One recurring theme as we dive into our But Make It Fashion issue has been the commonly held belief that lesbians have bad style. Haha, lesbians wear flannel and birkenstocks! Well, the joke is on those people, because we love lesbian fashion. Seeing lesbian style on other women is hot, wearing it ourselves is hot, and having both at the same time is amazing! Here are our favorite lesbian style clichés, unreservedly and without apology.
Carolyn Yates, NSFW Consultant
Inappropriate footwear is a lesbian cliche and I won’t let anyone tell me otherwise. Consider the combat boot in a non-combat scenario (jk every scenario can feel like a combat scenario if heterosexuals are involved). Consider the hiking boot at the grocery store. Consider the Converse as a wedding shoe. Consider the Birkenstock, period. Consider my personal favorite, the thigh-high heeled leather boot at a chill family function, or the beach in midsummer. Why compromise for fashion or for podiatry, right?
Heather Hogan, Senior Editor
Plaid flannel. I have loved plaid flannel every day that I’ve been alive, which is lucky for me because I was a teenager and college student during the ’90s and then I came out and started shopping for clothes as a lesbian. Really the only difference between the way I dress now and the way I dressed when I was in high school is I don’t tie my flannels around my waist. Flannel looks so much better on women than it does on men. I love women in flannel. I love the way flannel feels on me. Lumberjack season forever.
Riese Bernard, CEO
It’s truly hard to pick just one. I enjoy a simple plaid flannel shirt as much as the next born-and-bred Midwestern (lesbian) person. I like a nice clean pair of cute sneakers with an otherwise-formal outfit including nice slacks, a style I was rocking for many years before Ellen DeGeneres made it officially cool. [In high school, my gay BFF was always horrified by my insistence that I could wear Converse one-stars with a dress even though it was the ’90s and Sporty Spice was PEAKING.] I like wearing t-shirts with the sleeves cut off. I have been known to shop in the boys section. But speaking of, I suppose my #1 is that when I am not wearing a thong, I am wearing boys boxer-briefs instead of grown woman underwear, although now there’s TomboyX and they make that style of underwear for bodies like mine (the biggest issue with boys/mens underwear for me is the penis pocket), so who knows, maybe my days of creeping around the H&M Boy’s Section are numbered.
Vanessa Friedman, Community Editor
Birkenstocks. Chokers. (My butch date’s) flannel. Long flowy hippie dresses. Not wearing a bra even though I have giant boobs. Nose rings. Crop tops. Body hair. Glitter. I could keep going…
I fucking love lesbian style clichés and I will die a million deaths on each of these hills until I actually die, to be honest. I’m femme and fat and my bod doesn’t fit into all the lesbian style clichés, but honestly, if there’s one I can pull off, I probably will. Photos of old dykes are always so charming to me because I’m like WOW WHERE DID SHE GET HER LOOK! I fit right in when I lived on dyke land in rural Southern Oregon and then again when I lived in Portland, and I’ve gotta admit my ~looks~ are a little less uh, well received now that I’m back on the East Coast, but I don’t care. Sometimes my friends tease me (in a nice way) about my aesthetic choices, but for the most part we’re all just rolling around being weirdos so no one cares. Also, to be fair, the clichés I’ve mentioned are a little bit varied – like, there’s a certain kind of lesbian who’s gonna wear Birks and a certain kind of lesbian who’s gonna wear glitter and honestly lots of other lesbians who will probably wear other different things and call them “lesbian style clichés,” do you know what I mean? Like there are so many different ways to embrace a lesbian style cliché. The only thing a partner and I have really argued about re: my style is my deep disdain for deodorant, which isn’t really a “style cliché” but is like, a lesbian life choice that kind of overlaps with style, do you know what I mean? Like you know that dyke in the Birkenstocks and the long flowy dress who is both not wearing a bra and also not wearing deodorant at the co-op? It’s me and I’m a stereotype and I don’t care, come say hi while I shop for kale okay?
