A Wren Says

Despite what many might lead you to believe, the push for clothing that isn’t gendered isn’t new. There have been multiple trends over the years where people, especially women desired clothing that differed from what they “should” wear based on their assigned gender role. In this article in the Atlantic, Kimberley Chaslain-Campbell writes:

“As Paoletti tells it, unisex clothing was a baby-boomer corrective to the rigid gender stereotyping of the 1950s, itself a reaction to the perplexing new roles imposed on men and women alike by World War II.”

In the snippet she references the book, Sex and Unisex: Fashion, Feminism, and the Sexual Revolution. Clothing was a way to assert that they wanted to live life differently, a push back against the limitations placed on them because of their womanhood. Because they wanted to be seen and treated differently, they dressed differently.

I think we can, perhaps rightly, think about this style of clothing as being important for people trying to find ways to affirm what they believe about gender through clothes. However, if we think about history and now, women have been dressing this way to hide from consequences of being seen as feminine.

Take the example of Dame Stephanie Shirley. In her talk at Voices with Business of Fashion, she remembered early in her career taking on more masculine style professional clothing to be taken seriously. If she dressed more like a man, they would finally trust her expertise in technology.

In her case, donning more masculine clothing wasn’t really freeing. It was a necessary burden.

Or in other examples, think of the story shared in the podcast, Pink Card. Women chose to dress like men to gain the ability to watch a soccer game. Just to be let into a stadium, they had to hide their femininity.

When we talk about gender and clothing there is more nuance that we need to keep in the conversation. Unisex clothing has been used as a response to rigid gender roles and stereotypes. Clothing is a way to work through social systems, opting in or out or trying to subvert the thing altogether.  

I will end this here, not really know where I’m going with this. I am just going to go off and think more about this. Maybe you will, too.