Genderless fashion and its problem with masculinity - Part 2
Written by Ilman Ramadhanu
Read part 1 - Fashion and gender: How do they correlate?
The genderless fashion fever is inescapable from the current landscape of fashion industry in Indonesia. Thanks to Instagram ads and its algorithm, I have seen many Indonesian genderless clothing brands pop up here and there. But they are still microscopic compared to the juggernaut retailers, in which not even a fragment of genderless fashion exists. The system in major fashion stores in Indonesia is still categorized by the two gender, the men’s section and the women’s section, which makes me wonder the viability of genderless fashion in Indonesian fashion ecosystem.
I came across a study by Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) that explained the attitude of Indonesian people towards genderless fashion. According to this study, people in Jakarta are able to accept the existence of genderless fashion with some restrictions, such as men should not wear things that is too feminine, noting specifically to skirts, clothes with bright color and feminine silhouette (clothes with flowy structure and frivolous accents like ruffles). The study also finds that it is more acceptable for women to wear masculine clothes (boxy silhouette; neutral colors) rather than the other way around.
I have always found it hard to make sense of the need for gender based sections at the clothing store but this study gives a little peek into how this old system is able to stand the test of time. Based on the study, the relationship between fashion and gender in Indonesia put more weight on how men should not look feminine by not wearing feminine things. Whereas for women, there are more possibilities available at their disposal whether they want to choose masculine or feminine in how they dress.
Arguably, clothes available on the women’s section on any clothing stores today are what genderless fashion tries to achieve. You can find any clothes you can think of in there, from loud to neutral color; fitted to baggy silhouettes; and there are also the clothes that are menswear inspired. I feel like my personal demand to the fashion industry has been fulfilled just by seeing what’s available in the women’s section.
The opposite could be said about what’s available on the men’s section, the non-intimidating color and the boxy silhouette of menswear. Men’s section could easily be referred to as neutral clothing. There is not one single thing within the men’s section that I could think of now that is impossible to be worn by women or that would not look good on any type of body.
There we have it.
All we have to do is burn down the gender section and our job here is done. We can then refer to the clothes for what they actually are, an article of clothing. We can rename the gender section into comfort wear; dress wear; office wear and so on. That being said in reality something tells me it would not be as easy as it sounds.
According to the study, one article of clothing that is a big no for men is a skirt (and probably a dress). I don’t know what makes men think that a skirt or a dress is so un-masculine because I can think of a few situations in which men wear skirts. If you have been to a Javenese wedding, you are probably aware of Javanese traditional clothing called beskap. In Javanese culture, beskap is a Nehru collared blazer usually worn by men on formal or important occasions. To complete the look, a long jarik fabric is paired with beskap by wrapping it on the bottom to form a shape that mimics the silhouette of a long wrap skirt.
The same circumstance could be observed from the kilts of Scotland, a traditional plaid knee length skirt with pleats that is usually worn by men in formal events. We have already established that skirts are not allowed to be worn by men due to the huge connection. It has as a symbol of femininity and by traditional belief, an effeminate man is not particularly desirable.
Image: Scottish kilt from Unsplash
However, we see examples like these where men wear things that resemble the look of a skirt, and yet jarik or kilt, by their respective traditional values, are not considered feminine. They are considered appropriate. When men wear jarik to a Javenese wedding, I don’t think they wear it to express their personal style but because it is the right thing to wear. If you are a man presenting and you wear anything that mimics the shape of a skirt but in a more modern looking print to go grocery shopping, I bet you will get weird and judgemental looks.
What shields men from receiving these judgments is the traditional value that says ‘yes by modern term, it is a skirt but it is okay because it is what we do and what we have been doing for years,’ which tells me that the traditional value embedded within the thread of the jarik fabric serves as a justification for men to wear things that if worn in a different occasions would be considered as ungentlemanly.
Similar situation could be observed from the beauty industry. Brands such as Warpaint provide a series of cosmetics products made for men from foundation to bronzer, beard and brow filler. They come in a sleek, black packaging with a palpable ‘for men’ wording on every single product. On the other hand, skincare for men has taken a step further than makeup. It is very easy to find a face wash that is made ‘for men.’
In regular drugstores, they even put skincare products that are made for men and women in different sections. I often wonder how beauty products that are made for men differ from those that are made for women. I have never personally tried any makeup products that are directed for men but I wear regular drugstore makeup on a daily basis - that I guess is largely believed to be made for women and it works just fine for me.
Arguably, the ‘for men’ label on a beauty product is nothing but a marketing ploy to cater to the men, which is a hard demography to break for the beauty industry given society’s popular belief that being conscious of how you look is such a feminine thing. If this is true, then just by writing ‘for men’ on the packaging the beauty industry is able to sell these products because the wording tells men that it is okay for them to wear this ‘feminine’ product because it is made for them. Therefore, they can still be conscious of how they look and still have their masculinity intact.
The blinding all caps ‘for men’ label on beauty products and the shadow of tradition behind jarik or the Scottish kilt have one thing in common: To function as a safeguard to keep men’s masculinity safe while they are out there doing things that, by society’s standard, would be considered feminine.
I began to think, could the same thing be said about the men’s section? Is the men’s section not called neutral clothing due to men’s constant need to be told it is okay to express yourself?
