When Doves Cry, When Clothes Bely
Clothes don't make the man a man, but clothes may make the woman a man. Case in point me versus Prince. However effeminately dressed Prince can be, we all know Prince is a man and its not due to his name or general knowledge of his maleness. I write about the effect of the body on the clothes, however the inverse is also important when it comes to sartorial expression, performance, and curation. I am routinely mistaken for a male. Let's take a look at the reasons why...
Traditional "men's" clothing has virtually gone unchanged for centuries. Cravats=neckbands, nowadays ties are worn. The concept of a buttoned shirt also dates back centuries, with varying cuts, sleeves and collars. The suit, which incorporated trousers, waist coast, and blazer, has essentially remained the same with different styles of blazers ebbing and flowing, and waistcoats i.e. vests coming in and out of style. Long boring story short, if a male wants to get dressed up, he would wear a blazer, button-down shirt, tie, and trousers. But what about women?
Women have been wearing iterations of what one would call a suit since the 17th century, for practical reasons like horseback riding and what they called "walking suits," generally consisting of a jacket and skirt made of the same fabric and a blouse. Getting dressed up for women then and now, as far as formal wear, consists mainly of wearing, well, a dress. As women joined the work force, women's suits became more streamline and emulated the men's cut of suit, for a long time with a skirt instead of pants.
Today, non-casual attire does not necessarily consist of a suit, however the elements of the suit are still in place. Jacket/Blazer, tie (or not) for the men (somewhat depends on whether the man is wearing a blazer or not), button-down shirt/blouse (men or women), trousers/skirt (men or women). Etiquette has changed greatly, where dressy-casual might consist of jeans, non-athletic shoes (though in certain spaces interesting, elite, and/or fashionable athletic shoes are acceptable, button down shirt/blouse, jacket/blazer, and maybe a tie (same tie rules apply).
It seems like the waist up is what really counts as far as donning non-casual wear. The question is: where is the line for distinguishing men from women? Generally, women's blazers are cut shorter to accentuate a womanly figure in females, same goes for the pant and the shirt, and of course the blouse and skirt are seen as female fashion fixtures.
If a man were to wear female clothes it would accentuate his physical masculine characteristics: lack of breasts and hips. If a woman were to wear male clothes it would diminish her feminine physical characteristics: longer, improperly cut jacket hides the breasts and hips. Other tells would simply be the generally accepted cut of men's clothes versus women's.
I will go through my outfit and explain ways in which I could've chosen to denote my femaleness. I am wearing a Brooks Brother's knit tie (TSF),m , Hugo Valentino plaid shirt (TSF),m , Gap Cardigan,m , Tweed Wool Blazer (friend gave it to me, there is no label),m , Acknowledge Jeans (purchased),m , Vael Boots (purchased),m. If I had just wanted to let those who paid attention to me for more than 5 seconds know I am a woman, I could have simply substituted the cardigan for a "female" vest which would have provided the accentuation of the bust generally accepted as proving my femaleness. If I weren't "hippy" as they say, I could have donned some skinny, fitted jeans, however, that would've lead me to change my shoes to keep the proportions in balance, as I was wearing men's footwear, which is cut wider and higher most times and I have large feet for a woman of my size (5'5.5", size 10), plus these boots are especially big an blocky. Since I am hippy, a tight pair of jeans, and maybe some sneakers would have sufficed to have people acknowledge my female gender.
If I had done something to make my gender more apparent, what would my body be doing to the clothes? Well queering it of course! If I wanted to achieve the same affect of male styled dress, I would've just put on the women's vest instead of the men's cardigan and kept it moving, traversing what the western world has gendered male and female. As gendered style becomes more lax (American Apparel has sections in its store for women, and a unisex section. Technically, the only dedicated menswear is the men's underwear), women need to know their body, and clothing cuts very well to be able to mix and match men's and women's clothes and still look feminine or gendered female.
Today I chose to say up yours to the business of gendered fashion, despite that leaking over into my gendered persona. I say fashion is fashion. I am allowed in the men's section of clothing store and allowed to purchase the clothes and try it on in-store. No one can stop me (going into the women's fitting room performing maleness with men's clothes is a HOOT). I say style is style. I can piece together an ensemble that men like and would wear, so who's going to stop me!? My gender certainly isn't. If I can create an outfit mentally that I like, I want to show the world. These clothes are in my closet, they fit my body, so why the hell not???
#girlheredontcare
P.S. I will continue to address this outfit/topic in a later post.
