It turns out my inner boy has as little taste as my inner girl
So! I've been vaguely poking at a broader range of gender presentations.
I was recced Saint Harridan and a few other places, and they are all fantastic at what they do, and gave me food for thought. But I've realised one problem with all the "masculine and androgenous presentation for afab people" discussions and shops etc I've seen is that they're too tasteful. All understated and unobtrusive and sensible. Fine for the people who like that! But not for me. I already often wear unisex/masculine clothes when I want to dress in a sensible, unobtrusive way. And if I'm going to get fancy I want something more flamboyant.
I've seen a few dandy-ish looks, which are great, but they're not quite right for me, especially as usually achieved by people with similar body shapes to me.
I am much more interested in aesthetics than I am in looking unambiguously masculine, and I do not like how my pear shaped (narrow shoulders, wide hips, big bum) figure looks if I attempt to achieve the conventional masculine apple shape (wide shoulders, narrow hips, flat bum) the way afab people with my shape generally do eg by hiding my waist and padding my shoulders. I am sometimes ambivalent about my boobs, but I like having a defined waist, and without one my torso literally doubles in apparent size.
So I let go of the traditional approach and let my imagination run free. What would I like to look like, ignoring the constraints of my body? And how would I most enjoy adapting that to fit my body? (nb I have no interest in physical transition, since while I sometimes want to look masculine I also really enjoy looking curvy and feminine sometimes, and why sacrifice one for the other for no net gain? Plus the main issue preventing me passing is my hips and spine curve and they're structural. If I could wave a magic wand I'd enjoy the option to sometimes be taller and more apple shaped but no such wand exists, so)
And so I realised that what I want to dress like, when I'm putting the effort in to look dudely and pretty, is a ridiculous dandy goth. With like...velvet. And lace sleeves. And maybe spiky collars or guyliner (possibly not at the same time??) It's like my inner goth boy boy who would have gotten some of this out of his system in my teens and 20s when my inner goth girl did is going YES FINALLY. And given how much fun ridiculous women's clothing has been for me over the years I am willing to see where this takes me.
So I've been looking online for inspiration and then slowly experimenting with more sensible and cheap options while I see how I feel about this all in practice. Alas most gothic clothes sites are very committed to the binary and putting men in the same old apple shape. In the actual 19th century the ideal male figure had a big butt and narrow waist why can't modern men's steampunk clothes have space for such shapes too :(
Mostly I've been looking at coats, since I'm happy enough with plainish women's pants (they fit me better than men's) and am mostly happy with regular men's shirts eg I got some nice ones from the op shop and Target. They don't fit perfectly but will do for now, and I am hoping that waistcoats/jackets with the right cut will help. Once my sewing machine is set back up I want to try adapting a cheap waistcoat to fit me better.
So! Coats!
Look at this glorious thing. Unisex! THE ZIP PULL IS A CROSS WITH A SKULL ON IT.
This led me to google "unisex velvet coat" which was fun, though it reminded me of the many pretty velvet coats I collected in the 90s and early 2000s then had to give away when I gained weight around 2010, by which point noone sold that sort of thing any more ;-;
This has a weird collar but I like the silhouette
This site is apparently not very good quality but they have some pretty coats, I like the Steampunk Gothic Lolita Dandy Unisex Long Wool Coat (in black, naturally) and I saw a lovely outfit with this rather silly 'Pirate Gothic Steampunk Victorian Fine Velvet Captain Cocktail Long Coat' on tumblr.
Also this is not REMOTELY masculine or even unisex but look at this beautiful jacket. Now THAT is leaving room for, and accentuating, hips.
And now some other things:
A friend linked me to a cool collection of Nigerian dandy suits, most of which aren't my sort of thing but some are very pretty, if still cut too apple-y for me personally. Googling for local bespoke tailors did not lead anywhere fun.
Also I came across these indian men's fashions while researching a character and like the silhouette a lot more. Also they are PRETTY. Alas, not remotely accessible for me all the way down here.
Some of Esther Quek's looks work for me though she is a very different shape.
Saving the links to think about, not sure I'm ready to outlay $200+ when I'm still figuring out my style. And I already own a few fancy but impractical women's coats I don't wear much >.>
Also, I need some like...knee/mid calf high black boots. I have some great mid calf red boots thanks to
tree, as well as some cool shiny red pseudo-docs, but red shoes are not suitable for all outfits. (Not like dark red velvet jackets with flaming skull cross zip pulls. They go with everything)
EDIT: Later additions.
