With the new Trump administration there seems to be a general trend toward old-fashioned gender stereotypes and dress, which seems to me like a frustratingly restrictive version of how a “woman” looks. Is there a way to use clothes to rebel against this unspoken dress code, even in a fairly conservative work environment? — Renee, Emeryville, Calif.
It is true that the new administration seems to have some very specific ideas regarding dress and gender. Ones that have to do with classic clichés of masculinity and femininity. At their most extreme, these take the form of an executive order on gender definitions, but they are also expressed in aesthetics, and choices about clothes and beauty. When it comes to women, that appears to mean high heels, long hair and lavish eyelash extensions.
It is also true that increasingly it seems that leaders of major public companies, including technology, finance and fashion, are falling into line behind those more retrograde ideas. Whether that gets translated into actual dress codes is another matter, but “appropriate,” the current word of choice regarding wardrobe and the workplace, is pretty open to interpretation.
That said, dress has been a form of rebellion against pretty much any kind of norm, gender included, since Joan of Arc donned male armor in the 15th century. Just as one of the ways to demonstrate like-mindedness is to look the part, one of the ways to demonstrate deviation from the group is to look different from the group. There’s a reason the term “fashion statement” exists.
What that means depends on the group in which you find yourself. If that sounds vague, it has to be. The trappings of protest, if they aren’t glaringly obvious (like a sign on your forehead), are subjective and exist both in the mind of the person wearing the garment and in the eye of the beholder. A protest garment that stands out at work may be entirely illegible to people on the street.
You have to decide how far you want to go to make your point. How much do you want it to be the focus of conversation? And who is it really for?
If, for example, your dress is for internal satisfaction — if it is an expression of your own sense of gender and what it means to you — simply wearing what makes you feel most like yourself and reminds you of your own belief system is the answer. If the point you want to make is about old gender norms, simply failing to buy into them, literally, may be enough.
Maybe that means wearing chunky boots with a big tread rather than stilettos. Maybe it means a concert tee underneath a suit jacket. Maybe it’s just a pair of tailored dark denim jeans and a crisp button-up shirt with French cuffs — and cuff links. Maybe it’s refusing to code-switch.
If you want it to go further, however, and you don’t want what you wear to become the dominant topic of conversation whenever you walk into a room, there is a simple way to turn a fashion choice into a form of protest. Create a uniform for yourself that stands out simply because it is different from the uniform of the majority. (Honestly, this is one of the lessons of high school.)
Wear any garment consistently, and at some point everyone else should get the message. Whether they are aware of it or not.
Your Style Questions, Answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa will answer a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her anytime via email or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.
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