An End To Gender In Women’s Fashion

Gender is a social construct — it is an ideological label to put someone into a box and give them rules about what they can and cannot do. Fashion continues to adapt to the spectrum of gender that goes beyond the definition of sex. Clothes do not have gender, they’re pieces of fabric. Historically speaking, fashion cycles through different periods of appropriate dress for people outlined by society as a collective. Over the last century, we have normalized that girls are meant to wear dresses, makeup, skirts, blouses, heels and even the color pink. We’ve seen Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Annie Lennox and Madonna all sport suits before they were popular for women. They’ve paved the way for the Janelle Monáes and Lena Waithes of today. Like a lot of things in life, it was different … but it wasn’t wrong. There is no wrong way to dress. 

Women’s dress has had the fortune of evolving much quicker than men’s fashion. Because it is such a fast-paced and ever-changing sphere, women have had the freedom and liberty to dive into concepts of dress that were initially designed with men in mind. Fashion is about catering to aesthetics, which has inherently feminine roots — if women choose to deviate from traditionally feminine dress, exploration into traditionally masculine clothing is still acceptable because it is fashion which makes it ultimately feminine at the end of the day. Now more than ever we’re seeing designers lean into this idea that wearing culturally masculine clothing is fashionable.

Women’s clothing for this upcoming season should see a spike in trench coats. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Loewe and other designers have included trenches in their SS21 shows. Trench coats for women are not atypical, but traditionally speaking, trench coats have been predominantly worn by men. Trench coats are making a return to the forefront of fashion as larger silhouettes continue to dominate runways.

Button-down blouses have been at the intersection of professional and casual dress. This past fashion week has shown Balenciaga, Valentino and Schiaparelli taking a turn for the more masculine by embracing button down collared shirts. This step is taking the feminine blouse giving us a bit more of androgyny.

The Women’s Rights Movement established pants as a staple in every woman’s closet. The garment has now become a symbol of unisex and non-binary clothing. Oversized pants have been trendy for a bit; Balenciaga, Celine and Dior capitalize on this trend by designing them for SS21 fashion week. Additionally, khakis are making their way into women’s closets for this upcoming season. Louis Vuitton, Schiaparelli and Hermès showcased khakis and chinos, traditionally men’s bottoms, paired with jackets and sweater vests.

A decade ago, seeing a woman wear a suit in a “man’s world” would have been earth-shattering. It’s not all that uncommon to see female celebrities dress a tad more conservatively in a suit. Several fashion displays this past season have taken this a step further by presenting suits as an ensemble for women. This past year, Celine, Stella McCartney and Theory have all shown playful and trendy variations on the traditionally masculine way of dress. They are accessorized with vests, long blazers, bold colors and flared legs.

Choosing to embrace these gender-bending fashion trends does not defeminize you. Choosing to dress the way you want regardless of societal expectations is empowering and shows the security that you have in yourself. Fashion is an art — it is a personal choice based off of your own personal expression — it’s ok to push the boundaries from the norm in order to achieve a look that is your own.