From its emergence in late-nineteenth-century Sudan as the prescribed dress for male members of the Mahdist state, to its collection and display in museums around the world, the Mahdist jibba has been and continues to be a recognizable symbol of indigenous empire-building in opposition to Ottoman-Egyptian and British colonial power. Gifted in diplomatic exchanges and looted from battlefields, this dress is synonymous with anti-colonial masculinity and Mahdist Islamic devotional practice, and it is central to the creation and maintenance of lines of authority within this movement during the height of Ottoman and European scrambles for Africa. Yet, for all this garment reveals about male devotion, empire-building, and military masculinity, these frameworks do not answer an important aspect of the politics of this dress: What happens when women and individuals not-identified-as-men take up the Mahdist jibba? What space do these individuals occupy in an indigenous empire intent on maintaining gendered divisions? This paper addresses five case studies where women and individuals not-identified-as-men take up the Mahdist jibba: to protest the leader of the movement, to take up arms and fight for the Mahdist cause, to position themselves as full members of the Mahdist community, and to police those deemed outside of it. These individuals come from elite families in centers of power, non-elites in the Mahdist borderlands, and at least one from enslaved heritage living in the capital, a case that raises questions about the degree to which ideas of gender enter Mahdist politics from non-Islamic Nuba Mountain and southern Sudanese contexts. Therefore, this paper demonstrates ways that women and individuals not-identified-as-men made claims to power and authority by troubling the gendered discourses of the Mahdist empire.