Carrie Wade, Staff Writer
I have to go with button-down shirts, especially anything featuring a good print. They form the foundation of 95% of my outfits (especially for work) because they let me look put together while still having some fun. (Much of my field hasn’t gotten a fashion update since the West Wing era, so anything beyond “navy suit or black suit?” is still a stretch.) I know these shirts make me look super gay but y’know what, that’s part of why I like them — especially living in Washington, in this political moment, it feels extra important to subtly announce my queerness in every meeting, every happy hour, every time I step out onto the street. I didn’t wear button downs for a long time because of body image hangups related to my disability and how it causes clothes to fit. But once I found the ones that worked, hoo boy, I was off to the races.
(And yes, obviously I had to include the photo with the bow tie — and the voting sticker — in it.)
Alexis Smithers, Staff Writer
Hello I am still of the early 2000s black and brown butch style that includes baggy jeans, oversized t-shirts, those white undershirts that are super inappropriately named, and clean-ass sneakers or Timbs. Honestly, as soon as I have a job on lock, I’m going to embarrass everybody by bringing this fashion back with a vengeance.
Kayla Kumari-Upadhyaya, Staff Writer
I’m pretty sure My People have a reputation for wearing ugly shoes, right? Is that a thing? Or is it just a thing perpetuated by my slightly lesbophobic mother? In any case, I love my ugly shoes. Gimme all the clunky sandals, clogs, sneakers, and austere boots!!!!! I have low arches, by which I mean I have no arches, so I have to be very selective when it comes to my footwear, but who am I kidding? I think even if I had the most perfectly arched feet I would still wear my Merrell sandals that I purchased at The Walking Company, and I would like to be buried in my Danskos. Doc Martens are like cool now or whatever (doesn’t it feel like the fashion choices that people used to make fun of lesbians for suddenly become cool once they’re embraced by straight girls I MEAN), but still technically… ugly? Of course I have lesbian pals who love Fashion Shoes and who find my clogs offensive but I DON’T CARE! FUNCTION OVER FASHION!
Valerie Anne, Staff Writer
I fucking love flannels!!! They are warm and cute and comfy and they don’t make me feel too self-conscious about my own body because they are not designed specifically to expose any part of my body the way some fashion trends do (looking at you, peekaboo tops). Since I have bigger boobs I have found I enjoy wearing flannels as an outer layer over a complimentary t-shirt (or tank top in the fall). And I don’t even need it to be literally made of flannel, that same pattern on a thinner material is also cool with me. I live in New York so flannels don’t belong exclusively to the gays here so no one really cares but my queer friends and I are always highly amused at the volume of flannels in our group in the winter at any given event. (Isn’t a group of lesbians called a flannel of lesbians? I think it’s well-earned.)
A.E. Osworth, Contributor
I struggled a lot with even whether or not to answer this roundtable, because I am not a lesbian nor am I a woman! So really, I suppose my lesbian style cliche is agonizing about where and when I can take up space. But Laneia assures me I should answer this, and so here we are: the hill I will die on is my hair. I have been getting the same haircut since I did identify as a lesbian woman and maybe someday it will change, but I’m currently hanging onto it out of spite. Because a very bad thing happened wherein the American White Nationalists started getting this exact same haircut, probably to look mainstream and presentable, after this had already been a gay haircut to have. The Nazis have my country and they ruined fedoras, too. I’m not letting them have my fucking haircut; this one’s for us, dammit.
Archie Bongiovanni, Cartoonist
Unshaven armpit and leg hair! I was a 13-year-old bean-shaped kid at science camp the first time I encountered this look. I can still feel the shiver of surprise — and dare I say delight — when my teacher raised her arms in a tank top pointing out a bird or a cloud or something. There it was: a full bush of armpit hair. It’s a bit cliche that unshaven hair on a woman’s body is a signal for queerness — or at least a way to show one is rejecting men’s stereotypical desires. I like to think that nowadays we can all agree that shaving or not shaving has little to do with rejecting the patriarchy; it’s about doing whatever feels good for your body! And it’s all valid!
I love my body hair, my pals know I love my body hair, my partner loves my body hair (almost as much as I love theirs??). I spent many hours caressing my leg hair as I let it grow out for the first time six years ago. It felt good from the beginning. I HATED shaving and was REALLY BAD AT IT. No one taught me how?? So I just like cut myself constantly and figured that’s how it goes down for everyone.
Despite loving my body hair, I had a lot of anxiety about how other people perceived it. I remember working in a restaurant at one point in my life that allowed skirts/shorts and wearing shorts there for the first time and the double-take the owner kept doing to my legs. The next day a new rule was implemented that shorts and skirts were no longer allowed. Whatever. I’m never shaving again.
