Early white performers in blackface used burnt cork and later greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to complete the transformation. Later, black artists also performed in blackface. The famous[15] Dreadnought hoax involved the use of blackface and costume in order for a group of high profile authors to gain access to a Military vessel.