let's hear it for the boy

i don't really pay a great deal of attention to men's fashion. don't misunderstand me, guys are fabulous, and there's nothing better than a good-looking boy in a fantastic outfit (well, apart from a well-made campari and soda, but how often do you come across them, really?). it's undeniably true. but what i can't deny is that usually i just can't be bothered when it comes to keeping up with their runway stuff. even as it is i sometimes feel completely overwhelmed by style.com, i couldn't even begin to start delving into the men's wear.

HOWEVER this changes everything:

ann demeulemeester, i adore you: it's like you've taken mr darcy in some funeral garb, thrown on jack-on-crack pirate boots, dipped him in sex and made him join an indie band. electric feel, indeed.

sometimes i think about fashion, and i'm all like, 'this is hard!'

Here’s a fashion fact for you: Maggie Tabberer was one of the first Australian women to wear trousers in the 1960s, an era when women were still essentially confined to dresses, skirts and blouses (honestly, do blouses still even exist anymore?).

Anyway, this was not a choice that went smoothly for her. She was regularly kicked out of restaurants and bars for being inappropriately dressed. Which is something that I can understand, obviously. Australia (and Sydney in particular, I think) can be a bastard of a country for having to adhere to ridiculous dress codes.

You may have already known this about our Mags, but when I came across this little anecdote, it raised a couple of questions for me.

For one, why is it that, even in a domain which is supposed to be almost exclusively of female concern, women still seem to be second-class citizens? Look at phrases like “You can tell who wears that pants in that relationship” and “He’s just being a big girl’s blouses" (genius though that one undoubtedly is). They employ undeniably gendered language and stereotypes about the role women play in society.

And another thing – why did women cross over into the realm of men’s clothing (ie. trousers, shorts, etc; YSL’s Le Smoking is a classic example), but men never did likewise (exceptions such as kilts and djebelas notwithstanding)? For men – and women as well – women’s clothing is inextricably linked to feminine characteristics, behaviour and mores. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just simple human nature. However, I think when it comes to potentially incorporating female garb into their daily clothing ritual, most men are still strictly, and innately, of the opinion that any man who wears women’s clothes is aligning themselves with feminine sensibilities, and that is an exclusively negative thing (just look at the way many men react to drag queens and transvestites).

[Please note, I’m not exactly sure at what point feminine sensibilities became a pejorative notion, but it’s too much for me to think about at 7am, especially jet-lagged as I am.]

The funny thing is, I think if they gave it a go, men would love women’s clothing. I adore the dress because it is the ultimate in lazy dressing: just chuck it on and you’re done. How can men not love this idea? And the increased amount of room afforded by dresses and skirts for ‘the boys’? I would have thought men would be all over that (so to speak). And yet they’re not.

I’m not trying to be provocative, or evoke diatribes based on radical feminism or deep-set misogyny – I don’t care that much. It’s just something I was pondering (and there’s nothing wrong with a good ponder every now and then).

Any thoughts, class?