Uh.. what?

I got this terrific book from a secondhand shop, Life in the English Country House by Mark Girouard. (http://www.amazon.com/Life-English-Country-House-Architectural/dp/0300058705 if you'd like to get your own, though mine was only seventy-five cents.) So it's all very interesting and has lots of pictures and makes great bathroom reading. I'm flipping through the pages today and see a picture on page 93 that gives me pause. Here it is.

Two people descending a staircase. And I look at the outfits first (like ya do) and then comes the

WTF moment. That lady?

She doesn't look like a lady.

She looks like she has a mustache and beard.

What the..? Is this early engraving evidence of 16th century cross-dressing? I know that wearing long gowns was common in earlier periods, but this is definitely Elizabethan stuff-- the pointed waist, the ruff, the front underskirt -- so what the heck is going on here?

<< for comparison!