Lesbian fashion

Lesbian fashion is the style of dress popular among lesbian and women-loving-women communities. It utilizes various signals and archetypes to convey the wearer's sexual orientation. The trends of lesbian fashion are influenced by societal factors, and its statements have been made purposefully subtle or bold in accordance to the shifting societal climate around lesbianism.

History

Pre-1900s

Fashion has long been used as a signifier of sexuality and gender expression. However, due to the taboo nature of homosexuality for much of history, the term "lesbian" is rarely used while referring to instances of women breaking normalities of the era's fashion.

Portrait of The Rt. Hon. Lady Eleanor Butler & Miss Ponsonby, known as 'The Ladies of Llangollen'

Cross-dressing has historically been the most widespread and easily-recognizable method of dress for women seeking to break fashion standards. Cross-dressing has been used for many reasons, and historical resources show women donning men's clothing to pursue financial liberation, enlist as soldiers in war, explore sexual or gender identity, or as humorous displays of immorality. In the 18th century, cross-dressing became something of a spectacle, and these women were often associated with their relationship with or attraction to other women.

Early figures of lesbian fashion were Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, otherwise known as the Ladies of Llangollen, two upper-class Irish women who lived together in the late 18th-century. Their possible relationship was both highly-scrutinized and much admired by their contemporaries, even drawing attention from figures such as Anna Seward, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and William Wordsworth. After eloping to Wales in 1778 and establishing a home together, they were known to dress in black riding habits, men's top hats and trousers, enormous shoes, and "long out of fashion" powdered wigs.

Mademoiselle Raucourt was an 18th-century actress, known primarily for her notoriety as a Parisian lesbian and cross-dresser. In 1789, she was reported to leave the home of her female lover disguised as a man. When she died in 1815, the clergy of her parish initially refused to bury her body, and a riot broke out in the church to protest the decision.

Portrait of Anne Lister

Anne Lister was a 19th-century English landowner and diarist, widely regarded as the first modern "butch" lesbian. Her highly-detailed and explicit diaries are one of the best resources for lesbian fashion in this time. She was known to incorporate traditionally masculine silhouettes and articles of clothing into her everyday dress. In modern times, she is most associated with her usage of top hats and the color black; however, top hats were never expressly mentioned in her diaries or clothing inventories.

1900s to 1910s

In late Meiji era Japan, lovers Hiratsuka Raichō and Otake Kokichi openly wore mens clothing. During their year-long affair both wrote about wearing traditional men’s kimonos and men’s clogs. Kokichi is often described as wearing blue, a color traditionally used in men’s clothing. Japanese men of the time usually wore European style clothing, while women wore traditional clothing. The two were subverting both male and female clothing norms of the time.

1920s to 1930s (Interwar Period)

In the 1920s, wealthy Parisian Lesbians frequented local cafes and often wore their hair short, and accessorized with monocles and pinned violets to their jackets. The trends of violets and monocles spread to Great Britain. The play The Captive by Edouard Bourdet featured a woman who was sent violets by her female lover. This play may have helped spread the trend of violets to the United States.

Some women still preferred to wear men’s clothing to express themselves. Una Troubridge was known for wearing high-collared shirts and top hats. Gertrude Stein was known to prioritize comfort and practicality in her clothing, and often appeared masculine, a trait often associated with modern butch lesbians. In her song "Prove It on Me Blues" Ma Rainey sung about wearing men's clothing and had an accompanying portrait made depicting herself in a suit and fedora.

Sailor outfits and other nautical-inspired clothing had become a small trend after the First World War, with Chanel releasing a collection of sailor inspired outfits, but sailor outfits became most popular with gay and lesbian people. Sailing had been associated with queer culture for years, so many lesbians wore these outfits to openly express their sexual orientation in a playful and dramatic way. These outfits with striped vests, wide-leg pants, and bright berets, were often worn to parties and other events. French performer Suzy Solidor popularized the style in the Paris nightlife. She often performed in Cabarets wearing sailor outfits and singing sea shanties. In the United States, Mabel Hampton and other New York lesbians often wore sailor outfits as well.

Example of a gay bar

1940s to 1950s

Lesbians who participated in the Gay Bar Scene in Buffalo, New York gained the name of "Tough Bar Lesbians". These women often wore men's work clothes. They also frequently went to local bars and often caused bar fights. These women worked in the factories during the Second World War, and did not want to conform to the emerging strict gender roles of the 1950s. Many of these women continued to work in factories and adopted more "butch" personas.

1970s

Lesbian feminist groups used fashion to promote their political ideas through the creation of the “Dyke Uniform”. The Dyke Uniform consisted of work boots, button-down work shirts, tank tops, jeans, bare face, no bra, and sometimes short hair. By purposefully pulling from what society deemed as unattractive this look utilized anti-fashion to create a statement against sexist gender roles and the male gaze. In this way, lesbian feminist groups at the time utilized “ugliness” as a tool to free themselves from stifling misogynistic expectations during the second wave of feminism.

However, starting in the 60s with the second wave and ending in the 90s there was a lot of infighting between lesbian subcultures in which lesbian fashion determined sides. The lesbian feminist groups often clashed with sadomasochism lesbian groups characterized by their love of leather clothing, a trend following the “Feminist sex wars”. One lesbian interviewed by Jane Traie recounted, “I remember in those days you could not wear a leather jacket in the GLC-funded Gay and Lesbian Centre”, in this way lesbian fashion became a political statement.

1980s

In London during the 80s, punk and rebel culture was very much alive in the lesbian scene. Punk/rebel lesbians similar to SM lesbian groups, were characterized by their love of leather biker jackets, however, not all punk lesbians were into sadomasochism. Punk lesbians relied on anti-fashion statements like ripped clothing, badges and pins, painted clothing, and incorporating lesbian symbolism in their outfits. The group also pulled from military inspiration like army boots. Homemade accessories and crafts were a large part of rebel lesbian fashion.

An example of how punks used pins to signal to other lesbians

Crafts are historically undervalued because of their stereotype of being women’s work and the sexist devaluation that followed this idea. Punk lesbians fought to reclaim crafts by incorporating it into their outfits through pins, badges, and painted emblems adorning their jackets. In this way, punk/rebel lesbian fashion was used to find independence from forms of capitalist hierarchy and rebel against the oppression that deemed homemade crafts less valuable.

Rebel dykes fought for gay and lesbian rights in London, often facing physical violence for their political beliefs and recognizably queer fashion. Because of discrimination punk fashion and through it, political beliefs were spread in lesbian/gay bars that became safe places and platforms for punk lesbian culture. In this way punk and queer culture as a whole are intertwined, the word “punk” even being drawn for Polari gay slang according to Lucy Robinson, Professor of Punk at Sussex University in England. Rebel lesbian culture was so niche at the time because of the alienation they endured from other lesbian subcultures for their sex-positive views. Mainstream lesbians “were very separatist and quite anti-men, and we just wanted to have lots of fun, do drugs, and have lots of sex, and make music, which they seemed to disapprove of. So we created our own scene.” according to Siobhan Fahey, director of the documentary “Rebel Dykes” who was part of the peak of rebel lesbian culture in England.