this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts
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Honestly, one thing I hate about being biologically male is that men's clothes all look so goddamn generic.
Oh, you're wearing a suit. It's. A suit. I guess. They all look the same.
You're wearing jeans. And a t-shirt. And they all look basically the same.
Khakis and a polo? You madlad. Well, you and everybody else at the country club. Who all look exactly the fucking same.
The thing that really gets me is, it didn't used to be this way. You look at pictures of people in paintings and whatnot and men had some wild shit going on. There was variety, if somewhat less, even into the early 20th. But... seriously tell me if I'm wrong here... it feels like we got to WWII and men's fashion just stopped. Like an entire generation of men put on uniforms and eighty years later we still haven't completely taken them off.
They don't ALL look the same. It's just that the stuff that actually looks non-generic are either super expensive or super uncomfortable.
Or, just bad. There's nothing generic about Ed Hardy. Most people elect to look generic rather than be caught dead in that mess.
True that! I have some awesome looking denim pants, that are literally painted with colorful paint. I always get compliments from both men and women when I wear them. I also got them basically for free at the store, since no one were buying them.
But, they're about as comfortable as you would expect denim pants painted with thick paint to be: stiff and scratchy.
or make you look like a stand user
Mainstream clothes for sure, but I feel the same way about mainstream women's clothes. Waist high jeans, an inoffensively colored top and a vest or blazer. Switch out the jeans for beige linen pants in the summer. Yawn. If you want inspiration for some more interesting clothes in general but men in particular, you gotta look to non-mainstream subcultures. Especially ones that don't give shit about gender. I hung out with hippies for years and men and women alike are dressed in cool, colorful and interesting clothes. Both genders wear pants, dresses, and skirts. It heavily inspired my style and believe me, I stand out a lot among other women. If you want more variety you have got to look further than what's mainstream. Because that'll always trend towards boring and basic.
Even mainstream clothes are better in the woman's section. I was in Peacocks (fairly small cheap clothes shop - you can see most of what they've got by standing near the centre) and you can just tell where the men's clothes are by the sea of dull, boring shades with not a single thing showing any sign of colour at all, like the brightness is turned down to 1 on the telly. The style differences are minimal. Even the material is just awful scratchy fabric for the most part. Look over to the woman's section and it's a sea of colour, many more different styles (not that many, as I said, this is a small cheap shop), and if you touch anything it's instantly noticeable that the material is much better quality, softer. I don't get woman who wear men's clothes - why would you put yourself through that?
There is more variety for sure, but my point kinda was that most people, men and women, don't really make full use of the variety there is. Almost everyone dresses kinda dull. Women have easier access to special and colorful clothes than men (although the latter can definitely find some if they look for it) and they do use it a slightly more but actually interesting clothing takes a little willingness to stand out that most people simply do not have. Maybe it's different in other countries though - where I live conformity and not standing out is woven into every aspect of our culture.
What does this have to do with being biologically male?
Aren’t males born wearing cargo shorts and a blue polo?
Tbh, I just want to blend in.. but of course be as pompous as you want!
That's good IMO
Not sure about other places but most women around here wear clothes that are mostly the same as well it's not exclusive to "masculine" clothes
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. I think what we should do is learn how to sew. I already bought a sewing machine but I haven't had time to learn how to use it. Hopefully I will be able to learn the basics in the few work-free days I will have in the summer. My point being, we (men) need to take fashion into our own hands and start designing what we want to wear.
I (woman) have been learning to sew for a while mostly due to the indignity of never having pockets unless I put them in myself. But I also took the plunge and made my husband a novelty Christmas shirt last year and honestly even though it seemed like it would be terrifying it was surprisingly straightforward! Now he can have all the ridiculous colorful shirts he wants.
Basically I'm saying yes, learn to sew, it's bloody brilliant.
Thanks for sharing your story. Now I'm more excited to learn how to sew