Laneia, Executive Editor
LEATHER CUFF BRACELETS. Cuff bracelets are SEXY and tough! They highlight your hands like a sexy hand hat! Or maybe a scarf — a sexy hand scarf. Either way listen up, leather cuff bracelets will never not be hot, and everyone knows that straight women aren’t allowed to wear the wide ones. These are the rules. So if you see a woman wearing a leather cuff bracelet over 1.25″ wide, she is gay, even if she doesn’t know it.
I got my first leather cuff bracelet at the annual fall arts and crafts fair when I was probably 7 years old. An old man measured my wrist, then he sat on a stool and cut a length of leather, then stamped my name into it, one letter at a time. That cuff wasn’t sexy but it was TOUGH AS HELL, and therefore I was tough as hell. In between my wrist growing out of that bracelet and me realizing I was a lesbian, I didn’t wear any cuff bracelets, which is sad.
I lost my very best and favorite leather cuff bracelet several years ago and that was even SADDER, but before I lost it I wore it with everything all the time! I hope I’m wearing a leather cuff bracelet when I’m 97, sitting in a plush chair listening to Fleetwood Mac and drinking a nice bourbon.
Stef Schwartz, Vapid Fluff Editor
Once upon a time someone at A-Camp referred to my type as “Shirley Manson femme” and I’ve been hanging onto that lovingly ever since. I’m (mostly) into femme types who look like they could kick my ass, and I’m a sucker for a babe in a cute dress with shit-kicker boots. Incidentally this is also a look I also enjoy wearing on myself, and almost exclusively play shows in. I wouldn’t say this is specifically a lesbian cliché or even a cliché so much as a look I’m particularly here for? When I reflect back upon some significant women from my past, this is definitely a common factor.
Rachel Kincaid, Managing Editor
I love a good flannel as much as you probably do, but I feel like the thing that’s so LESBIAN it brings a sparkle to my eye is deeply practical men’s jeans or pants on women. Carhartts, 501s, a well-cut trouser even — kill me! Obviously this is traditionally kind of a butch look, which, yes, sign me up, but the vision of someone more femme of center wearing old Carhartts and like a paint-spattered t-shirt while weeding the tomato plants is also such an idyllic gay dream. It’s so funny to me that this is what overpriced “boyfriend jeans” designed for women are trying to emulate; bless their hearts but straight women wearing boyfriend jeans will never be able to touch a butch in 501s leaning over a pool table.
KaeLyn Rich, Staff Writer
My lesbian style cliche is definitely my undercut. I’ve had an inverted bob for, like, over a decade. One fine fall day in 2014, I decided I was going to CUT IT OFF on the left side and thus the undercut stereotype was fulfilled. The undercut has seeded itself and spread across my entire head now, so I have my medium-length straight hair on top and stubble all around the sides and back. I think I always wanted to look a little extra “FU” with my hairstyle since I started wearing it in a sharply angled bob in 2005. As I got older, my cool hairstyle started reading more “cool suburban mom” than “cool hip person,” so I decided to go more drastic. I thought I’d wear it hidden more often than I really do. Honestly, it’s the perfect haircut now that I’m an actual mom! I just throw it up in a sorta mini-bun twisty messy poufy thing. I can also wear it down completely (like I did for my sister’s wedding) or show just one side or slick it back so it looks like a really nice hard femme sneer.
Cameron Glavin, Cartoonist
Flannels & beanies. One time my coworker asked if I could dress any dykier re: the outfit pictured, and you know what? I don’t know. It’s pretty gay. Really Hot Lawyer Girl* claims that she swiped right on me solely based on an outfit in my profile picture. Which she recalled to me in detail. Months later. Down to the nail polish and the ear cuff that I don’t have anymore. She hates my jorts, though, even though they are GREAT jorts. 
*my girlfriend’s name for herself
Wait Carolyn, the Converse is NOT a wedding shoe? I’m so very confused ?
I went to a straight wedding once where everyone in the wedding party wore custom Converse (and lots of tie-dye). Sounds like a perfectly good wedding shoe to me!
