History Main / DisguisedInDrag

* In the first season of ''Australian Idol'', Shane Jenek didn't make it past the auditions (among other things, his voice is unusually high for a man). Since he just so happens to also perform as a DragQueen and one who can pass as a natural woman, he came back the next day as his drag persona "Courtney Act" and made the cut. He was spotted by only one of the judges, but they decided he was good enough to keep in. 'Courtney' made Final 3, then made the cut at the 'Wild Card' part, and made the finals. In fact, 'she' was one of only three people from that season who got a record deal, and 'she' made it to number 29 in the ARIA charts with the song "Rub Me Wrong". Based on that, FHM magazine picked 'her' as one of the top 100 sexiest women that year. Shane Jenek is still a guy.

* According to an urban legend in China, the much-esteemed founder of Communist China, Chairman Mao Zedong, should once have done this in his younger days to evade capture by the very anti-Communist regime in China at the time. With the reverence[[note]]Or "reverence", out of a desire to not get in trouble[[/note]] the general Chinese public views Mao with, don't expect many to be willing to discuss this rumor, much less confirm it, though.

* The twist in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', of course, is that Norman Bates was disguised as his late mother while committing murders. What's so strange is that his he was framing his "mother" personality for the killings.

* ''Film/IWasAMaleWarBride'' is a VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory 1949 movie wherein French army captain Henri Rochard (Creator/CaryGrant) must disguise himself as a nurse in order to accompany his US Women's Army Corps wife back to America after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* The Creator/DustinHoffman comedy ''Film/{{Tootsie}}''. "Dorothy Michaels" becomes quite the man magnet, in fact. His/her own pursuit of a female costar is kind of complicated.
* In the original ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', Douglas Quaid tries to infiltrate Mars undetected by disguising himself with an animatronic "fat woman suit".

** A major plot element in the first half of ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', where Guin Sard Lineford insists that protagonist Loran crossdress in order to convince the Moonrace that the White Doll's pilot is a woman because...well, he never really gives a reason. This has led fans to speculate that Guin is [[ArmouredClosetGay gay and in denial]] and the whole act is more for the sake of his imagined heterosexuality than any salient point.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' had the male members of the Gundam Team crossdressing in order to infiltrate an enemy base (ItMakesSenseInContext). Humorously, while Iino gets in easily, Judau gets turned away because he looks downright ''weird'' in a dress.

** In Part 2, Joseph Joestar decides that the best way to infiltrate a secret Nazi base in Mexico is to don a HarmlessLadyDisguise. Since Joseph is a 6'4" colossus with a HeroicBuild you could grate stale parmesan on, you can imagine how well it worked out.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' episode "The Broken Part" After Chowder steals the last Feetza 5000 replacement set from the person who bought it, the guy takes off his costume and gives chase to Chowder. In order to lose him, Chowder finds a store called "Ladies B Us", and disguises himself as a women and points the guy who is chasing him in a different direction.
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Adventures in Squirrelsitting". Chip and Dale not only dress up as girls but put on a show in order to sneak into Fat Cat's hideout.

* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' did this once in the second episode "Bearz 'n the Hood", when he and the Squishy Bears steal laundry clothes from a very grouchy woman and dress as hula girls so they can catch a ride on a pickup truck.

** Timmy in the episode "Operation: Dinkleberg" is dragged into one of his Dad's plots in spying on Mr. Dinkleberg, and has to deliver a box of pastries with a camera in them dressed as a girl scout.

** The episode "Go, Stewie, Go!" has Stewie disguising himself as a girl in order to land a role on the American version of his favorite children's show, ''Jolly Farm'' (References to both ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' and ''Film/{{Tootsie}}'' also appear in this episode) mainly because as he was waiting to get an audition, he was informed that all the male roles in the show were filled.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' episode "In the Dough", Fred and Barney disguise themselves as women to enter a baking contest when Wilma and Betty get the measles.
* Bender does this on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. In the episode "Raging Bender" he is forced to wrestle as the Gender Bender, in a tutu and blonde wig. And in "Bend Her", he undergoes a robo-sex change to compete in the Olympics under the name Coilette.
* The Creator/DiCEntertainment era of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' had the trope occur in the episode "United We Stand", where Ambush and Pathfinder are ordered to stay in sickbay but are the only ones available to thwart Cobra's latest plot. To sneak out, they disguise themselves as female nurses.
* In Episode 60 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'', Stumpy tries to gain access to a nightclub, but the bouncer refuses to let him in since it's only for girls. He comes back [[PaperThinDisguise in a wig]] claiming to be a girl, and is granted access.

