One thing I love about Japanese menswear--they have bags for men, usually a crossbody/messenger bag style, sometimes totes--and as a female, I much prefer these bags to cutesy, lacy, or blingy ladies' bags. The bags are meant for men but I have several that I've bought for myself.
It's good to see fashion content that isn't just about what to buy. Understanding history and how to get a good fit (whatever that is for your chosen style) are essential to actually getting a cohesive style you can be happy with. Of course that requires thought and consumerism promises you don't have to think, just buy!
As a dude with a different body shape from you, I've been taking a lot of style cues from you the past few months and this video highlights for me the work you've (needed to) put in to consider body shape in how you dress because of the current dichotomy between mens and womenswear. I haven't had to think about that much to go for a similar style so I appreciate the insight. I'm with you in wanting to increase accessibility and availability for different styles. Also, "Shape and drape" gives me a new paradigm for considering what I wear. Thanks, Percia!
Amazing video and great resources for people trying to find more gender neutral options. I’m non-binary born male and who has a pretty socially accepted sizing when it comes to masculine clothing I like to wear. But I whole heartedly agree we should stop segregating clothing and making it harder for people with more “unique body types” (literally most people don’t fit into the “ideal” body type in clothing) to find the clothes they want to wear. We should blur the lines between “male and female” fashion so everyone can fully express themselves in the clothing that fits them and represents them! ❤
I've been enjoying your exploration of these topics, thank you. While watching this and seeing your more recent short wearing a suit with a full view of the look from the back, I thought of two things, one, how 30's western fashion for each gender went all in one an hourglass silhouette and, two, identifiers of intentionality. 1930's men's suiting highly emphasized an hour glass shape and included high waisted balloon shaped trousers. Worth a look. A remedy to pulling off masc coded and/or shaped clothing, and avoiding looking like dress-up, is bringing some intentionality to the silhouette, maybe that's cropping the trousers or altering jacket sleeves to be trimmer, more tapered to the arm, maybe it's nipping in the waist or adding an extra button and hole so it buttons higher. Maybe it's opting for bold patterns or finer materials. I think there needs to be something to address how it's shaped and draped that suits one's body or style that says it came from one's own closet, not someone else's.
I'm a girl who swears by unsanforized 501s, because if you shrink them yourself you can break them in around your curves really well. You end up with a pair of jeans that contours you without elastic.
i’m glad that japanese americana and baggy styles are getting traction. personally my style is very workwear and military influenced. with most workwear companies looking through catalogues of trousers it seems like a ‘relaxed’ fit for women is equivalent to a ‘slim’ mens, it’s downright criminal. thank you for making content about menswear, there isn’t a lot resources for women on youtube that aren’t centred around classic femininity. if it wasn’t for channels like yours and jade’s i would be so depressed & one failed milsurp/vintage workwear shopping trip away from driving off a cliff lol (everything they sell is always mens tall xl sized). also damn, ‘non men’ sounds more cringe when said out loud. no shade though, gotta do what you gotta do.
there are so many terms and different identities I felt like I was walking through a field of landmines tbd but I think the good intention hopefully comes through
As someone with a bigger butt and thighs who wears menswear and doesn't want to be stuck wearing only stretch fit pants I finally figured out how to size pants correctly for myself this year. For me unless pants are specifically labeled as skinny the thighs were surprisingly not my issue. I thought it was my thighs because I would always struggle to get things in and out of my pockets and everything would press up against them but after lots of research of sizing and brands and trying on a bunch of pants I found out that I need to focus on pants with a higher back rise specifically and now everything fits a lot better.
i appreciate your thoughtfulness to bring us non-men / non-cis ppl into the conversation ! i'm diving into your channel at a very interesting time in my transition & wanted to share some (long winded) thoughts i'm having in response to your videos so context : i'm amab with a long history of dressing masculinely / in menswear. currently on estrogen as a part of my particular nonbinary/transfeminine experience. realized through some clothing experimentation that i'm really not trying to change that much about how i've dressed. i'm still very into these kinds of fashion, & i still value functionality in my clothes. for example, comfort and practicality and durability to keep up with my life cuz i bike for one of my jobs and my main form of transportation and for fun. basically my go to saying for how i want to dress as i transition has been "i don't want my clothes to change all that much, i'm really trying to change how my body fits my clothes" so when you talk in specific detail about how you want your clothes to fit when putting looks together- which parts of the body you're trying to accentuate & which parts you are trying to obscure- i'm taking lots of notes. but kinda in reverse of what you're curating for youtself i have naturally broader shoulders and i don't necessarily want to emphasize that. i'm working on butt & hips growth (hormones + exercise) and trying to find ways to highlight that while still primarily enjoying denim and work pants. doing some research on how to tailor my clothes (even t shirts lol) to work toward the fit i'm imaging. and now i have boobs and getting used to how differently my tops drape on my torso is an interesting new challenge also giving a lot of thought to how my posture/mannerisms affect the way my clothes flow on my body this is already getting quite long but i'm sure you get the idea. lots to think about. and i'm very grateful for the knowledge you're sharing in these vids. especially your specific use of language to analyze/dissect/reverse engineer fits on different body types. so thanks !
