How Fashion Fails Trans Bodies
How Fashion Fails Trans Bodies
By: Liam Hill
Ready-to-wear clothing is the term used for clothing that is mass manufactured in pre-measured sizes. This is the clothing we wear every day—a pair of jeans you bought at the mall, or a jacket you bought at a trendy boutique. Sometimes, finding the right size in ready-to-wear clothing can be frustrating. It can be even more frustrating when your assigned gender at birth differs from your gender identity or gender expression.
For many transgender individuals, fashion is an essential part of their gender expression. But it can also be a challenge. Ready-to-wear clothing is cut and designed with cisgender people in mind. This often leaves trans people without appropriately sized clothing. Trans men often struggle with clothing being too large, and trans women often struggle with clothing items being too snug in unflattering areas. Most ready-to-wear doesn’t fit correctly, and ill-fitting garments can cause dysphoria for some trans individuals. This leads to many people in the trans community feeling as if they don’t have a place in fashion, and are only allowed to focus on finding what fits.
At the same time, the constant war with the closet can end in a euphoric victory once the right clothing is found. Members of the trans community may struggle with the conventional gender expression that some clothing conveys, but they may also use it to blur the lines of what gender is. Clothing companies like Androgynous Fox, Tomyboy Toes, and WILDFANG cater to people trying to break away from classic gender norms. However, these stores aren’t always an option as prices can climb above $100 per item. Thrift stores have become an affordable haven for people who wish to shop for unique clothes that affirm their gender expression without having to face possible judgment from other shoppers which often occurs in mainstream stores.
Trans representation in the fashion industry is scarce, but there is a rising number of trans models and LGBTQ+ inclusive runway shows all around the world. Coverage of nationally recognized voices like Laverne Cox, and Elliot Paige. The advocacy of trans models Hunter Schafer and Nathan Westling is shifting the industry towards acceptance. These are just a few prominent people within the fashion and entertainment industry who have helped to increase trans representation in popular culture.
However, much of society’s understanding of trans identity seems to rest on only one or two of these well-known voices. In reality, any person can work to advocate for trans representation in the fashion industry by supporting brands that promote inclusion. According to the Williams Institute at UCLA, roughly 1.4 million Americans identify as transgender. This study doesn’t include those that identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming, but it begins to give us a good idea of what the overall population of trans people is. This is a population of people that are largely uncatered to by mainstream clothing companies.
The fashion industry as a whole has not been able to keep up with the cultural shift towards acceptance of trans bodies. When asked by Vogue in 2018 about including trans models on the Victoria’s Secret runway, Ed Razek, the company’s chief marketer answered, “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should … because the show is a fantasy.” It is important to note that the term ‘transsexuals’ is improper. Most trans people do not use the word transsexual, the proper terms are transgender woman or transgender man. The fashion industry has a lot to improve on when it comes to accommodating those who don’t dress in accordance to their assigned gender at birth. But by existing and expressing themselves, trans people are driving the fashion industry towards acceptance.