** It's easier to name every ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short where Bugs Bunny ''doesn't'' dress as a female to deceive Elmer Fudd, who becomes instantly smitten with the disguised Bugs.
*** Played particularly weirdly in ''WesternAnimation/RabbitOfSeville'': The climactic battle between Elmer and Bugs degenerates into them alternating chasing each other with more and more deadly weapons...until Bugs abruptly comes up with a series of courting gifts (flowers, chocolates, and so forth, finishing with a diamond ring) and Elmer runs off and comes back in a ''wedding dress.''
*** A non-Bugs Bunny example occurs in ''WesternAnimation/CornOnTheCop''. Set on [[HalloweenEpisode Halloween]], a robber [[CriminalDoppelganger disguises himself as Granny]] after she had recently visited a grocery store for treats to give out to trick-or-treaters, and he would rob the same store after the fact, prompting a pursuit by incompetent policemen Porky and Daffy as they try to arrest either of the two. Granny becomes aggravated with what's going on, thinking the robber and the two cops were kids in costumes.
** In "WesternAnimation/DaffysSouthernExposure", a wolf and weasel who are sick of having nothing to eat but canned beans try and capture Daffy and [[FatteningTheVictim fatten him up for dinner]] while disguised as harmless old ladies.
** Invoked again in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' where Bugs disguises himself as "Viola Bunny" his "sister" moving to Albania, all as a ploy to avoid going to a peach festival with Porky. Later subverted when he's detained at the Albanian airport for not having a matching passport.

** In the episode " Cover Girls", Lincoln not only has to spend a good part of the episode dressed as his infant sister Lily while eldest sister Lori is forced to wear his clothes ([[ItMakesSenseInContext for reasons]]), but Lincoln turns out to have ''copies of all of his sisters' standard attire just in case he needs to dress as one of them''.
** At the beginning of the episode "Novel Idea", Lincoln does this in an attempt to attend Take Your Daughter To Work Day with his dad.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' short "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS3E5ShiftingGears Shifting Gears]]", Mickey's [[SentientVehicle living car]] is uncooperative in letting Mickey take it to the beach, so one of his plans is to get in it disguised as Minnie. When the real Minnie appears, Mickey's disguises quickly fall apart and [[RuleOfFunny he instantly grows a 5 o'clock shadow]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseWorks'' short "Mickey's Big Break" is about Mickey and Donald accidentally breaking a picture of Minnie and Daisy while playing football inside, so they had to go out and [[WholesomeCrossdresser crossdress as their own girlfriends to replace the photo]] and get Goofy to take a picture of them once they get back so Minnie and Daisy don't find out. [[spoiler:At the end of the short, Minnie and Daisy do find out, [[AllForNothing and reveal they've always hated that photo and replace it with a One-Millionth Customer photo they got at the department store]].]]

** In "Rarity Investigates!", [[spoiler:Wind Rider]] disguises himself as a mare in an attempt to frame Rainbow Dash for a crime.
** In "Brotherhooves Social", Big Macintosh disguises himself as a mare so that he can compete in the Sisterhooves Social events with his little sister. [[PaperThinDisguise His disguise fools exactly one person]]. He ends up getting disqualified, [[spoiler:not because of the drag (the judges knew it was him and didn't care), but because of his unsportsmanlike conduct during the race.]]

* No fewer than three episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' had the Hooded Claw do this. In "Cross Country Double Cross", he dressed as an old woman to hitch a ride on Penelope's motorcycle, and in two other episodes, he impersonated Penelope herself.
* WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain are always [[PaperThinDisguise wearing disguises]], and about a third of those involve women's clothes.

** In “Vim, Vigor, and Vitaliky", Bluto, to show up Popeye at his ladies-only gym, disguises himself as a woman -- an ugly, ''ugly'' woman.
** In "Too Weak to Work”, Popeye and Bluto are both Navy men -- Bluto feigns illness to get out of work and asks a sympathetic Popeye for "a pretty nurse"... Popeye then sees he's perfectly fine and disguises himself as a nurse. Bluto is horrified.

