.

Helen Li is an Australian illustrator based in Warsaw, Poland. She has worked with Google, Facebook, Dropbox and Redbull.


Sofie Birkin is a British illustrator based in Denver, USA. She has worked with Cosmopolitan UK and BOA Technology.


Jasjyot Singh Hans is an Indian illustrator based in Chicago, USA. He has worked with Google, New York Times and Vogue India.

Editorial Reviews

"A colorful compendium of queer history [...] Useful and optimistic." — Kirkus Reviews

“Highly enjoyable, extremely interesting and very accessible, this book is an essential guide to drag, its history, its impact and its continued potency.”
—Amrou Al-Kadhi

“So fun, so thorough and so beautiful! It taught me more about drag than I could have ever imagined, because until this book it hasn’t been quite so well documented.”
—Amelia Abraham

“I’ve always thought drag queens could save the world and this book helps prove my point.”
—Miss Coco Peru

“Only a book as beautiful and broad as this could possibly honour the history of drag. This book is utterly desirable as an art object but also hugely informative about the art of drag, the queer rebellion of drag and drag as a political statement as well as cultural art form. A thing of beauty!”
—Juno Roche

“The pages glow with brilliantly colorful illustrations, capturing all the queenly glamour; hot pinks and moody teals are contrasted with butter yellows and acid greens. Wigs have never looked taller, nor eye shadow so excessive. The result is a truly fabulous combination history and gift book.”
—Publishers Weekly

“a celebration of drag’s weird and wacky history from all sorts of cultures and histories, with absolutely stunning art.”
—Glad Day Bookshop

Featured in Publisher's Weekly Previews: Spring & Summer 2025 Highlights — December 2024

From the Publisher

2025-03-08
A colorful compendium of queer history.

From ancient times to the modern day, human beings have bent and broken rules about gender through clothing, makeup, and performance. Tracing this history through to the possible future, Hall attempts to synthesize larger theories of drag and queer liberation while also providing thumbnail sketches of individuals, communities, and timeframes. They use a cheery tone to introduce readers to Kabuki theater in Japan, the Peking opera, British pantomime, the Pansy Craze of early-20th-century New York City, the Harlem ballroom scene that came to prominence in the 1980s, and other subjects. The book also introduces famous drag queens like House Mother Crystal LaBeija, RuPaul, Divine, and masc-presenting performers and drag kings like Gladys Alberta Bentley and Stormé DeLarverie (though William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black pioneer of American drag, is noticeably missing). Through mostly serviceable prose, occasionally given to run-on sentences or vague platitudes, the book addresses the impact that drag has within queer communities and references the social change created by drag, though readers seeking concrete information about the material impact that drag has had on policy and legislation will be disappointed. The illustrations by a variety of artists offer stylized, full-color renderings of the people mentioned.

Useful and optimistic. (bibliography, index, contributor bios)(Nonfiction. 16-adult)

Kirkus Reviews