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comment by lightsandcandy
lightsandcandy  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Why gender neutral clothing could finally catch on

I like the idea, but male bodies and female bodies are shaped very differently. I like having the same style, but in terms of actual fit, this may not be feasible .

Thoughts?





tauta_krypta  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Exactly – I mean, skirts vs trousers is to do with gender, but male t-shirts vs female t-shirts is to do with body shape, and trying to find a compromise will just ensure they don't fit anyone properly.

tla  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes and no.

Both men and women's bodies fall on a spectrum. Some girls are curvy, some aren't. Some guys are curvy too.

Women don't need to be in a curve fitting top to look nice. The top I am in right now is "peasant style" and not fitted. I see "boyfriend style" tops in clothes stores all the time, they're often literally men's stuff that have had minor cosmetic alterations (like the rolled up arms stitched in place). One of the current fashions these days is to get an oversized top and wear it with leggings. And not to forget, I've helped organize events where tshirts were a thing. Many many women attendees opt for the non-babydoll styles, and smaller built guys even opt for babydoll instead of unisex.

Pants are a slightly different thing. Holy fuck is it hard to find a pair of jeans that fits right. Because all women are shaped differently and aren't a perfect ratio of butt to height, but a lot of styles don't accommodate anything other than a strict narrow formula. You know what, one of my most comfortable pairs of jeans as a teenager was a pair of boy's jeans. It's now actually a thing these days for guys to get girls jeans. They often have a better range of colors and styles, and some cis guys find they fit better than the dude cuts too. They don't like the lack of decent pockets either.

Tl;dr: gendered clothes don't fit a lot of people right anyway.

lightsandcandy  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's an excellent way to say it.

edricarica  ·  3408 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    male t-shirts vs female t-shirts is to do with body shape,

...and don't forget fabric thickness!

for some reason, manufacturers seem to think women want their basic cotton t-shirts to be transparent despite the male equivalents being thick enough to use as blackout curtains :/

user-inactivated  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

There's a strong desire in the queer women community (not all, but some) for clothing that's not "typically feminine." Some businesses have been slowly catching on to this, it's a slowly growing industry. Definitely a user base for such a thing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lesbianfashionadvice

lightsandcandy  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Less gendered clothing styles are definitely more popular!

But isn't it true that not typically feminine clothes still have to fit more feminine bodies? These are "masculine" outfits that could be worn by anyone, but if I were to take the exact articles from the backs of these men and tried to wear them, they wouldn't fit. I'm shorter, have narrower shoulders, and different hips.

So there's a user base who would like clothes like that, but there would still have to be a women's section (or a way to indicate what clothes would probably fit women-type-bodies) and a men's section, even if the styles were the same.

saintcanice  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

For some reason all the geeky shirts I want at Target are in the Men's section. So I have maybe 5 T-shirts that are Men's. Tees are already pretty androgynous.

What I really want are pants that fit my booty but have pockets in the front like Men's pants. The only jeans I own have LIES where pockets should be.

user-inactivated  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    What I really want are pants that fit my booty but have pockets in the front like Men's pants. The only jeans I own have LIES where pockets should be.

Yeah? What's that about? I asked my wife that question the other day while doing laundry. I understand that the faux pockets are there to help the pants seemed put together. Why go faux though? Why not just put in real pockets?

Know what her response was? "Cause I have a purse." LADY! That makes zero sense. For one, half the time I'm carrying your wallet cause you want to go sans purse. For two, adding pockets takes nothing away. For three, you have two summer dresses with pockets. If a dress can have pockets, pants should definitely have pockets.

Cedar  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Ah, the age old question: which came first, the purse or the faux pocket?

saintcanice  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The purse. If we're talking modern fashion, women carried purses before they started wearing jeans.

saintcanice  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's ridiculous! Even pajama pants have pockets! I demand more pockets!

user-inactivated  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well then, the solution is obvious. You need to wear pajama pants everywhere you go, not just Wal-Mart.

saintcanice  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I don't think that would fit into my look book.

user-inactivated  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You gotta get creative, put stuff together that plainly shouldn't, like yoga pants and Uggs.

saintcanice  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Or anything designed by Yoko Ono...

user-inactivated  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hmm. I think maybe you should be more adventurous when it comes to fashion. Have you thought about bringing back new wave hair dos?

saintcanice  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·  

New Wave hair is sooo 2011. 2015 is all about long boho waves.

artis  ·  3409 days ago  ·  link  ·  

IMO current dress styles (that I'm aware of) just don't work for V shapes and are suboptimal for flat chests. This means that dresses just don't look good on some women and most men. Is anyone aware of dress styles that actually look good on your average male physique?