It is easy to blame the fact that men who has yet to find a way to get over their fragile masculinity as the reason why genderless clothing has not become a normal thing in present day. But when generations have been taught that they have to submerge personal expressions deep within the frozen well of masculinity, it is understandable to think that having a freedom in how to dress is a foreign concept. The idea of having a men’s section as a mere justification is also not particularly correct.
If we saw a dress or a skirt sold on the men’s section, our mind would probably think somebody must have messed up. The reason why we are so used to seeing neutral colors and boxy silhouettes in menswear is because those are the types of clothes that masculinity would not perceive as threatening. Therefore, the clothes sold in the men’s section should not be so far-stretched to the imagination that masculinity would think that somehow by wearing the clothes, they have alleviated their manhood.
We are, however, still in the topic of fashion here and it will always be subject to trends and times. New colors that are considered to be the trend aside from black, blue and gray are expected to pop up every once in a while. Nowadays, the idea of gender fluidity in how we dress is back. As I wrote earlier, the same approach to this trend in menswear is still the same as it was in the 70s, which is the assimilation of feminine aspects into menswear.
Sooner or later, we would see some of that aspect translated into the men’s section of mainstream clothing stores. That’s when the men’s section label comes in. The men’s section label serves as a safety net to tell them ‘yes it is not your regular neutral toned and boxy fit clothes but it’s okay because it is made for men.’
It serves as a justification for men who want to have a bit more tchotchkes (little trinkets or unnecessary ornament) in their fashion, so they can live in a space where they can have a bit more freedom to their fashion and still have their itching needs to uphold the image of masculinity at ease.
The answer to the old age question
I remember a quote from Michael Fish, the inventor of kipper tie, that says, “Fashion, you see, is in the mind. You have to think differently before you can dress differently. By changing their clothes, people risk changing their whole lives and they are frightened.
A clothing should not have this much social and cultural bearing in how we live our lives, how could it? It’s a piece of fabric stitched together around our bodies but fashion is what we think of the clothing or the thought that our minds produce when we see an article of clothing. It’s the base of how we define ourselves and others in the face of society.
When you insert gender into the mix, the purpose of fashion then ranges from a simple thing like an identifier on how to correctly refer to someone to a much more twisted stuff like what is expected of a person of a specific gender. Once in a while, there will always be some inquiring minds out there who begin to question how it would look like if fashion and gender are separated.
That question remains unanswered to this day. It is history repeating itself as the same approach to genderless fashion of the 60s and 70s could still be found today. It begs the question: Will the fate of today’s fascination towards genderless fashion end up the same as it was back then?
Only time will tell, but we could hope in the shift that happened to the attitude towards many faces of gender identities. The conversation of fashion and gender must always include people who have been breaking gender norms since it was illegal, the queer community. In order to prevent this fascination toward genderless fashion in today’s time as a fad, the fashion industry must put queer folks at the forefront of every conversation and shift their attention away from the clothes and into the personality of the wearer.
The constant struggle that trans and non-binary community find when trying to shop for clothes is one of the issues that have long been neglected by the fashion industry. I could not think of a better time than now for the fashion industry to start putting their money where their fashion is and start giving queer folks the space in which they have more option and freedom to express themselves.
When it comes to genderless fashion, Indonesian put more focus on the image of masculinity by putting skirt, bright colors and feminine silhouette as a big no for men. However, there is a way around the matter. Fashion is in the mind after all and if you know how to justify it, men might want to wear skirts. The easiest route to take is to go via the tradition route, which has been practiced for a long time.
Image: Some men in Wonosobo wearing jarik and blangkon (hat) celebrating birthday of the city by Dhimas Satriaa from Shutterstock
In Javanese culture, jarik fabric is known to be worn in the shape of a wrap skirt as the appropriate bottom wear for formal events like weddings. Another way to justify could also be observed from marketing ploy such as the placement of the words ‘for men’ on beauty products, which has successfully fooled men into buying such products, though it is unclear how beauty products for men differs from those that are created for women.
When it comes to modern clothing, however, it is not as easy as slapping a label on it. If the clothes do not meet the criteria of masculinity, then it would not work. However, the face of fashion will always change - even in the plethora of grey and blue clothes. That’s when the men’s section label would come in. When the trend in menswear starts to find its way into more daring colors and unnecessary embellishment, the thought that they obtain the clothes from the men’s section would provide their masculinity with a blanket of safety.
So, to answer the old age question, does genderless fashion exist? Perhaps, we should change the question into how could we evolve the relationship between fashion and gender? The discovery of your gender identity is a part of a journey that could only be taken by you. When you blend your gender and fashion together, your choice of fashion will be as individualistic as your gender identity.
Me? I couldn’t care less. I put more focus on self-expression rather than gender, but I don’t expect anyone to think the same as me and nor do I want to change their minds. Some people need some justification to wear something and there are some people whose clothes need to affirm their gender identities. Everyone has their own perception towards fashion and gender.
We can now start discussing how the idea of fashion could encompass all the need that comes out from all of those differing perceptions. Some necessities have been fulfilled and some have not. We just have to work on filling those gaps. Until that happens, I am going to bask myself in the hazy notion that ‘clothes have no gender and the rest is mind-made.’
Disclaimer: The view expressed on opinion article doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of The Finery Report. The opinion belongs to the author of the article.