** In "Powerpuff Bluff", a trio of hulking convicts come up with the idea of dressing up like the girls to go on a crime spree unhindered -- and it works! They look through their prison cell wondering how they can pull it off -- the camera pans from bunks chained to the wall, a toilet, a locker with three Powerpuff Girl costumes...
** In "Slumbering with the Enemy", Mojo Jojo disguises himself as a girl named [[SobriquetSexSwitch Mojesha]] as part of his plan to destroy the girls at a SlumberParty they host.
** In "Film Flam", a director comes to town wanting to make a movie about the Powerpuff Girls. Professor Utonium realizes something is up and goes to foil his plans, dressing in drag in order to do so. At the end of the episode, the Narrator laments how the Professor in drag looks just like his mom.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheProblemSolverz'' episode "K-999 and Da Little Explorerz", Alfe dresses as a girl scout so he can get Nina's missing semaphore badge for her. He changes his name to Alfena, dons glittery makeup, and somehow manages to fool everyone, even though the scouts have a radar that can detect boys in their organization.
* Gus does this in the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' as part of T.J.'s plan to get their baseball bat from the Ashleys.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', Stu and Lou Pickles dressed Tommy up in a dress and a wig to enter him into a baby beauty contest to win a fishing boat. Didi was not happy.
* Doowee from ''WesternAnimation/SallyBollywood'' has had to disguise himself as a girl on a few occasions. In "The Egg War" he ends up dressed up in one of Sally's saris (complete with a wig and makeup) in order to download a message off a girl's phone, and in another episode, he ends up dressed as Literature/LittleRedRidingHood, in order to get onstage.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': In "Jack Is Naked", Jack, while looking for his stolen clothes and being chased by an angry mob, is dragged onto a play and dressed as "the Princess of Hearts", who just happened to resemble [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Alice]].

* ''Manga/{{SpillItCocktailKnights}}'': Sora spends her life as a boy to hide her secret identity as a MagicalGirl. Her best friend, who has a CelebrityCrush on her, has figured out her secrets, but hasn't told anyone, [[SecretSecretKeeper]] including her.

* The ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Mickey's Big Break" is about Mickey and Donald accidentally breaking a picture of Minnie and Daisy while playing football inside, so they had to go out and [[WholesomeCrossdresser crossdress as their own girlfriends to replace the photo]] and get Goofy to take a picture of them once they get back so Minnie and Daisy don't find out. [[spoiler:At the end of the short, Minnie and Daisy do find out, [[AllForNothing and reveal they've always hated that photo and replace it with a One-Millionth Customer photo they got at the department store]].]]

* Legosi of ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'' crossdresses in order to speak with his friend Louis, who is currently the leader of a criminal organization that wants Legosi dead since he doesn't want to cut his fur short again.

* In December 2020, the mastermind behind the long-running “Hollywood Con Queen” scam was arrested in the UK. The alleged scammer is an Indonesian man named Hargobind Tahilramani. Since about 2013, he’d been disguising his voice to that of various women executives, mostly in the entertainment industry, from all over the world. His impersonations ranged from Americans like Wendi Murdoch & Kathleen Kennedy to Singaporean hotel magnate Christina song, to fictitious Chinese movie executives to lure freelancers to Indonesia for fake projects. He’d have someone be the victims’ escorts and pocket the cash from their expenses.

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* ''Literature/LoomingGaia'': Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death in Evangeline Kingdom. Gay men are known to disguise as women known as "miss Marys" ("merry" meaning gay men) to be able to live with their boyfriends.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTuck'' opens with Tuck dressing as a girl for Halloween; [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} the irony of this]] only becomes apparent later. [[spoiler:Tuck soon befriends a large number of his girlfriend's friends, but must keep crossdressing since their parents only trust him because they believe that he's a girl. Then it turns out that a lot of them, his girlfriend included, prefer his female persona. Then he gets a job as a babysitter from a woman who thinks he's a girl. Eventually, he actually finds out that he's a late-blooming hermaphrodite, which is the reason he has started being called "miss" even when he's not crossdressing.]]
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* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} Kiwami'' has "Goromi-Chan" as part of the "Majima Everywhere" system, an encounter that sees Goro Majima in IncrediblyConspicuousDrag waiting for Kiryu to visit the particular hostess club he's set up shop in. Kiryu isn't fooled, but plays along and ends up having a decent conversation with his FriendlyEnemy Majima... until Majima asks him out on a date and takes Kiryu's refusal as an excuse to get into a drag-out brawl in the street.

* In ''Film/UpTheChastityBelt'', Lurkalot and Sir Coward disguise themselves as women in order to unionise the {{Bedlah Babe}}s and encourage them to stage a LysistrataGambit.

* In''Series/{{The Suite Life of Zack and Cody}}'', Cody disguises himself as a girl to enter a {{Beauty Contest}} in order to win the prize money and buy bikes for him and Zack.

* In [[Series/SomeAssemblyRequired]] Jarvis, Bowie, Knox and Aster do this at least once. Some are more effective than others. Although it's PlayedForLaughs Piper is often assumed to be this usually as an insult by [[VitrolicBestBuds Aster]] or genuinely by every one else.

* In [[SomeAssembalyRequired]] Jarvis, Bowie, Knox and Aster do this at least once. Some are more effective than others. Although it's [[PlayedForLaughs]] Piper is ofter assumed to be this usually as an insult by [[VitrolicBestBuds Aster]] or genuinely by every one else.