Men in feminine clothes

and toxic masculinity

Adam Raitr

Photo credit: Matheus Katayama

Fashion has been a way to express ourselves and a way to escape from everyday life for many for decades and in the recent years, clothes have also started to lose the genders that are generally associated with them. People have started to realize that those are only social constructs and that no garment has an actual gender to it.

Of course, the idea of androgyny and clothes not having genders have been around for      so many years but people seem to be more open about it these days compared to what it used to be like.

With society becoming more and more accepting every day, people are allowed to basically wear anything they want and stay true to themselves. That also, of course, includes cisgender men, transgender men and non binary people presenting male bodies and lets them wear ,,feminine'' clothing items such as dresses, skirts and heels as well as garters, corsets or lingeries for instance. Make-up or nail polish are another examples of something that is no longer linked to only women.

A lot of fashion brands have begun to follow the androgynous approach in their designs whether it's luxury brands or retail brands and help to make genderless clothes more mainstream. It's also pretty common for many to shop for clothes in any store sections, not neccesarily only the ones meant for their sex.

Although all of the above that I've just mentioned is true, there are unfortunately still      many individuals out there who would disagree. People who decide to wear those so      called feminine clothes outside their houses have to constantly think whether they feel  strong enough to deal with possible comments and mockery in order to be able to      express who they truly are. A lot of the times those comments consist of slurs or words    such as queer  or gay which are terms considered weak and soft by many cisgender men and they'd  never want to be associated with them and that's just one of the things that evokes toxic masculinity.

Of course, wearing dresses and skirts isn't something that every cisgender man should do if that's not how they feel, however some cisgender men don't want to be looked at as feminine because of their perception of that word so they wouldn't even encourage the male presenting people who do wear feminine clothes just to seem strong and untouchable. They feel as if they were be belittled and not men enough if they ever got associated with that term or were supportive of it, even though the definition of that word was made up by society and this insecurity and way of thinking can be really harmful to the people surrounded by them as they may not only influence other people (not only children, adults as well) to have the same mindset and believe statements such as 'Men shouldn't wear dresses' or that 'Real men don't wear make-up' but they can also have a very negative effect on those who aren't afraid to break the gender norms. Toxic masculinity tries to suppress other people's feelings and can actually sometimes even lead in some extreme cases to bullying and violence.

We as humans should try to get rid of the hurtful stereotypes and spread awareness and educate people. We must remeber that there was once a time when women couldn't wear pants and suits and have a look at where we are now. So let's make men not allowed to wear dresses and heels history as well. 

The wet look trend wave

Adam Raitr

Photo credit: Andrew O'Toole

Whether it's the catwalks, editorials or on the streets or whether it is done the beachy or the polished way, the trend of the wet-hair look has been everywhere for a few years now and it doesn't seem like it should be leaving any time soon.

For those who don't know what the wet-hair trend is - it's basically a way to make a wet glossy effect on your hair. It may sometimes have only a slight moist finish and in other cases it can be made to look fully soaked and create a very unique look.

For the perfect wet-hair look, people sometimes only use water to let the hair dry itself with time which creates kind of a natural illusion. Another common way to make the look is by using hair gels which allow to be innovate with the hairstyles. With them it's possible to make not only the naturally wet hair looks but also slicked back or futuristic sculptural hair. According to hair stylists, the best way to get the flawless wet effect is to dry the hair completely and then start adding the chosen product on top of it.

People also do a lot of wet hairstyles inspired by the fashion periods of the 20th century as referencing from previous eras is pretty common nowadays and has always been. Some examples of that would be the usage of gel to create finger waves or kiss curls.