But then, I wore flip-flops at my sister’s wedding, so what do I know… :p
For me: a blazer over literally any item of clothing, which I don’t think is a lesbian cliche necessarily? but is definitely something that I consider to be Queer.
For partners: fuck, but I do love a good men’s trouser.
P.S. Carolyn I see what you did there.
THE BLAZER IS DEF A LESBIAN CLICHE AND I LOVE IT
Agreed! I often wear a blazer over V-neck tees when I go out, and that’s probably against the normal fashion rules, but I love it
definitely agree on the blazer front. i love wearing them over tanks or t-shirts, especially with a cage bra showing a little. i always wear one when i’m photographing events and it makes me feel extra queer.
Yes! I recently bought a nice blazer, and I haven’t had a chance to get it tailored so it’s definitely too big, but I just feel so goddamn dapper every time I wear it (and I get hit on by SO MANY WOMEN compared to when I’m not wearing it).
Thank you Laneia for reminding me of the existence of my leather cuff bracelet with a big chunk of green stone on it, which I haven’t worn in forever but which makes me feel the gayest that I have ever felt as soon as I put it on. It’s like a wonder woman cuff, but for gay power.
Oh, this is inspiring!
Oh wow, this is so hard to choose just one.
But I’m also going to have to go with button downs. It is my go-to outfit when I want to feel very gay and also just a little fancy. I get overly excited for weeks when I manage to find a new printed button up that fits over my hips, and not gonna lie, seeing other butches in a sharp print will make me swoon any day lol
My femme lesbian style cliché is my invisibility cloak.
Full disclosure: although I get perceived as femme, I don’t personally solidly identify as anything for any longer than the time it takes to attempt humor. Yes, hello Libra rising.
“I don’t personally solidly identify as anything for any longer than the time it takes to attempt humor.”
hello I FEEL THIS
I feel extremely seen by this article, especially Heather Hogan’s love of plaid flannel and the phrase “I have loved plaid flannel every day that I’ve been alive.” I was a child in the 90s but I came out as a teenager, so I just never stopped wearing plaid flannel, especially if it had a former life as my best friend’s dad’s or my grandad’s old shirt. My dad showed up one day dressed like a lumberjack, and I told him he was stealing my look.
Also, one year at Dragon*Con, I did a group Little Red Riding Hood costume with two friends where I was the woodsman and not only did everything come from my own closet, but Amber Benson asked me if I was cosplaying Lumberjanes and it was one of the best/gayest days of my life.
!!!
Also I particularly appreciate all the supporting photos ?
I don’t think I’d realised how much I like leather cuff bracelets until I read it here?? I think I gotta go get one for myself asap
same!!!
As Jeanna said above, BLAZERS! I have them in an array of colors and they help me with that Executive Lesbian/Bisexual Realness I want for all occasions.
Also, I can’t resist a good tall boot. I have a pair of knee-high leather and wool ones that I have named my Tomboy Femmedom boots and I will love them forever.
this was such a fun roundtable to think about because it made me consider not only the obvious lesbian style cliches, but also all the things i wear/do that make me *feel* so gay, whether or not they actually ping as ~queer~ to the outside world?
like for example, i have this one grey old navy tank top that makes me feel SO GAY AND HOT AND DARE I SAY, A TINY BIT BUTCH (lol i know). there’s nothing so special about it – i doubt it even pings for anyone else, gay or straight – but i feel like MY BEST DYKE SELF in it.
Whatever we wear becomes instantly gay, don’t you think ?
We subvert everything. There’s always an *FU* somewhere. All the clothing belong to us.
Also, body hair and no deodorant… is kinda French, and that’s Cool by default. Vanessa I’ll see you in the produce section !
You’re all my fashion idols and I aspire to dress like each and everyone of you – maybe not all at the same time but then again maybe yes.
OH Wow I just realized that I wore thick leather cuff bracelets all through high school and now I need to go add that to my list of Signs I Was Queer right under ‘took wrestling for P.E. class in high school.’
Also I need to start wearing thick leather cuff bracelets again.
Function over fashion always and forever.
And Alexis, there’s nothing wrong with tank tops…
BOXERS/ BOXER BRIEFS. I bought my first set when I was 11 and wouldn’t shut up about em for like weeks.
