Should fashion be defined to Female and Male restrictions?
‘I’m aware this isn’t just an issue with fashion but also a negative perception on sexuality. Just this one comment made me aware of how many things are wrong with the society we live in and that was my realization of what need to change.’
Pink, slinky, bright, and colorful – adjectives that could be used to describe Boohoo’s recent marketing campaign, a theme that many retailers aiming clothing for women ages 15-25 imitate. Personally, I find the style disgusting as someone who changes her style every day, and one day dresses girly, one day takes inspiration from androgenous and more masculine role models. The ‘Womens fast fashion look’ is copied campaign after campaign with no change and no originality. This could be because this theme works and sells there clothing and is a safe option for the sales of retail clothing brands such as PrettyLittleThing, MissGuided, OhPolly etc., but post covid more and more consumers are looking for more unique, and different styes to what they see in the New In sections of these retail brands. Many consumers especially GenZ which most of these brands are aiming towards are becoming increasingly aware of the effects of fast fashion on the environment and the massive play fast fashion retailers have to do with the decay of the planet, there has been a significant increase in students looking to shop second and third hand, to recycle and upcycle old clothes. Pretty Little thing are taking a step to encourage the recycling of products, as when you return a damaged item you are prompted to donate the item to an upcycling Centre, this is just a suggestion and not a requirement.
The styles of the garments in these campaigns are specifically marketed and designed for a female body and are in no way gender inclusive, there is no section that allows for genderless or as some call it unisex fashion. Genderless fashion defines a garment that isn’t designed to fit a certain body shape and is fluid. The design is not inherently feminine and masculine. As the binary becomes more visible in the 20th century, fashion amongst other things must change and develop with it, to become more open and inclusive to its wearers. I completely support the full de-genderization of garments and the whole fashion industry, and see genderless fashion as being the way forward 2023 and on.
Taking it back to the Romans when fashion represented a class divide. Toga started as the formal roman attire for men and women, they weren’t worn as casual wear and the ones made well were reserved for important male figures. Togas are represented a lot in paintings and sculptures making us think they were extremally common when it was only wealthy who could afford to wear them, this fact is not made clear in many artworks. The toga represented much more than just wealth – the Toga Virilis was worn by young men to show their passage into adulthood, politicians wore a Toga Candida, in times of mourning a dark wool Toga was worn and the rarest Toga – died purple was the Togs Picta, reserved for generals. Females also wore the Toga but more commonly wore a Stola, which was a fabric strung from the shoulder (the same one as the statue of liberty), the Stola was only worn by married women and was a sign of wealth. Unlike the Toga the Stola didn’t have many variants as women didn’t have a wide range of career options, instead Roman women wore jewelry and elaborate hairstyles to show their wealth. Middle class women who couldn’t afford a Stola wore a simple Tunic which was also the clothing that children and lower-class men wore.
The division between male and female didn’t just appear form nowhere, skirts in modern time where a garment worn by men and men only, they slowly moved to suits, shirts and ties leaving the shape of a skirt to female partners. I think a massive part in why men moved away from skirts was the masculine ideals brought amongst them, for example pink was originally a color made for men but was again transferred to women due to connotations questioning male masculinity in such a ‘Feminine’ color. The History of pink is quite interesting, it was originally recognized as a concept in 800 B.C in Homers Odyssey. In the mid-18th century, the color became popular amongst both female and male aristocrats and was worn as a sign of luxury not gender. Moving into the mid-20th century men started to wear darker colors to reflect their World War II service and pink and pastel colors were rebranded as feminine as a part of the post war effort to remove women from the workforce and move them to household roles. When I think of pink I think of barbies, and the Barbie brand, I sure I’m not the only one that thinks of this as they’re first thought. I feel Barbie being such a big brand and known as a young girl’s toy, using the pink brand as their trademark, from when they started in 1959 has surely impacted the genderization of the color.
‘The Great Masculine Renunciation’ (as English psychologist John Flugel called the transition of men from skirts to trousers) refined the range of options within garment styles men had available to them, a survivor – the kilt, is still worn now by men and is a sign of heritage, worn proudly and perceived as the most masculine uniform, when looking at images of a kilt you will most likely see a muscular man with a long beard – an image that implies the upmost masculinity – an interesting concept against the negative ideals a man wearing a skirt brings.
One of the most beautiful garments made and worn – the Sarong, usually worn as cultural dress is an item completely genderless and has been genderless for quite some years, the sarong can be worn as a dress or a skirt and is essentially a regal piece of silk wrapped around the wearers body to create a draped, tied effect that looks glamorous, dainty, and truly majestic. The sarong comes in endless colors and patterns and is commonly laced with gold accents to provide a status and an indication of wealth. The sarong fabrics depending on where they are worn all have different styles and patterns woven and embroidered into them, historically made of silk the Sarong was mainly worn by middle to upper class. The Sarong is believed to be inspired by the Lungi worn by traders from India who made port along the coast of Java in modern day Indonesia.