The wet look, however, isn't only a hair trend. Make-up is a great way to upgrade the overall appearence as well as clothing pieces. We can see make-up artists adding gels on faces to make the skin look humid or applying liquid eyeshadows and lipsticks on the models to keep everything within the water theme. Also Fashion designers, stylists and other fashion industry creatives have been trying out new things where they attempted to incorporate the ,,wet'' clothes within full-on looks including shoes to give us the whole fantasy we want to see. It is very popular amongst celebrities to do these full-on wet looks and we can see that on lots of red carpets and celebrity events. It also is a huge part of drag culture.

Rihanna, Bella Hadid, Melanie Martinez or Kim Kardashian are just a small number of people who rocked this trend. Everyone remembers Kim's Met Gala 2019 Mugler look that consisted of both - wet hair and ,,wet'' dress that was made of glossy PVC. Not only that, it also had small crystal drops resembling water attached to it. That leads me to the fact that clothes made out of latex and other PVC materials are often an important ,,detail'' to give off that soaked-in-water look.

When it comes to the runways and fashion shows in the recent years, we could've seen brands such as Fenty, Alexander McQueen, Versace, JW Anderson, Palomo Spain and many more that have jumped onto this trend bandwagon and I'm pretty sure we'll keep seeing them a lot in the upcoming years as well.

Real or faux fur?

Adam Raitr

Photo credit: Mario Testino

For the longest time there has been a stigma about whether it is better to use real animal skin and fur or alternative synthetic materials for making garments. Both have its pros and cons and it's important for a person to make up their mind and do some research to gather valuable information before making a purchase of any of them.

Real fur has been used to make clothes for centuries ever since the beginning of humanity, however an infinite amount of things have changed since then, of course. Real fur has been popular in the last century mostly for the luxurious rich look, high quality and of course the warming aspect of it. With fur becoming so popular, animal farming for fur purposes started to emerge which led to millions of animals being encaged and forced to live in terrible conditions. People have continuously started to realize how wrong it is and today there are more and more countries banning these animal farms. However, there are still many countries who don't seem to intend to stop it any time soon.

Since people started to be really unhappy with the way we get real fur, companies and individuals have started making faux fur as an alternative so that the people who don't want to support the cruel fur industry, yet still love fur can still enjoy wearing it. Although that might seem like a good humane way to keep wearing fur, faux fur isn't the best choice    either as it is not ethical and is dangerous for the environment. Faux fur is made mostly    from nylon and polyester,the main materials guilty for shedding microfibers. Real fur, on the other hand, can be decomposed and become part of the nature again which appears to be more sustainable. However, nobody wants their fur clothing item to decay and wants to  wear them for a long time, so to keep the real fur from rotting, it has to be treated with chemicals such as formaldehyde or hexavalent chromium which are harmful to human health and not ethical at all.

There are some brands that have been coming up with sustainable ways to create faux fur such as Ecope. They have started collecting post-consumer plastic bottles and transforming them into luxurious faux fur. Other companies, such as Peace fur use already dead animal's skin and fur from animals killed on the road perhaps to create garments and accesories.

Another aspect that is quite esseantial for many individuals that will decide which one to buy is the price. Real fur is noticibly pricier than basically any fur alternative so people with limited budget who still long to wear fur would surely go for the less expensive alternative.
The best option to help the environment would be not to buy any fur but that can be unimaginable for many so the best option that occurs would be to possibly do the research thoroughly, buy from businesses that focus on the environment and stop buying from fast fashion retailers who don't care about sustainability. 

Katy Perry's style evolution

Adam Raitr

Ever since she first came out with her debut lead single 'I Kissed A Girl' in 2008, Katy Perry has been a color-changing chameleon when it comes to her fashion choices.      Her style has always been vibrant, colorful, campy and most importantly, it has      never stopped evolving.

Before and at the beginning of her One Of The Boys era which started in 2007, the era that basically started it all, she used to wear mostly clothes that she thrifted. Later on she started to wear designer brands as she was finally able to afford them. She used to wear a lot of rompers and cocktail dresses with cinched silhouettes which were made from satin looking fabrics quite often. She also used to rock a lot of fascinators, headpieces and hair clips. Her at the time black hair used to be worn down a lot and Katy often wore them with a fringe. She took a lot of her insiration from the pin-up girls of the 1940s-50s.

