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Gender Bending Is Back in Fashion

Men's, women's, who cares? young dressers tell market

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 19, 2009 11:20 AM CST
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(Newser) – Call it the new cross-dressing: Young fashionistas are exhibiting a willful disregard for whether items of clothing are “men’s” or “women’s,” mixing and matching what works for them into an androgynous personal statement. So while one young clotheshorse allows he might not don a skirt, “a long drapey shirt with really tight pants” is fine, he tells the New York Times. And the trend has percolated up to runway fashion, where one retailer says that “the more successful designers are the ones that try to bridge the gap between the sexes.”

Though the androgynous look was popular in the 1970s, most feel the current trend is less rebellious. These days, one psychologist says, “gender blurring is not only acceptable but cool.” And even utilitarian: “It’s a way of breaking down sexualized relationships,” says a woman who dips into the men’s aisle for work, “to find a common ground.” But don’t expect it to last, says one expert. “To carry it off, you need the physique of an adolescent boy,” and youth-only trends aren’t “going to be economically sustained.”

Men are dipping into their mother's closets as gender blurring becomes accepted, even cool.
Men are dipping into their mother's closets as gender blurring becomes accepted, even "cool."   (©bareknuckleyellow)
The androgynous look.
The androgynous look.   (©jorgemejia)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 19 comments
So_Cal_Larry
Nov 20, 2009 12:31 PM CST
I've never quite understood how every article of male clothing has been adjusted into female attire, yet as soon as some of the typical female attire gets adjusted for male usage, there immediately comes name-calling.
riffran
Nov 20, 2009 9:35 AM CST
@larry...because a big ole hairy 6 foot five dude would look weird in a thong and bra..rofl
Snarfeh
Nov 20, 2009 7:32 AM CST
@riff - Agreed! She is looooovlee. And you're right....she *isn't* androgynous. She is dressed androgynous because she is wearing what is typically considered men's clothing or clothing style. She, however, is not androgynous herself.......

 
fashion • clothing • cross dressing • gender confusion • trends • androgynous • youth culture

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