Watkinson DRESSED LIKE A GIRL?
TV PRESENTER Emma Willis caused a mini social media storm last week when she posted a picture on Instagram of her nine-year-old son wearing a pink T-shirt and sporting shoulder length blond hair.
I was perplexed that a picture of a long-haired boy in a pink T-shirt provoked any reaction at all, but perhaps not everyone has made the journey into the 21st century just yet.
Earlier this year Gucci launched a dress designed for men in an effort to bust what it termed “toxic gender stereotypes”, and while I think on a day-to-day basis, we are a way off seeing men wearing dresses, the boundaries of male/female fashion are being pushed.
So do we really still believe that old adage thats it’s blue for a boy and pink for a girl?
Trailblazers such as David Bowie were instrumental in smashing gender stereotypes decades ago.
The singer’s androgyny knew no bounds; from his scarlet red mullet to his piercing neon-blue eye make-up, his experimental hairstyles revolutionised masculine fashions in the 1970s.
Has all that been forgotten?
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Bowie cleared the path for others like Boy George, Prince and more recently One Direction heart-throb Harry Styles who, with the help of Gucci, has been breaking down every stereotype about what men can and can’t wear, from sheer frilly blouses and pearl earrings to carrying a clutch bag.
This isn’t about sexuality or gender, this is about choice.
So why is it we often label a man who chooses to dress in a way we don’t recognise as flamboyant or dandy? On the flip side women get the slightly less attractive label of butch, if their wardrobe fails to conform to the expected female stereotype.
High fashion labels Celine and Saint Laurent have made a point of having gender neutral (or unisex as it’s more widely known) clothing in their collections and I have been shopping in the men’s department for years because they do the best T-shirts and blazers. It’s a brave new world and fashion is leading the charge.