My mother was duly freaked out but I like to think it all softened the coming out blow a little.
I think that there are very few non-super butch/stud lesbian style cliches that don’t also resonate w “edgy” and/or crunchy straight women (ie docs & birks), sadly.
Also, surprised no one mentioned hats!
Oh I feel so seen. Flannel, alone or over a tank top. Blazers. Practical comfy pants. Boots and river sandals. Flowy dresses/skirts (MUST be comfy, bonus for pockets). Button-downs, though apparently I am my own special snowflake because I dislike most patterns on them. Don’t have a leather cuff bracelet, but now I am tempted…
2 words: Cargo Pants!
2 more: Cargo Shorts!!!
I can’t believe I’m the first to say that.
Oh man, cargo pants and I had a moment that lasted for like, six years. A true baby queer classic.
D U N G A R E E S (what y’all call overalls in the states i think?)
I love them, I wear them for everything. School? Dungarees! Regular Party? Dungarees!Sex Party? Dungarees! Date? Dungarees! Supermarket? Dungarees! Day trip? Dungarees!
I have 8 pairs in different fabrics and colours (including two pairs of corduroy ones, just to make them even gayer).
I would happily wear dungarees everyday of my life. They’re my thing. I’m like a cartoon character who has the same outfit lined up in their closet.
So many of you have already mentioned what I love or regularly wear: blazers, plaid, comfortable shoes and pants (when it’s cold I practically live in joggers) and I sleep in oversize t-shirts. But I guess if I could only chose one it would be comfortable shoes. I’m either in loafers or sneakers this time of year. I’m always going to end up choosing comfort over everything.
BLAZERS, I’ve always been obsessed with blazers and patterned button down shirts. But I also love a good combat boot and sneakers paired with formal attire. I only get lesbian comments when I wear flannel, but all of these make me feel queer and seen.
I got an undercut for the first time last week. I love running my hands through the short hair and now that I’ve finally done it, I wonder why it took me so long, when I knew I wanted one years ago. It’s weird how we keep repressing such simple desires in the name of not disturbing other people to whom we owe nothing at all.
“It’s weird how we keep repressing such simple desires in the name of not disturbing other people to whom we owe nothing at all.”
BOOM !
Also yes to undercuts !
Sensible shoes are another place where lesbian cliche has significant overlap with the librarian cliche, and I’m here for it either way
Haha yes, sensible shoes and blazers, running gay in the stacks
As a lesbian librarian, I approve this message! :P
As a lazy-femme trans woman who lives in a hot climate (and flannel thus isn’t practical), I’m so happy to hear that crop tops (which are my most recent fashion obsession) count as a lesbian style cliche (which I suppose isn’t too surprising, given the woman who introduced them to me is *also* a queer femme).
Also glad to see that cargo shorts are making a comeback- my time has finally come at last!
I know there are a million ways a dress can be a flowy dress, but I’d particularly like to mention Old Navy’s swing jersey dress. They put out new colours every season and I buy the tshirt version and the sleeveless version.
Like another commentator, this is my “I am a cartoon character” outfit. I literally own 16 of them and I wear them with Birkenstocks to manage a wedding venue.
I LOVE THE OLD NAVY SWING DRESS.
I just bought the velvet one in pale pink and dark green and wow, I feel so gay when I wear them.
Between my (lesbian) collection of flannel and my best bro/roommate’s (mostly-straight dude with the fashion sense of a New England lumberjack) collection of flannel my undergrad apartment was a very warm very cozy VERY plaid space.
Also I have a fondness for hand-knits (not queer in and of themselves but I found my first queer community through knitting so it’s always been Queer Culture for me) and a collection of fun printed ties (lots of florals, a nice purple/lilac gingham, and my personal favorite with tiny fleurs de lis). And 3 different pairs of combat boots.
This roundtable is really great!
It also took me back to a day this summer when I was talking to a friend about lesbian stereotypes and how I don’t really do stereotypical lesbian fashion when my friend looked at me, cocked an eyebrow and went “really?”
I was wearing a plaid shirt over a midi dress with Birkenstocks and rainbow headphones.
(I would also like to point out that this is the most comfortable summer evening outfit in the world)
I’m reading this wearing
-men’s Carhartt work pants
-a plaid Pendleton wool shacket which:
– matches my toque (Canadian for “beanie’)
– is over aa zip neck merino baselayer as a shirt
-hiking boots as casual footwear
Overalls.
