Celebrating Queer Peoples Contributions in Fashion
Portland, OR designer Daniel Quasar's Pride flag adds black and brown stripes to the rainbow, and includes the colours of the trans flag. (2018, Facebook)
June has been a revolutionary month. As we continue to progress through this pandemic, issues that affect us all are illuminated too. I’m talking about inequality, systemic racism, Black Lives Matter, Canadas injustices and lack of reconciliation with our indigenous peoples, and oh, yeah, it is Pride Month.
Reining in my sarcastic flippancy, as each of us dig deeper to understand the modern-day realities and the history that helped create this situation, many of us are relearning what we thought we knew. As the echoes of last year’s 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots ring alongside the protesting of the brutality towards Black lives, I believe it’s important to get our facts correct. This Instagram post from Jen Annor Ltd sums it up.
While it’s no secret that the LGTBQ+ community has been influencing fashion, how much of an influence is heartbreakingly understated. In simplest terms, queer people have been doing the most. Below is a collection of resources to help flourish collective understanding of queer impacts and implications of fashion.
“The worlds of fashion and queer culture have forever been intertwined. Clothes have long helped shape and articulate identity (as well as restrict it), especially for those whose identities are marginalised or under threat.”
– Rosaline Jana as written in Miss Vogue
To learn more about LGBTQ+ influence in fashion, you can start here:
The Forgotten Reign Of Radical British Vogue Editor Dorothy Todd Paved The Way For LGBTQIA+ (Vogue UK)
9 Amazing Transgender Women Who Changed History (Refinery29)
Exhibit - A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk (The Museum at FIT)
Pride Month: 7 Gay Designers Who Changed How We Dress (Zoomer)
Why is it That Fashion Looks to Queer Icons For Inspiration? (Miss Vogue UK)
"I don't have the privilege of diminishing the importance of style. My reality drastically shifts if I go outside wearing a dress versus going outside and wearing pants."
-Alok Vaid-Menon (as told to Who What Wear)
If you need to add some cat to your walk, review the runways darling:
From Alexander McQueen To Chanel: 11 Incredible Queer Catwalk Moments To Note (Vogue UK)
Born Beautiful: A Short History of Trans Models In Fashion (Out)
Transgender Models Dominate the Fashion Industry in 2019 (Untitled)
Trans models: From decades of rejection to centre stage (BBC)
6 Transgender Models Talk Activism, Identity, and Style (Who What Wear)
Parker Kit Hill Wants To See More Queer Men At NYFW (Essence)
“It sometimes feels like the hard-fought, still-ongoing battle for LGBTQ+ liberation is trivialised when what queer people were once harassed and alienated for pops up in mainstream popular culture. Our language — a verbal and physical mix rising from the flamboyance of drag queens, the cool nonchalance of androgynous folk, and everyone and everything in between — is stolen and thrown into the heterosexual spotlight and before you know it, vogue-ing and death drops are either used for comic relief or are imitated with absolutely zero idea of their origins (search ‘Harlem ball culture if you too, have no idea). Meanwhile, ‘Yasss Queen’, ‘Slay’, and ‘Not today, Satan’ are plastered in glittery fonts all over mason jars and canvas prints in homeware shops. Men and women could, and would be arrested for dressing in clothes that didn’t conform to their sex (search for the ‘three article rule’ in the US). Nowadays, androgynous clothing is haute couture among youth, and is a safe-yet-radical fashion edit for companies such as River Island, Depop and Urban Outfitters.”
– Lauren Sarah-Jane (as written for Medium)
Examples of Queer influencers influencing here:
Beyond ‘Queer’ Fashion: A scattering of designers are invoking — and denying — the label to assert their identities and ours. (New York Times)
7 Non-Binary & Transgender Fashion Influencers You Should Add To Your Feed (The Good Trade)
That’s So Vogue: The Silent Influence of Queer Culture on, well, Everything (Medium)
Gay Stereotypes In Fashion: LGBTQ Canadians Dispel Myths (Huffington Post Canada)
“A little remembering and recognition into why these events and spaces exist would go a long way. Straight people have been compromising our opportunities, freedom and lives for centuries and now only want in because they’re seeing how much of a great time we have without them. For years, the LGBTQ+ community has had to hide in order to survive. Now, it feels like we are one of the backbones to modern culture — which is fine, besides the fact that no one besides the queer community is aware of it. There is nothing wrong with wearing a suit when you’re a straight woman, or watching Ru Paul’s Drag Race if you’re not a Queen yourself, or attending Pride if you’re an ally. Just be knowledgable and considerate of LGBT history and who took those first steps before you dip into it, and understand and respect why we wear, do and say these things.”
– Lauren Sarah-Jane (as written for Medium)
Looking for more “watch” and less “read”? Feast your eyes and hearts on this:
Disclosure (Netflix Documentary which states: “In this documentary, leading trans creatives and thinkers share heartfelt perspectives and analysis about Hollywood's impact on the trans community.”)
TV Shows & Movies To Watch After Netflix’s New Doc Disclosure (Refinery29)
Let me be clear, by no means do I think that I am queer expert, not anywhere close. I’m a cisgender, straight, white woman. I’ve made horrible mistakes in my past that I am sorry for. I need to do the work and am doing it. More mistakes will be made and I will learn from them. If you’re not trying, how can you improve? My goal is slowly, deliberately inching myself closer to allyship. Part of that work is creating space for other voices to be heard and seen.
When it comes to working on allyship, I think about two things: first, I don’t want me or my loved ones to be stuck as a Karen (anyone else thing that maybe the “K” in J.K. Rowling stands for Karen?) and second, I heard something years ago that has stuck with me: if you can’t see it, you can’t imagine yourself as it. Representation matters. Let’s share more queer stories and celebrate more icons so that a little kid somewhere can say, “oh, he/she/they/x looks just me!”
