Gender Trouble: STITCH's Issue with Menswear

Graphic by Angela Cheng

Go to the top-right corner of this page and type “menswear” into the search bar. You’ll find only 12 articles containing the word (or 13, after this article’s publication). For a publication like STITCH that consistently puts out three to seven articles every week, this figure is strikingly low. This is not to mention that of those 12, five mention menswear only in the context of its being worn by women. Theoretically, menswear makes up approximately half of the fashion world. So why this discrepancy?

At the core of this problem is the perception that men are uninterested in fashion. However, the market research firm Euromonitor reports that men’s fashion lines will outperform women’s between 2017 and 2022. Clearly, there is a market for menswear. The issue is that the mainstream menswear being produced is repetitive and uninteresting.

Consider the heterosexual men in your life. How do they dress? Do their closets look something like these staple style guides created by Stitch Fix, consisting of denim jeans, button-downs, and some sweaters and t-shirts? And that’s only if they’re making an effort.

Images via Stitch Fix

Why the lack of variety in men’s clothing? It can be sourced back to a general fear of femininity or being seen as “gay.” In the book “Gender, Culture, and Consumer Behavior,” Stockholm University professor Jacob Östberg writes about the limited range of fashion in which straight men can comfortably operate.

“Between the polar opposites of effeminacy and sloppiness, there is a ‘safe zone’ where heterosexual men can safely experiment with consumption activities and objects,” Östberg writes. “On either side of this ‘safe zone’ lies a ‘danger zone.’ If a man shows no care of self, he will suffer negative social consequences, and if a man is too careful with his appearance, he will be viewed as effeminate.”

Armed with this knowledge, a chain reaction makes itself clear: men are too afraid to diversify their fashion, men are thus deemed uninterested in fashion, and STITCH thus neglects to write for them. Is there a solution? Maybe, but only if both sides are willing to make changes.

To the men trapped in a fashion rut: be brave! Know that being fashionable will not compromise your masculinity; just look at the red carpet looks in which men like Harry Styles, Chadwick Boseman and Shawn Mendes play with color, texture and silhouette while still clearly presenting as men. 

Images via Getty Images, Invision

Also, if you see a peer taking a risk with their fashion, compliment them! By encouraging fashion-forward men instead of dragging them down, the so-called “safe zone” of fashion for men can be bust wide open, leaving more room for everyone to have fun and explore.

And to my fellow STITCH writers: always consider if there’s any good reason for your writing to be geared toward a single gender. Try using models of various genders in your example images. Make an effort to open up the realm of fashion to a wider audience, and the magazine will be all the better for it.

In general, be you a reader or a writer, don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and do a little self-reflection. Why do you dress the way that you do? Write the way that you do? Might it need to change, and what can you do to change it?