Words by Imogen Edmonds
Marketing clothes as ÔÇÿgenderlessÔÇÖ has become a new selling point in the fashion industry, and whilst items of clothing obviously donÔÇÖt have a gender society has stitched gender into clothes, labelling them into the socially constructed gender binary.
Whilst we are familiar with most high street shops having gendered clothing sections, the origination of gendered dress is relatively recent. Up until the 17th century, womenswear and menswear were very similar ÔÇô with both men and women wearing the same tunic-style garments, made by the same clothes makers.
However, as gender became a more important social construct, the way in which people dressed became a gender marker. In turn, as technology advanced, tailors and seamstresses began to create pieces exclusively for men or women – leading to the emergence of distinct masculine and feminine styles and aesthetics. Furthermore, from a young age, it has been dictated that boys wear blue and girls wear pink; but this was not a gender signifier until pre-WW1 indicating that it is simply another mechanism for Western society to polarise masculinity and femininity.
The stringent categorisation of clothing into either menswear or womenswear has negative effects on individuals who donÔÇÖt feel that their gender expression fits neatly into the gender binary that society has forced upon the fashion industry. This is because by defining clothes by gender, different items of clothing have adopted different social meanings associated with either masculinity or femininity, that not everyone relates to. For instance, skirts are typically associated with femininity and its associated traits such as being weak or overly sensitive and connotes ideas relating to female subordination to men.
Despite this, where there remains a huge stigma around men wearing typically feminine clothing, such as skirts, plenty of traditional dress for men incorporates this style. For example, the Scottish kilt not only symbolizes patriotism and honour for Scots, but also represents traditional traits related to masculinity such as strength and courage. Skirts are also commonly worn by men outside of Western cultures, suggesting that ultimately the sartorial gender distinction is a social construct imposed upon the Western world.
The strict gendering of clothes has limited the imagination of the fashion industry as designers have been restrained from developing pieces outside of the masculine and feminine gender binary imposed upon the creative production. To combat this, brands are beginning to create gender neutral fashion lines to liberate themselves from the restraints of the gender binary. Namely, GucciÔÇÖs MX line, according to its website, seeks to ÔÇÿdeconstruct preconceived binaries and question how these concepts relate to our bodies. Celebrating self-expression in the name of all gender equality.ÔÇÖ Not only are they using androgynous models to style their garments, but also have a genderless sizing range, advocating ultimate inclusivity and freedom in how we express ourselves. Whilst not all of our budgets can afford premium brands such as Gucci, Goose and Gander are a more affordable, yet still stylish brand that are embracing the idea of genderless clothing, with their collection being entirely unisex.
Debatably, Harry Styles has been a key figure is paving the way in breaking the gender binary of clothing, from his iconic ballgown moment on the cover of Vogue in 2020 to his styled pink ballerina tutu for a previous Saturday Night Live photoshoot, he has certainly turned some heads. However, many of us Gen-Zers are oblivious to the stir David Beckham caused in 1998 when he appeared in public wearing a sarong skirt. Whilst he was ridiculed by the press and the public for his style choice, with fashion critics even labelling it as a ÔÇÿfashion failÔÇÖ at the time, just over two decades later Harry Styles is now praised massively for his feminine dress sense – highlighting how we are beginning to embrace inclusivity with much more open arms.
Nevertheless, the fashion industry certainly still has some work to do! Although more and more unisex clothing lines are emerging, typically they incorporate more traditionally masculine styles and fail to fit the body shapes of both men and women. Moreover, brands are often guilty of capitalising off non-gendered clothes ranges by seeing them as a trend or a niche or using them as a marketing strategy.
Hopefully eradicating the gender binary from the fashion industry will also aid in reducing the pressures of the gender binary in other parts of society; for instance, promoting equality and disintegrating gender roles will further the cause. In order to remove gender restraints within the fashion world, we need to actively push forward for change and not see genderless fashion as a mere trend that will pass us by, but instead as the new normal. To evoke change, it is essential that clothing brands design more pieces that are not inherently masculine or feminine, but instead ultimately as clothing, as ÔÇÿclothes are clothesÔÇÖ and certainly do not need gendering!