3 minute read
Promiscuous Boy
HOW "SLUTTY" MENSWEAR IS THE LATEST TREND TO REDEFINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND FASHION
Written and photographed by Manon Bushong, Fashion Editor Modeled by Hayden Ketchum
Ihave a hard time with the adjective “slutty.” I have an especially hard time when it is attached to an article of clothing or used to describe an outfit, mostly because the word holds a strong feminine connotation. Society frequently pushes this label onto young women, equating them with sleaziness or promiscuity, especially when it comes to nighttime attire. Until recently, there has not been much of an industry dedicated to, for lack of a better term, slutty menswear. If a male-identifying person wants to go out and achieve a less modest look, they may choose to leave half of their shirt unbuttoned, or perhaps don a tee a size or two too small. Regardless of the route they take, their options have traditionally been limited to a minimal variety of silhouettes, many of which enforce a firm narrative of how masculinity should be presented.
In recent years, the distinct line between feminine and masculine fashion has begun to blur and a desire for gender-defying garments has surged in popularity. This has manifested through commercial menswear expanding to offer sultry silhouettes to the general public. An aesthetic that was once seen as only acceptable for male pop-culture stars, such as David Bowie and Prince, is now becoming normalized. This new fashion movement allows men to easily access a broader wardrobe and sport looks that make them feel good. It also distances us from the phenomenon of shaming women based on their clothing, creating a genderless way to pursue flirty and alluring styles. Slutty men’s looks have found themselves on many recent, high-end designer runways, and then quickly trickled down to more affordable and attainable collections. Dion Lee carries a vast assortment of skimpy tank tops modeled on different gender identities, ultimately bridging the stark societal distinctions between “menswear” and “womenswear.”1 Palomo Spain is another brand at the forefront of the slutty menswear movement. The brand seeks to “fuse men’s tailoring techniques and
¹ “Dion Lee,” Vogue Runway, 2022.
feminine lines”2 while aiming to provide sexy and confidence-boosting pieces to any wardrobe. Palomo Spain’s Spring 2022 Menswear line was full of asymmetrical and revealing necklines, tight and loose silhouettes and a few skimpy bodysuits.3
² “About Us,” Palomo Spain, accessed Feb. 2022. ³ Sarah Mower, “Paloma Spain Spring 2022 Menswear,” Vogue Runway, Oct. 8, 2022. This gender-distancing fashion movement is not without shortcomings. The men who are praised for their skimpy and stereotypically feminine outfits often have a monotonous body type. Saint Laurent’s Men’s Springwear 2022 certainly embodied the “slutty,” non-gendered restricting ideals it aimed to achieve. Yet for the models, the brand only showcased thin men who matched the trendy, androgynous passing aesthetic. Although this movement is leading us in a positive direction by softening the harsh emphasis that was once placed on masculinity and femininity within fashion, it is also damaging in terms of size representation and needs to be adjusted to encourage all identities to participate in this form of fashion expression. Slutty menswear may seem like a fun and frivolous concept, but the implications are powerful. Feeling hot in your outfit on a night out should be possible regardless of gender identity. Even more crucially, we should not still be making judgments about the sexual nature of a person based on their attire. Slutty menswear is a new way to unlearn ideas of toxic masculinity within fashion. It is also a means of redefining and reclaiming a nasty word frequently leveraged against young women by diffusing its feminine connotation. ■