I have been wanting someone to talk about this for sooooo long! You really nail what I like about menswear that I've never been able to put to words before. As a woman who tends to favor "men's" clothes, I feel like I finally understand what I like about the style, beyond just the essentialist take of enjoying "dressing like a boy" . Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Love the video!!! I'm built similarly to you and really like how you've put thought into the effect of draping and structure of clothes on you. I think the discussion of "shape and drape" is really interesting. In my culture our traditional clothes are just long rectangular cloths we fold, tie, and drape on our bodies. From simpler lungi (traditionally unisex but nowadays more menswear) to more complex sari, these are clothes that drape while also being breathable for tropical heat!
This is excellent! Pretty funny how perfect it is for me, I’m a dude that sometimes likes to dress outside standard gender norms and I’m moving to Tokyo in a week
I'm 5'8 with a proportionally "curvy" body type, and have always preferred to dress more casual/masc, ever since I was a kid. It's just more practical. I struggle with the boobage part of dressing masc, to the point that I have considered getting a binder. I dislike how a lot of men's shirts sit on me once buttoned up, so I tend to wear a singlet or something and then shirt open over the top. I'm also quite broad in the shoulders so I prefer to go OVER over sized with shirts, for a draped look, if I'm unable to find something with an already slouchy/relaxed fit.
For years I struggled trying to find clothes that I truly loved wearing. As a kid, I would take some of my older brother's clothes he was getting rid of but only for my mom to scold me telling me I should dress more feminine. The older I got the more comfortable I have become just shopping in the men's section of stores, however with a petite slender feminine body it can be tough to find things that are small enough for me. This is all to say that my intrest and intrigue in trying to create a more masc silhouette on my body, and have clothes that actually fit the way I want is why I started to teach myself how to sew and how to tailor. So now most of my clothes, too, are personally tailored to me. I also work in a local clothing boutique in my city that does not seperate clothes by men and women but rather by the labels handsome and pretty, which I love. Last fall I remember there was a particular sweater that was a wool colorblock sweater with blue brown and orange in our Pretty section that was bought by mostly men because they loved the colors, the fabric and fit so much. I have been loving your videos on the city boy aesthetic!
Love this. I'm enjoying your channel and I'm glad it came across my recommended! I'm a masc woman who wears a lot of classic menswear and prep/ivy inspired casualwear. One thing I do want to say is that while kirrin finch is absolutely clearly aimed at all genders, the cuts they show on their website are a little outdated and not really compatible with like "classic menswear", you know? Tbh I have gotten fantastic results doing custom or even off the rack at companies like suitsupply, buck mason, j press, the armoury/ring jacket etc which cater to a variety of like "on trend" or "classic" silhouettes. If you're in a decently liberal city I think it's worth trying these options first if you have a "custom/mtm" budget. I'm sure if you're a really unusual size (for suits) then even mtm can get tricky but I think that would be true for any body regardless of gender assigned at birth. p.s. r/mfa moved to discord recently btw and it's very friendly to all genders!
Ah yeah that’s my bad I just glanced at kirrin finch but they say their clothing is fit for female and non-binary bodies. I would not say it’s clearly aimed at all genders, I think they know cis men are not their customers
1:38 I get your point but in the context of who clothes are made for the typical ”womens” and ”mens” styles, cuts, materials etc and the framework of dualism in only men and women plus beauty standards for both etc etc in this context I think clothing with certain cuts and looks or sizing even can be androgenous. But ofc you can argue that calling clothing androgenous can enforce the dualistic idea of clothing only being for men or then for women…
I've started selling on depop and one thing I hate is that you have to choose between menswear or ladieswear for your items. A lot of my clothes are actually mens' but I bought them for myself. A couple days ago I saw where a seller just created two listings for the same item and posted one to men's, one to ladies'. I wish there were an easier way!
It is IMPOSSIBLE to find trousers in the men's session that fit me. I've been looking for jeans for over 6 months to no avail, finding exclusively tapered jeans with elastane (which I despise) in stores or sizes that were too small at the thighs and loose at the waist (even at the thrift). It got so frustrating I had to learn how to sew 😵💫
depends on the brand but there is a slight difference between mens and womens shoes, for the same style - a mens shoe last of the same size as a womens shoe size would be slightly wider. i was trying to buy paraboot michaels and asked for their men's + women's insole sizing and a 39 mens is not the same as 39 womens apparently 😭
totally agree this is silly! rock climbing shoes tend to come in a "low volume" in more traditionally womens size range and colors and "high volume" in mens size range and not pink which I feel like is a baby step in the right direction. still frustrating though that I as a small person with wide feet often can't get the high volume shoes in cooler colors because they don't make the size small enough for me :(
to clarify because i'm realizing i conflated two separate things: i think it was that an average mens shoe is D width and average womens shoe is B width (which is a narrow mens). the insole length thing was a separate issue lol. anyway, I agree I wish more brands listed shoe width because as fellow wide feet haver a lot of women's "regular" width shoes are actually narrow 😔
