Through an astonishing series of interviews, Gay Men’s Style will take you on a dizzying journey through shops, bars, clubs, gyms, workplaces and global city streets. Based on the lived experience of gay men of all ages from the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Japan, Shaun Cole calls for a more nuanced understanding of gay male dress and style.
Gay male identities in the 21st century are increasingly intersectional, fluid and flexible, from hyper-masculinity and muscularity seen in clubs and on the pages of gay magazines to self-knowing drag culture and androgynous gender play in the fashion industry. Gay Men’s Style explores these multiple identities and the ways in which gay men self-identify and present themselves to the world through dress. This analysis is set alongside seismic shifts in technology, global communication and gay rights to redress and readdress the subject of gay men’s style in a time of social and sexual upheaval.
Preface Introduction Identities, subject positions and Intersectionality Defining Style, Fashion and Dress Methodological approaches Chapter arrangement 1. What’s the difference?: Situating Gay Men in the New Millennium ‘How to spot a millennial homo: differences in gay and straight men’s dress Well-dressed gay men – a stereotype What is gay style? ‘… made me gay’: Cultural Influences on gay men’s dress choices Hipster / Metrosexual /Homosexual – where is the gay/straight border? 2. Gender[ed] play Femininity, effeminacy and drag Gay masculinities and ‘butch’ styles of dress Gender ambiguities in gay men’s dressed appearance 3. Millennial Gay bodies Mesomorphic bodies, muscularity and the gym Ectomorphic Skinny and Slim Bodies Endomorphic Bigger, Heavier, Fatter Bodies Body Modifications: Tattoos Bodily presentations on social media 4. Coming out and first gay styles Thinking about coming out Teenage coming out and effeminacy Punk, goth and emo as a defining teenage gay style Coming out and adopting gay styles of dress Coming out – an ongoing process Coming out in later life 5. Bars, clubs and scenes Comparing categories of bars, clubs and scenes (might need a better title) Muscularity on the global circuit party scene Bear Scene (sub)culture Alternative Queer scenes Loss of gay scenes and spaces 6. Dressing in and for relationships Dressing to pick up Dressing like the object of desire Sexual Attraction and masculinity and femininity Feeling attractive and looking sexy Hair and Sexual attraction Dressing for dates Coupledom: shared wardrobes and similar styles The influence of partners and relationships on personal style Shopping together and gifting clothes in relationships 7. Creating the gay wardrobe Physical wardrobe and clothing arrangements Choosing in the morning Assembling outfits Smart versus casual Variety versus uniformity Dress codes and regulations 8. We’re Here, We’re Queer, Are We Going Shopping? From High street to High-end designer Following Fashion Trends? The Price is Right Physical stores or online retailers? Vintage and Second Hand 9. Dressing for Work Formality at work Uniformity in Retail and Sales? Fashionability at work Artistic and Creative Performance as work, work as performance 10. Comfort and fit Baggy, loose and comfortable Close-fitting and Tailored Comfort and Confidence Fashionability, Integrity and Authenticity Well-fitting garments and age-appropriate comfort 11. Ambiguities of Age and Ageing Awareness of age and ageing Changing with age Age-appropriate choices Ageing and hair Age and Health concerns Ageing capital Conclusion
Shaun Cole is Associate Professor in Fashion at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, UK. His research interests focus on dressed appearance, sexuality, masculinities and representations in visual and popular culture. He is the author of Don We Now Our Gay Apparel (2000), has contributed to books and journals including The Men’s Fashion Reader (Berg, 2008), and is the co-editor of Fashion Media (Bloomsbury, 2013).
Reviews for Gay Men's Style: Fashion, Dress and Sexuality in the 21st Century
Gay Men’s Style addresses both sexuality and culture. Through an astonishing series of interviews, the author takes us on a dizzying spin through shops, bars, clubs, gyms, workplaces and streets of global cities around the world. Always placing the emphasis on real lives and experiences, this important work makes us reconsider how gay men’s dress is continually remade to create looks, desires, communities and a sense of self for work and leisure in a world that remains challenging and normative. -- Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