In 2010 when she released her second album, Teenage Dream, which was Candyland themed, Katy began to upgrade her style again. She would wear a lot of candy embellished garments or basically dresses that looked like literal desserts. At the time, she also began to wear latex a lot and the recognizible colorful wigs came to the scene, especially the iconic baby blue one. Following the wigs, Katy dyed her hair many colors during the era from blonde to dark purple or blue and she also experimented with a lot of hairstyles from victory rolls to sleek bob haircut. The silhouettes started to be more diverse, yet would be body-hugging a lot of the time. Although most of the outfits were really radiant, there were times when Katy showed up wearing garments with a darker and sort of a goth spin on it.

With her following album Prism that came out in 2013, Katy kept it darker at times but as the title of the record indicates, there were a lot of costumes and looks that had metallic, irridescent and holographic materials incorporated in them. There was also a period of time where the outfits she served would reminiscent of the school girl look, especially the plaid skirts. The hair was black at the start of the era and Katy could have been seen many times wearing a ponytail on top of her head with the hair growing from her head being slicked back. The colorful wigs also stayed and were a big part of the era, especially on the tour for the album. Katy would also dye her hair again a few times from slime green to neon red.

In 2017 she released her 4th album Witness and dyed her hair blonde. After a few months since the beginning of this era, she cut her hair and had a pixie cut that she kept til the end. The costumes this era were really futuristic with a lot of latex. It was also the time when Katy started to wear pants, pantsuits and blazers a lot. What also needs to be mentioned is the make-up, especially the eyeshadows as that also played a huge role in the era.

After the era ended, Katy let her hair grow out and has kept the blonde. Not only that, she keeps wearing wigs, mostly blonde as well. She released her most recent album Smile in August. Her style in 2019-2020 was influenced a lot by the 1960s-70s. The silhouttes have been more loose with voluminous balloon sleeves as she was pregnant for almost 10 months and the fabrics have been more flowy. The colors and patterns tend to be bold and bright which reflects on how grateful Katy is for every small thing and hopes to bring light into our lives during these challenging times, just like the name of her most recent record says. 

Staying sustainable, yet yourself

Adam Raitr

Photo credit: Deposit Photos

In today's day and age when the environment is in a huge crisis, it is very important to    buy sustainably, especially when buying clothes. The fashion industry is the second          most polluting industry out there producing approximately 10% of global carbon      emissions annually. 

A huge part of the problem is fast fashion. Businesses focusing on fast fashion produce an excessive amount of clothes and the quality tends to be low so that the items are    affordable and aren't usable for a long time and people then have to go and buy new    things which    they perhaps unknowingly add to the never-ending fast fashion cycle. The employees who work for these companies and live in poor countries are often dramatically underpaid, have to work for endless hours and aren't treated rightiously at all. It is also very common for the employees to be still children. Retail fast fashion businesses can unfortunately often be the only option for people who have a unique style and want to express themselves for a couple reasons.

Many times people will advice people to buy from brands that care about the environment and have higher quality which means they will also last long and are made by workers with fair wages, often by the brand owners themselves. However, with ethical high quality clothes higher price range becomes present. And understandably numerous groups of people can't afford to buy from those. Sustainable fashion brands also don't make unique pieces that frequently, it's mostly the basics that can be bought from them.

That brings us to another option for shopping more ethically and that option is, of course, thrifting at thrift and charity stores. Those are great alternatives even for those who don't have huge incomes and/or want to take the environment and the importance of shopping for clothes sustainably into account. It can also be a great place to find very unique pieces for people with distinctive style. However, thrift stores and charity stores aren't in every city and town and sometimes there can be only a limited number of them in some countries so it  can be very difficult to visit them. Another disadvantage is that people can never be sure they will find what they need.

