PRETTY GENTLEMAN
PRETTY GENTLEMAN Long before Oscar Wilde became an icon of queer sexuality and style, a “Fraternity of PRETTY GENTLEMEN” united by “mutual love” influenced fashion. Three categories of men received particular attention in the 18th-century English press: The “mollies” (effeminate, cross-dressing “sodomites”), the “macaronis” (stylish men whose foppishness called into question ideas of masculinity), and…
DANDIES AND AESTHETES
DANDIES AND AESTHETES In his youth an advocate of “aesthetic” dress (for both men and women), Oscar Wilde later repositioned himself as a dandy, who celebrated the “dangerous and delightful distinction of being different from others.” Not all dandies were men. The “Sapphic” subculture that emerged in large cities in the late 19th century was…
LES GARÇONNES
LES GARÇONNES During the 1920s, fashion was radically transformed by the garçonne [boyish] look, which was controversial because it seemed to abolish the distinctions between men and women. Although widely fashionable, the style was often associated with lesbians. At cabarets like Le Monocle and Fétiche in Montmartre, “many ladies willingly dress in the style of…
MARLENE DIETRICH – LESBIAN ELEGANCE
MARLENE DIETRICH – LESBIAN ELEGANCE It was not only as fashion professionals that LGBTQ people influenced the world of style; they were also trendsetters. Marlene Dietrich, for example, was once described as “the best-dressed man in Hollywood.” Her penchant for wearing men’s clothing off-screen as well as on had a profound influence on women’s fashion—both…
RISE OF GAY DESIGNERS
RISE OF GAY DESIGNERS Certain “artistic” professions—such as fashion and the performing arts—have historically provided a relatively tolerant haven for LGBTQ people. Yet faced with a homophobic society, most of them remained “closeted” to outsiders, and designers, such as Cristóbal Balenciaga and Christian Dior, were not widely known to be gay during their lifetimes. By…
BEFORE STONEWALL
BEFORE STONEWALL The postwar period was characterized by a savage, state-sponsored witch-hunt against homosexuals. Fearing exposure and arrest, most homosexuals became “invisible men.” But demonstrations and political lobbying eventually began to result in legal changes in the civil rights of gay men and lesbians. Gays pioneered the Peacock Revolution in menswear. Designer Rudi Gernreich, a…
AFTER STONEWALL
AFTER STONEWALL The Stonewall Riots took place on June 28, 1969, when police raided a Greenwich Village bar, triggering resistance. In the following years, more people lived openly gay lives—and clothing styles changed accordingly. Pre-Stonewall, the most visible gay male styles had been elite elegance, camp, or drag. Post-Stonewall, the “Clone” emerged to symbolize modern,…
AIDS
AIDS The AIDS crisis devastated the LGBTQ community—and triggered a new wave of prejudice against homosexuals. Since 1981, when the HIV virus that causes AIDS was identified, more than 30 million people have died of AIDS-related diseases. Groups like ACT UP and Queer Nation demonstrated against the high cost of treatment and the government’s failure…
GAY ICONS
GAY ICONS Toward the end of the 20th century, gay sensibility became more overt in fashion and advertising. This was an expression both of gay pride and of straight consumers’ fascination with images of distinction and nonconformity. The French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, for example, was unafraid of playing fast and loose with sex and…
SEXUALITY & STYLE
SEXUALITY & STYLE Sexuality exerted an increasingly strong impact on style during the 1990s. The openly gay designer Gianni Versace (1946-1997) drew on the iconography of 1970s gay “leather sex” for his infamous 1992 “bondage” collection. Although some women took offense at his “S&M” clothes, others regarded them as a positive expression of female sexual…
SEX & SUITS
SEX & SUITS In her book Sex and Suits, the art historian Anne Hollander explores “the potent beauty” of the tailored suit, which highlights the wearer’s sexuality in a way that is “central, serious, and interesting.” Although the dandy look has long been one of the most significant queer styles, it is only recently that…
HIGH FASHION & GAY CULTURE
HIGH FASHION & GAY CULTURE Gays and lesbians have been “hidden from history” for too long. Indeed, not to explore the history of LGBTQ people in fashion is to be complicit in perpetuating a system of secrecy and shame. Surprisingly little scholarship has focused on high fashion as a site of gay cultural production. But…
MARRIAGE EQUALITY
MARRIAGE EQUALITY Surprisingly little scholarship has focused on high fashion as a site of gay cultural production. But if we look at the history of fashion through a queer lens – exploring the aesthetic sensibilities and unconventional dress choices made by LGBTQ people – we see how central gay culture has been to the creation…