The sailor aesthetic is irrevocably intertwined with queer culture. The job description of “sailor” has a straggeringly gay history and the aesthetic has been used time and time again in gay fashion, media, music and more; think Tom of Finland or Pierre et Gilles. I use the word “gay” because, more often than not, theseContinue reading “Sailor Outfits and Lesbian Culture, 1920s-1930s”
Tag Archives: le monocle
Was the 1920s Monocle Really a Lesbian Symbol?
Lesbians in the interwar period used fashion codes in order to recognise each other and form communities – at least, that’s what it looks like to us, a hundred years later. However, the fashion reality of lesbians in the 1920s and 30s wasn’t quite so black and white. Items such as the monocle seem toContinue reading “Was the 1920s Monocle Really a Lesbian Symbol?”
Femme Chronology: 1950s Bar Lesbians and 2020s Retro Dykes
Lesbian fashion is, by default, not constrained by a masculine/feminine binary. While some people or styles may find themselves drawn more to one or the other, lesbian fashion in general – much like lesbianism itself – is broad and boundary-breaking. Even more traditional butch and femme fashions are displaced from the “masculine” and “feminine” ofContinue reading “Femme Chronology: 1950s Bar Lesbians and 2020s Retro Dykes”
Dressing Dykes 