‘Cute dress and shitkicker boots’ is my gender.
This might be my favorite Monday Roundtable yet.
Armpit hair is so sexy I can’t believe I ever willingly relinquished it, and I deeply resent the years I spent scraping flesh from my leg bones with a Bic razor in one fist and a wad of bleeding toilet paper in the other. I will grudgingly deodorize on select occasions, which I think is also a valid lesbian lifestyle choice. I was never on friendly terms with bras and bra straps, but still feel residual shame about Averting Male Lechery in the summer; really I just want to wear hoodies and denim jackets year round, which is also (maybe?) a lesbian cliché.
I’ve been faithful to Doc Martens for nearly two decades, because Carolyn is right and heterosexuality is a combat situation.
I had to retire my leather cuff after many years but would like to suggest that leather fingerless gloves can fit the bill.
And I can still see in my mind’s eye the first plaid flannel shirt I ever pined after, which belonged to my dad and which I successfully appropriated under the pretext of an “art smock” required for school. I kept it strategically smashed under a pile of T-shirts in my room to ensure I’d never need to return it.
I still wear the flannel shirt I inherited from my dad in high school! Didn’t have a great relationship with him at the time but man, no other flannel shirt I’ve found has been softer. It’s like a snuggie for the queer female gaze!
From now on I’m going to call fingerless leather gloves lesbian lingerie.
Because they’re sexy and bring attention the lesbian sex organ that is hands, are NOT 100% practical to be worn during sex but it could still be done.
My friends look at me at least once a week and say: “Could you be any gayer?”.
A cuff bracelet was the first piece of jewelry I bought myself! I must have been 10-12 at the time.
I also want to note Heather’s ringer tee, which is almost as gay as the flannels. I adored ringer tees and football jerseys as a child, and now have 7 flannel shirts in my closet.
I absolutely love this roundtable!!! And my goodness, you are all such beautiful humans. So grateful to have found AS! (And I’ve been reading this site for over a year and have never commented. Hi all!) xo
HI JAIME ?
:) Hi!!!
I don’t think these aren’t widely considered a lesbian stereotype, but I love muscle tees. They look fantastic — regardless of one’s muscle mass, IMO — and they pair perfectly with each member of the lesbian outerwear trifecta: flannel, blazer, and leather jacket! They also go well with my personal favorite lesbian fashion hats, beanies and baseball caps.
They’re also excellent to wear in the summer if you’re someone who isn’t comfortable in tank tops or crop tops, but need to go sleeveless. I used to have so much angst about boob exposure in the summer that muscle tees have eliminated.
(Plus, for all y’all fellow tender sci-fi tomboys, ever since they started making new star wars movies you can usually find star wars muscle tees at target for $12 (in the women’s section, no less!). of course, these can also be generated from slicing the sleeves off of regular star wars tees.)
MUSCLE TEES thats a much better phrase for what i was getting at but literally youre so right any woman wears a muscle tee and im in love for at least fifteen minutes straight
Also, thanks for this wonderful roundtable and also for the pics! Can an online magazine/media source/community writers’ team get any more gorgeous? I think NOT!
armpit hair ??? ooo yes. so hot. also i feel like black skinny jeans deserve an honorabl
*honorable mention.
Checklist
-combat boots, but when body is trying to fight you it’s combat situation 24/7
-deeply practical men’s jeans
-no shave every-ember
-walking sandals
-boxer briefs
-hard femme dresses with boots
-beanies
-it’s not a hippy skirt it’s black hippy skirt
-vests I own 3 leather, 2 sweater, 5 formal wear one of them seersucker
-baseball cap with fancy thing on it, think y’all call em snapbacks
-white undershirts with the super inappropriate name
-polo shirts from men’s department
-henleys
I can’t do flannel because it’s plaid and after 4 years of plaid school girl skirt in public I need like 20 years to reintroduce myself into plaid beyond jammies again, but I do henleys real well.
I’ve got mini-essay like feelings about deeply practical men’s jeans, they’re like armor for me and yeah the pockets are awesome.
