Fashion has the power to redefine the austerity associated with masculine principles and everything the media has ever taught us about what it takes to be a man.
Women’s (cis, trans and other) fashion has always been fun. There are so many options, I mean, mainly because we fought for them, but options none the less.
However, most fashion houses such as Prada have started to focus on creating gender-neutral clothing which could be considered as a way of rejecting toxic masculinity.
Miuccia Prada stated, “it feels instinctively right to translate the same idea for both genders” when designing clothes for her runways and seasonal clothing lines.
Although, I wonder if men don’t really experiment with fashion because they’ve never wanted too or because society has never really told them that they have that option?
So here are eight really cool famous men that have all experimented and, in many ways, rejected toxic masculinity through their audacious fashion choices.
Before Queen fully took off Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor used to run their own fruit and veg stall and Mercury famously said “I’m not going to be a star, I’m going to be a legend”
In the process of becoming a legend, he also became a fashion icon. He was known for being unapologetically himself whilst rocking very audacious fashion choices on and off stage.
He once stated that he will “always walk around like a Persian popinjay – and no one’s going to stop me, honey!”
Despite being ahead of his time, he managed to carve the path for many other artists and people that wanted to express themselves through their fashion choices.
Harry Styles’ fashion sense is definitely encouraging the lines between male and female clothing to be blurred even further. Some people have even stated that he could be at the forefront when it comes to the gender-neutral clothing movement or he could just really like women’s blouses, either or really.
He’s never really been afraid to wear stereotypical feminine clothing (because honestly what does that even mean anymore) and has been spotted wearing floral and pink blouses on multiple occasions.
He literally wore a satin floral Gucci Fall 2017 blouse for a Saturday Night Live (SNL) performance because he felt like it.
The rapper was a played a vocal part in bringing androgynous clothing into rap and hip hop which has inspired other artists to do the same.
He’s previously been spotted wearing dresses and Timberland boots and genuinely doesn’t care what other people think of him whilst he casually rebels against gender social norms.
This singer is also known for occasionally wearing women’s clothing. He’s been wearing women’s jeans since 2011 and when Life & Style asked him about it, he simply replied: “I’ve worn women’s jeans before because they fit me. It’s not a trend; it’s just, whatever works, works.” However, since this Bieber has actually encouraged people to wear what they like and what fits them well as opposed to worrying about which clothing department in the store, they found it in.
Jaden Smith rejects all forms of gender stereotypes, wears what he likes and doesn’t really apologise for it. In many ways, he’s managed to reject several ideas of toxic masculinity through his fashion choices. In an interview for GQ Smith stated that his gender-neutral approach towards fashion is mainly in place because he wants to “teach people how to be comfortable [and] stop being so scared.”
When it comes to why Jaden Smith dresses the way he does I think The New York Times actually summed it up pretty well. Vanessa Friedman stated that men wearing female clothing isn’t always because they want to look like a woman.
They said “He is a man who happens to be wearing obviously female clothes. And while he doesn’t look like a girl in them, he actually looks pretty good.”
Smith could be seen as trying to differentiate between gender and clothing and actually question why they have always seen to go hand-in-hand up until now.
Tan France is literally so cool. He manages to style himself and everyone around him so well
France is a big advocator for male grooming as he is the new ambassador for David Beckham’s brand, House 99.
He is constantly giving his 2.5 million Instagram followers style and skincare tips. Let’s be real Tan France is literally the reason why most of us know what a French tuck is.
Ranveer Singh is an Indian actor that rejects toxic masculinity in so many ways. Throughout his career, he has always questioned and derailed from the status quo in a very unique way. He often wears skirts to his movie premiers and casually applies eyeliner when he feels like it. Singh considers fashion to be an expression of art that should not adhere to gendered rules.
Having said this, his behaviour isn’t exactly revolutionary it’s more that we live in a society where boys and men aren’t explicitly encouraged to do most of the things, he is not afraid to do.
He’s not afraid to genuinely have fun with fashion
He’s not afraid to hype up his wife in public
He’s not afraid to show his emotions
He’s not afraid to show affection to his friends and co-workers
He’s not afraid to be mocked for his fashion choices
Ranveer Singh is a straight-up legend.
Billy Porter is mainly known for performing on Broadway and his solo career as a singer.
On the 24th February, the 91st Academy Awards took place at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in LA.
Porter literally broke Twitter when he arrived in a custom-made Christian Siriano tuxedo gown.
The picture has a total of 435k likes on Instagram and since he posted his academy awards ensemble Porters 428k followers have been continuously blessed with more and more empowering, bold and beautiful outfits.
When discussing his gown with Vogue Porter questioned the principles of masculinity by stating “What is masculinity? What does that mean? Women show up every day in pants, but the minute a man wears a dress, the seas part.”
He also added that as a gay black man his masculinity has always been in question and after receiving a lot of homophobia, he remained silent for a long time. However, now Porter stated that he’s “in a space where being on Pose, I’m invited to red carpets and I have something to say through my clothes. My goal is to be a walking piece of art every time I show up. To challenge expectations”
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