The Importance of Gender Neutral Clothes: Abolishing the Gender Stereotypes

How often do we find ourselves restricted in terms of our choices and orientation when we go out for shopping or step out of our home or decide while looking at our wardrobe what to wear and what not to wear. Many a times we must have noticed that we change our attire in order to match the occasion or the situation at times even the people we are going to meet. Why is that we have so many conditions attached to what we wear and how we wear and above all who should wear what?

Why when walking into a shop, does the girls section have pink dresses and the boys section have blue shirts with superhero’s imprint from the very early years ? Why are there gendered sections at all ? Why should our clothes be gendered, why an industry brimming with amazing designs by amazing designers must be restricted to only wearing clothes that encourage society to put us in strict gender boxes ? Gender fluidity has permeated our culture’s collective consciousness more and more in recent times. With fashion being one of the most creative form of self expression, it seems antiquated that many brands categorise their clothes into two genders, when in reality there is so much more to gender than simply male and female.

There has been a number of brands like Nicopanda, OneDna, Phluid Project etc which have wide variety of gender neutral collection. Celine Dion has launched a gender neutral clothing line for children, according to her “Every child need to have their own identity to express themselves freely and not to feel like someone else. It is more about offering choices and giving children a chance to find their individuality without being tied to any stereotype.”

To make sure kids find their own true essence without being subjected to stereotypes, then we need to change the meaning of stereotypes, what defines it and hence change the gender norms. We also need to raise kids with health gender expressions and not be ashamed when they deviate from society’s construct of gender. Genderless fashion is defined as a concept that sees garment not being prescribed to a specific gender when designed, differing from fashion’s notion of “ men’s wear and women’s wear”. Gender neutral clothing doesn’t force people into a box. It is a non confirming notion that pushes gender boundaries by making them limitless, mixing traditional pieces with non traditional models while giving freedom of expression.

Fashion industry is reorganising itself in recent times with designers merging men’s and women’s shows into co-Ed shows while ignoring the gender labels of clothes when it comes to runway fashion. The industry is taking a big leap towards the eradication of gender specific dressing and coming up with gender neutral collections. Today, women are comfortable in wearing men’s clothes and men too have fewer hesitations when it comes to wearing women’s apparels.

If a man is comfortable in purchasing flowery patterns then he is challenging traditional gendered retail categories by saying that if you enjoy it, then you wear it. With the blurring of gender roles, the fashion identities of man and women are blurring along with it. It is really hard to break the walls and boundary between masculinity and femininity, unisex clothing can be a small yet effective way to come out of this divide towards a broader dialogue about equality.

Looking back in history we find evidences of how men dressed in 18 th century. Men dressed flamboyantly, openly in laces and velvets without being ashamed of what they were wearing.

Gender fluid and gender neutral fashions are a phase in fashion as well as a movement and is definitely a step towards the evolution. Individuals are more comfortable than ever with what they are, the concept of masculinity and femininity no longer define the clothing people wear. People are choosing to define themselves on their own terms rather than being bound to specific stereotypes. In the late 20 th century, clothing has helped women seek for equality and empowerment as they rejected and adopted clothes while trying to blur the lines of femininity which was shaped by the patriarchal structures.

Gender is a spectrum and femininity and masculinity sociologically serve to the spectrum by describing gender identities. Designers should work for it to disregard the binary system and prompt a new way of thinking for clothing and designing of clothes. Every individual should be able to wear whatever piece of cloth they think express their preference, style or taste.

Genderless clothing doesn’t mean androgynous or that you cannot be masculine or feminine if you want to be. It goes beyond gender and focuses on spirit of garment, movement, creating new silhouette and layers. It’s not rigid as usually the collection often are, it gives a big stage when it comes to creating one’s own unique style and signature look.

It is when these designers are bound by no rules or restrictions that they open up a whole new way of creating clothes and how to wear them. Genderless shopping is simply about adding another for people when shopping for clothes - rather than ridding shops of gendered clothing completely.

Baggy fits and distressing are highly popular hallmarks of modern street style for all genders. In recent seasons-soft colours, blouses and handbags are all over men’s fashion runways. Following the steps of the luxurious brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent ; the mainstream brands like Zara and Guess are releasing clothing lines meant to be worn by all genders. Pieces are being released in a variety of sizes to fit varying body types, rather than designing pieces specifically for men or women. No colour, fit or function is inherently gendered. Hence it’s important to remove the stigma from clothing starting in childhood which will further normalise freedom of choice in clothing without the binary gender system. It can be that clothing plays a very formative role in forming an individual’s identity beyond norms.

Celebrities like Jaden Smith are fore-fronting the movement in wearing dresses, skirts and heeled shoes at various red carpet events. Smith addresses why he wears the clothing he identifies with by saying that “ If I want to wear a dress, then I will and that will set the new wave.”

Having gender neutral fashion allows more people to express their freedom to identify with who they choose and wear that is comfortable to them in an accessible judgement free space. For individuals who express their experience of life on their own terms, fashion has been a vehicle for them to experiment and explore the spectrum of gender into a life that is their reality into an identity that is theirs.

Consumers are choosing to be seen for their individuality and personal traits rather than being categorised into a specific gender group. It is fashion that transcends sexual orientation.

The question now arises whether fashion can help reshape a strict, conservative country that relies on traditional gender norms? Fashion as we have been above has immense potential to bring about a change in the orientation and mindset of people and the society as a whole. In countries where girls are stared upon if seen wearing short revealing clothes, where everybody laughs if a boy is seen walking on streets with a skirt, where children are socialised and conditioned in a way about how boys and girls in a culture should behave and have rigid interests and disinterests in a conservative country like this it is very difficult to do away with the concept of gender norms.

The only way to deal with this is to promote gender neutral clothes as this will eradicate the existing stereotypes about fashion and who should wear what. Even though, the gender neutral collection and brands have been on the rise, there is still a long way to go. Children at a very young age should be made to freely express their choices and select what suits them.

We need to unlearn the existing stereotypes and notions we have had about gender norms only then there can be a room for incorporating diverse viewpoints and sections of people into an integrated whole. Movies, TV shows and magazines should promote more of gender neutral clothes and generate more awareness to the masses about the importance of doing away with rigid gender boxes and exploring the plethora of combinations that come with fashion so that everyone can wear what they want to wear and be who they are before anybody else tells them what they have to be.