But yeah armor; The first time I was ever shamed and slurred the way AFAB people are when they start to show outward signs of “womanhood” and don’t follow “the rules” I was in deeply practical men’s jeans sitting(slouching) with my legs open
Some girl said “That’s inappropriate” and then bide me close my legs and sit proper(like a lady) so I spread my legs as far apart as my ballerina body could and sneered(not a lady).
Clearly I had to be punished.
When calling me slut didn’t work, they tried dyke and I grinned “half right” like the infuriating, unrepentant little 14 year old shit I was.
Anytime I’m in deeply practical men’s jeans I feel that unrepentant spirit of that kid I was rise up. I feel like a mountain some mortal tried to blow away with just their breath and a bendy straw.
I feel a walking embodiment of queer as in fuck you.
this is awesome
Even though I’m not a lesbian (I’m bi) I relate strongly to Shirley Manson/ass-kicking femme, especially since I recently bought chunky knee-high patent-leather boots to go with all my dresses. My partner has told me before that he was drawn to the fact that I used to dressed like Tank Girl (high praise)!
My wardrobe is basically 80s blazers, oversized jumpers, short dresses and a variety of stompy/witchy boots, brogues and creepers. I also keep my hair in a short, shaved, dyed fro-hawk and only wear dark make-up. I basically dress like the creepy, cool gay comic book character I always wanted to be.
I’m getting the sense that this article was an excuse for AS writers to post more thirst traps.
I love this roundtable so much. And am surprised that beanies or other hats didn’t make the list though? Because that is definitely MY pick. (Flannel is a close, close second but only because it’s like…60% of my wardrobe now, mostly because everyone in my family that buys me clothes buys me flannels because they are a “safe” choice in that I will definitely, absolutely love them, and like I appreciate that but also I NEED OTHER CLOTHES TOO GUYS).
I spend most of my week at work in a smock and performance-wear cropped leggings, so I don’t have much opportunity for queer fashion. I gave up shaving years ago, which still horrifies my mom. I try to subtly express pride at work; all my sneakers have rainbow shoelaces, I wore a black cord choker with some rainbow beads, and a a few of the tank tops I wear under my smock reference queer culture. ???
You can pry the combat boots and flannel off my cold, dead, bisexual body.
When I used to live in Halifax a group did these queer takeovers of straight bars. All the queers attending had a subtle “costume” they were supposed to wear so the takeover would be visible and we could recognize each other. One time, we were supposed to wear plaid flannel. It was so amusing all night to see the straight men who had worn that being mistaken for gay over and over. Hahaha
OMG that is amazing!
Awww now I really want a leather cuff bracelet! I never had one and I definitely missed out on this trend.
Does anyone know of a queer- and/or women-owned company that makes leather cuff bracelets? It would be so cool to support the queer community with my queer dollars!!
YES ACTUALLY https://www.luckydogleather.com/
omg thank you Laneia! ?
My friends, I’ve recently attained a personal Queer Fashion peak by obtaining two-piece thick flannel pajamas. One pair at first, then when I had to wash them, another pair. Every night when I slip them on I feel like I’m living my best queerest life.
Does anyone know where to find cargo pants for big-butt small-waist butches? Cause I’d definitely go there, but not if I have to try things on and cry over them.
I’m a big butt, small waisted tomboy femme and that is the question I’m wrestling with! And the return of high waisted pants is NOT helping.
I have a pair of LL Bean cargo shorts that fit me perfectly in the waist and hips but they’re not butch enough – the cut is a little too soccer-mom-ish for my aesthetic.
friends im sorry to say that i still have not found one but really obnoxious belts help
I have a work outfit that makes me feel like Clarice from Dykes to Watch Out For. It’s a stripped button down, big enough to crest my hips but not baggy. I can decide how much boob I want to include and I can pair it with heeled booties or something dykier. It’s my favorite way to be gay as fuck but also work approved
Lazy bi femme here who is just realizing how gay my clothes are. I love my comfy shoes, cargo pants, armpit/leg hair and nose ring and am still trying to figure out how to rock this brown corduroy blazer. I had to give up the flowy hippie skirts when they clashed with my hiking boots. Oh well.
The thing I feel gayest in is my denim jacket with girly pins. It’s like femme armor but, literally.
That photo, Heather! Captures the Hufflepuff AND the steel. ?