Have you noticed this trend: feminine male models (above left) and masculine female models (above right) modeling womenswear alongside the typical feminine female models.
To whom are fashion designers trying to sell? Of course, they are trying to sell womenswear to women, but are they also trying to sell womenswear to men?
Are they using feminine male models to convince pretty boys that it is ok to wear womenswear? And are they using masculine female models to convince manly boys that it is ok to wear womanswear, too?
Is this just wishful thinking on my part?
Well, according to this article, the Mademe clothing brand has taken "a big leap with new womenswear for men."
Visit their online store and you will find that it "is genderless, with no department captioned for women or men."
Is this the beginning of the end of gendered clothing sales? Someday, you may walk into Macy's and discover that the "women's" and "men's" departments have been merged into an "adult" department where racks of trousers hang next to racks of dresses for both her and his shopping pleasure.
By the way, it comes as no surprise that feminine male model, Andrej Pejic, is the face of Mademe's line of men's womenswear (or "menswomenswear").
An end to the rigid, traditional conventions of gender, especially as they relate to clothing, currently still firmly enforced, would be paradise. Imagine, being allowed to wear whatever you like and being accepted as you are. When that day dawns, humanity will have finally taken evolution to the next level and left gender behind forever.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see that day Russell, look up on facebook "Lorraine Goetsch"
ReplyDeleteEquality in Fashions
Maybe in NYC or LA , but in Peoria??? In Seattle there's been Utilikilts for years but most guys won't wear thm
ReplyDeleteYeah, not gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteThe question you need to ask yourself, Stana, is if you like gender or not.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you seem to think a world without clear gender conventions, where there are "adults" would be a good thing. To me, I imagine that world as China during the cultural revolution: Mao suits for everyone.
But most of the time, you delight in binary gender, loving how women can be pretty and stylish, and wanting to be one of them, so different than the man role you were assigned.
The codes of gender, of attraction and status, are what give you the symbols you love to wield to express your femininity. It's in sharp contrast with masculinity, not just some kind of unisex option.
Gender gives us powerful symbolic language that humans have always loved and craved.
Do you really want a world where there is no difference between men's and women's clothing?
Somehow, the way you love women's clothing says to me that you would not.
I'm not the Anonymous who posted that last comment. but I couldn't agree more. If clothing had no gender identity, there would be no thrill to violating it's boundaries. Joni Mitchell sang, " Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got tip it's gone." A gender-neutral world would be boring.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, as noted on Bilerico, Doc Martens have launched a new ad campaign featuring model Agness Deyn, and in some of the shots, she's photographed from angles that leave her gender somewhat ambiguous.
ReplyDeleteWhy do designers mix up the genders? Partly because it's something new to try. Partly because they don't like feeling confined. And mostly for the free pub you get when you do anything new...
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, I recently asked myself the same question when I saw this shop window in Holland: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karen_piper/6051063256/in/photostream
ReplyDeleteI think, in times of credit crunch and recession, it just makes sense for shops to widen their customer base. It's not a matter of unisex Mao suits at all. The retailers and designers are probably trying to kickstart the early 80s all over again.
I think the phrase is 'baby steps'...the clothing industry has been pushing at skirts for us for years with little avail.
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