Recently, there have been few companies online that have started emerging and are a really useful tool to find clothes from people who either don't want them anymore or make their own and sell them such as Depop or Vinted. It depends on the seller what the price will be so it is very affordable as well most of the time, especially when it's something that has already been used a few times. This seems to be like the best option out of all previously mentioned.

Another great option to be enviromentally friendly is not to buy loads of new clothes which can be hard for some, especially when clothes is something that they really care about and it's a form of their expression. However, we really should be more considerable of the natural environment and really think through which clothing items we actually need to buy. One way to do that can be thinking about how many times a year we would wear it and if that doesn't reach a certain number perhaps, then it isn't really neccesary to purchase it.

What we also need to realize though is that shopping sustainably is a priviledge a lot of people don't have so the ones who can afford to do it should make their decisions on behalf of those who can't.

1930s or 1940s?

Adam Raitr

When thinking about all of the fashion decades of the 20th century, it is mostly very easy to differentiate each decade from one another. Each era has its own styles when it comes to cuts, tailoring, prints or silhouettes and therefore if we look at some clothing items it can be pretty easy to recognize which time period they come from or are inspired by. However, it can sometimes not be as easy to distinguish the 1930s from the 1940s, especially for someone who doesn't have a proper fashion knowledge as the clothes worn during these two decades have a few similar features. And what exactly are those features and what, on the other hand, are the differences between them?

What both of the previuously mentioned eras have in common is partly the silhouette. Womenswear during the 1930s and 1940s had cinched waists, sometimes the garment      itself was tailored to create the waist-tight shape and sometimes it was necessary to wear    a belt to do so. Many garments in both eras would have voluminous puffed sleeves, either long or short. Also buttons and cuffs were something that could've been spotted during    both time periods often.

There, however, are many more differences than similarities. Firstly, the hemlines in the 1930s were quite low. They became lower again after the previous era of the 1920s and usually reached past the knee or just above the ankle so they could basically be called middle-calf hemlines. In the 1940s, the hemlines would rise and would be usually mid-knee or just above it. 

The 1930s fashion is known for the feminine features that most of the dresses, blouses and skirts had. Whether it was the big collars, pussy bows, ruffles, gloves or small hats, it was a huge part of the era. To compare, the 1940s fashion is recognized for big padded shoulders and large sophisticated hats and also turbans. Gloves were also present often though.

When it comes to the colors, they would be sort of mild and would consist of lots of pastel shades in the 1930s, whereas in the 1940s, it was more about vibrant colors. The patterns were larger and bold, whereas in the previous decade, they were very tiny generally and densely packed. 

The shoes would be also very feminine and quite classy with mostly small heels in the 1930s, whereas they would become chunkier and the heel higher in the following period. Shoe platforms also appeared in the 1940s for the first time. 

Make-up is also a very important to mention. In the 1930s the eyebrows were very thin and placed high on the face, eyelashes would be very long on both, the top and the bottom of each eye, often false. The eyeshadow palette was soft and natural such as beige and nude colors. Popular lipstick color was light glossy red and the blush would be most often natural and in peachy shades. In the 1940s, the eyebrows were much more thicker and more natural compared to the previous era. The eyeshadows were , again, very natural so that the focus would be on the long eyelashes and thick eyeliner. The blush would be in red undertones and the popular color for the lip was bright red.

What I also can't avoid mentioning, of course, is the hairstyles. Women in the 1930s would have their hair cropped, side parted and either marcel or finger waved for the majority of times. On the other hand, in the 1940s we could see complicated updos including a lot of victory rolls, often adorned with fascinators for example. Although the updos were popular, women also wore their hair down quite often in comparison with the 1930s as you wouldn't really see a woman with her hair down in that time period.

To summarize it, words that could perfectly describe the 1930s could be feminine, delicate, classy and elegant and the best way to describe the 1940s using adjectives would be daring, dramatic and strong. Which one is your favorite?