Nice blue kurta
This entry was originally posted at http://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/616801.html. There are
comments.
I was recced Saint Harridan and a few other places, and they are all fantastic at what they do, and gave me food for thought. But I've realised one problem with all the "masculine and androgenous presentation for afab people" discussions and shops etc I've seen is that they're too tasteful. All understated and unobtrusive and sensible. Fine for the people who like that! But not for me. I already often wear unisex/masculine clothes when I want to dress in a sensible, unobtrusive way. And if I'm going to get fancy I want something more flamboyant.
I've seen a few dandy-ish looks, which are great, but they're not quite right for me, especially as usually achieved by people with similar body shapes to me.
I am much more interested in aesthetics than I am in looking unambiguously masculine, and I do not like how my pear shaped (narrow shoulders, wide hips, big bum) figure looks if I attempt to achieve the conventional masculine apple shape (wide shoulders, narrow hips, flat bum) the way afab people with my shape generally do eg by hiding my waist and padding my shoulders. I am sometimes ambivalent about my boobs, but I like having a defined waist, and without one my torso literally doubles in apparent size.
So I let go of the traditional approach and let my imagination run free. What would I like to look like, ignoring the constraints of my body? And how would I most enjoy adapting that to fit my body? (nb I have no interest in physical transition, since while I sometimes want to look masculine I also really enjoy looking curvy and feminine sometimes, and why sacrifice one for the other for no net gain? Plus the main issue preventing me passing is my hips and spine curve and they're structural. If I could wave a magic wand I'd enjoy the option to sometimes be taller and more apple shaped but no such wand exists, so)
And so I realised that what I want to dress like, when I'm putting the effort in to look dudely and pretty, is a ridiculous dandy goth. With like...velvet. And lace sleeves. And maybe spiky collars or guyliner (possibly not at the same time??) It's like my inner goth boy boy who would have gotten some of this out of his system in my teens and 20s when my inner goth girl did is going YES FINALLY. And given how much fun ridiculous women's clothing has been for me over the years I am willing to see where this takes me.
So I've been looking online for inspiration and then slowly experimenting with more sensible and cheap options while I see how I feel about this all in practice. Alas most gothic clothes sites are very committed to the binary and putting men in the same old apple shape. In the actual 19th century the ideal male figure had a big butt and narrow waist why can't modern men's steampunk clothes have space for such shapes too :(
Mostly I've been looking at coats, since I'm happy enough with plainish women's pants (they fit me better than men's) and am mostly happy with regular men's shirts eg I got some nice ones from the op shop and Target. They don't fit perfectly but will do for now, and I am hoping that waistcoats/jackets with the right cut will help. Once my sewing machine is set back up I want to try adapting a cheap waistcoat to fit me better.
So! Coats!
Look at this glorious thing. Unisex! THE ZIP PULL IS A CROSS WITH A SKULL ON IT.
This led me to google "unisex velvet coat" which was fun, though it reminded me of the many pretty velvet coats I collected in the 90s and early 2000s then had to give away when I gained weight around 2010, by which point noone sold that sort of thing any more ;-;
This has a weird collar but I like the silhouette
This site is apparently not very good quality but they have some pretty coats, I like the Steampunk Gothic Lolita Dandy Unisex Long Wool Coat (in black, naturally) and I saw a lovely outfit with this rather silly 'Pirate Gothic Steampunk Victorian Fine Velvet Captain Cocktail Long Coat' on tumblr.
Also this is not REMOTELY masculine or even unisex but look at this beautiful jacket. Now THAT is leaving room for, and accentuating, hips.
And now some other things:
A friend linked me to a cool collection of Nigerian dandy suits, most of which aren't my sort of thing but some are very pretty, if still cut too apple-y for me personally. Googling for local bespoke tailors did not lead anywhere fun.
Also I came across these indian men's fashions while researching a character and like the silhouette a lot more. Also they are PRETTY. Alas, not remotely accessible for me all the way down here.
Some of Esther Quek's looks work for me though she is a very different shape.
Saving the links to think about, not sure I'm ready to outlay $200+ when I'm still figuring out my style. And I already own a few fancy but impractical women's coats I don't wear much >.>
Also, I need some like...knee/mid calf high black boots. I have some great mid calf red boots thanks to
tree, as well as some cool shiny red pseudo-docs, but red shoes are not suitable for all outfits. (Not like dark red velvet jackets with flaming skull cross zip pulls. They go with everything)
EDIT: Later additions.
Nice blue kurta
This entry was originally posted at http://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/616801.html. There are
comments.