Now whether the sarong is a skirt, or a torso wrap is up for deliberation, In Indonesia the Sarong is known as a Kain Sarung (Sarong Cloth) except for in Bali where it carries the name Kamben. The sarong is also known as the unisex tubular skirt. The Sarong could also be considered as Cultural dress, and like the kilt is proudly worn by millions of men across the world, this make makes me wonder if the implications that skirts and dresses are for females only and do not adhere to the masculine front, are only regarding garments that have no attachment to religion, and if they are related to religion or heritage like the kilt and Sarong are, does this change the perspective at what a skirt is seen as on a man.
Gender has been divided since the industrial revolution, Menswear became trousers, suits and skirts and Womenswear became Dresses, and skirts. Not only fashion but the gender gap also effected pay, job availability and resulted in women receiving 1/3 of a male workers salary. The main gender divide was regarding women’s ability to work and the discrimination against pay was the biggest divide seen. The thing I hate the most about Gendered fashion is the restrictions within it, locating a certain garment style to a certain gender limits the range in Menswear and Womenswear fashion, as we start to escape this Gendered fashion construct, we see more fluidity within fashion and more freedom to explore style and personality and embrace it. The freedom genderless fashion is bringing, is creating a New Haven for creativity and self-expression, and is harboring individuality.
Tunics, a cultural dress in the middle east are worn to date and are classed as the norm for most males. The tunic is made from flowing fabric, more appropriate for hotter climates and are designed carefully and specifically to match the heat. The tunic has no specific silhouette and is designed to fit a general body shape regardless of gender, much like the tunic I mentioned earlier worn in the Roman times.
Modern dress is much more fluid and allows for new shape, color, and texture. Styles and trends have changed dramatically moving into the 20th Century. For example, t-shirts lengths – A trend amongst men in the past few years have been long line t-shirts, these are just normal, casual t-shirts that end just above the knee and are commonly worn with jeans. The length of the t-shirts could be argued to be borderline a dress, I’m not sure where the line is that defines whether a garment is a dress or t-shirts. Personally, I’m not sure where I would draw the line, it isn’t something I have specifically thought of before, I usually just see a garment and take it as either t-shirts dress, t-shirts or dress depending on how it has been styled.
Billy Porter a known celebrity for crossing gender in fashion. Billy uses the pronouns He/Him, from his pronouns most would presume he would entertain menswear products. Billy choses to disagree with the gender binary on clothing and supports the genderless fashion conversation. He is mostly known for his glamorous dresses at awards like the Brits, he talks about self-expression through fashion and how fashion should not be constricted by an insignificant binary. Marc Jacobs has also been recognized for its use of portraying male models in ‘Womenswear’. During Paris Fashion Week Marc Jacobs wore a longline pink t-shirts dress, which I can already imagine how much hate on social media he got due to toxic masculinity and I’m sure his sexuality would be mentioned in the hate too. Why is it that a man can’t wear a dress in the 20th century, as much as were moving into a more inclusive era, will we ever create a fully genderless and fluid environment and how will we change the mind of many who are stuck to the strict genders of fashion.
I watched a recent ID Documentary featuring Munroe Bergdorf. Munroe is an English model and activist; she mainly works on creating a more inclusive space in fashion and works a lot on transgender rights. In this documentary she explores the gender binary through fashion and how expectations of what you should wear can affect your health and suffocate your personality and sense of self. In this documentary she joins a fitting for the next Art School collection and shares her thoughts on the gender binary and how she feels the future in fashion will stabilize.
Androgyny is the quality or state of being neither especially feminine or masculine: the combination of feminine and masculine characteristics: the quality or state of being androgynous for this brand, wearing unisex clothing perpetuates androgyny that pervades runways and our own culture. Androgyny isn’t just humans who identify as a male wearing women’s clothing, androgyny is form of self-expression for people who don’t want to be restrained by womenswear and menswear, people who want to mix gender and just wear fashion as pieces of garments. Presumptions made about androgynist fashion are wide and ridged, one being that androgyny is worn by masculine lesbians, this is an assumption that really frustrates me and comes quite personal. I express my self through my clothing and I enjoy blending the gender borderlines as I don’t believe they exist and they are just a construct made my society, I have always wanted to dress androgynist from a young age after seeing photography and influencers exploring more with their fashion, one photograph that is taken by one of my favorite photographers and a photograph that influences every piece of work I do is a image taken my Helmut Netwon.
