User:VenerableBird/Androgyny in fashion

1760s-90s
Macaroni was a term used to refer to a group of young, urban English men in the 1760s-1770s who adopted ostentatious, effeminate dress. The style Macaronis adopted were more similar to the fashions of France and Italy, "retaining pastel color, pattern and ornament, at a time when their use was being displaced by more sober dressing in England." Their gender and sexuality were often called into question and was subject to much fascination and scrutiny

The Victorian Era (1840s-1890s)
In the Victorian era, many upper-class women adopted more masculine styled fashion for sports, which was a source of great anxiety, some believing this supposed "masculinization" of women would lead to "the "degeneration" of the genders". Cycling suits, for example, kept the feminine silhouette but incorporated masculine elements, like waistcoats, neckties and bifurcated skirts.

The Early 1900s
Androgynous dress in young children was the norm for much of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, sex differentiation in clothing was postponed until children entered school at about six or seven years old. Major fashion designers, like Paul Poiret and Coco Chanel introduced a feminine variation on trousers to women's fashion, in line with the Flapper style for women of this era, which was considered "boyish" and gave women an androgynous look. During the 1930s, the masculine lean of female fashion continued, with women's fashion allowing for the wearing of suits. This trend can be exemplified by celebrity Marlene Dietrich. Dietrich dressed masculinely and femininely, demonstrating great fluidity in gendered presentation, doing so called "double-drag." Dietrich is remembered as one of the first actresses to wear trousers in a premiere.

Outside the world of high fashion, working women of this era sometimes wore masculine-style bib overalls for factory or manual labor. Many working women kept their feminine presentation, however, and were not impeded by their clothing, largely those working white-collar level jobs. Sportswear of the 20s and 30s became more masculine, after significant issue through the previous two decades, reflecting general trends, and following in the footsteps of previous generations.

Queer people of this era were often consciously gender non-conforming, for example, sailor suits were adopted by both queer men and women due to the "military exoticism and gender-blurring possibilities" becoming "a recognizable signifier of an emerging gay and bisexual identity"