This image is so powerful not just to show an androgynist woman but also women’s power and femininity. Helmut inspired me to find myself in my clothing, as I started to experiment with seeing clothing as genderless the family hate I got was a eye opener and gave me an insight into how fashion and how people see fashion needs to change, the main comments I got where you look like a lesbian, don’t be a lesbian – I’m aware this isn’t just an issue with fashion but also a negative perception on sexuality. Just this one comment made me aware of how many things are wrong with the society we live in and that was my realization of what need to change.
Sexuality and gender overlap in endless ways, many people who identify with they/them pronouns find comfort in and androgynist fashion, as they the whole meaning of it is to have no gender constraints and not be tied to a certain gender. This is another misconception – that androgyny is just for non-binary or anyone who doesn’t identify with he/him or she/her pronouns, androgyny is for anyone and everyone who wants to explore fashion more and experiment with more freedom. A notable name would be Rei Kawakubo, a designer that brought a distinct Japanese style to his garments that adopted an androgynist theme. Names to credit: Luisa Capatillo was the first women ever to wear a suit and tie in public in Puerto Rico, Elizabeth Smith Miller was one of the first designers to invent a trouser style later called ‘the bloomer’ that was fit to a female body.
If you have not already, I recommend reading Shaun Cole’s essay: NOT SURE IF YOU’RE A BOY OR A GIRL. Cole is a theorist who explores the glam rock influences on gender bending culture and its experiments with the culture construction of gender.
Just to outline the essay, it starts with David Bowie announcing his sexuality to Michael Watts in January of 1972, and how this announcement effected his on-stage persona of Ziggy Stardust and how he became a role model and figure head for gay pride in Britain. His own personal style already retracted gender categories, as he explored with masculine and feminine fashion creating his own construction and idea of what gender means to him. Bowie started to influence younger generations, making bisexuality a craze and androgynist fashion a new trend, he influences teenagers to embrace angst and join the glam rock style – sequins, glitter, men wearing makeup and to play with gender ambiguity. The Glam Rock scene stemmed from its apparent rejection to reality and encourages an escape to society, creating a new reality in which was fully your own where you can be who you want to be and fully self-express, as you can imagine the 70s this was a wild idea and seems uncontrollable which is the beauty of it and the best part of the rebellion. The ‘genderfuck’ style became a tool of political stance, ideas were utilized in street theatre and political demonstrations.
The essay is informative and is an incredible insight into David Bowies influences on gender, politics, and sexuality in the 70s. His influence on the genderfuck, drag scene, and gay pride shows a turning point where rebellion starts to embrace self-expression and a breakout of social norms. His power over an androgynist generation is noted and creates room for crossdressing in the early 1980s, his influences open room for communities to unite and femininity and masculinization to not feel to constraint – a new outlook on the future and a fluidity to fight for.
Diversity and Inclusivity are used so much now that many people just see them as industry buzzwords and don’t understand what they mean
If your one of them people, the definitions are below:
· Diversity – the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations etc.
· Inclusivity – the practice of policy or providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or intellectual disabilities or belonging to other minority groups.
Designer Alok V Menon argues that fashion and beauty industries need to ‘de-gender’ fashion to better celebrate trans and nonbinary people, suggesting solutions such as ending gendered fashion weeks or actively promoting trans and nonbinary people to leadership positions.
Fecal Matter I’ve known about for a while, they are Avant Garde duo – Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran they are known for their horror like photoshoots featuring nightmarish masks, hair, and effects. Founded in 2016 there brand has risen and caught the eyes of many, the brand name – Fecal matter, comes from the pair’s observation of today’s culture of overconsumption and how fashion, for many how fashion has lost all sentimentality and value. The brand came as a discussion between Hannah and Steven about how they hate the fashion industry from the prevalence of child labor to the negative environmental impacts. The pair to express their critical thinking through the brand and offer a space to reflect on the current state of the fashion industry.
Another brand valuing gender fluidity is Not Equal, founded in 2012 by Fabio Costa, Not Equal is exemplified by genderless form and individuality. Costa was previously awarded second place on Season 10 of project runway which he explained ‘’helped him redefine and exceed expectations of himself and his status in the creative world. His Brand features oversized, draped garments designed to challenge traditional tailoring, whilst remaining elegant and formal. The brand questions gender, culture and modernity, and its mission is to encourage authentic expression through fashion. Costa wants to ‘push boundaries while rationalize fashion’
More designers that are exploring gender through fashion are names such as 69, Blindness, Official Rebrand, He-m-noid, Fomme, Cycle by MYOB, 44 Studio and Eirinn Hayhow.
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