(Un)dressing the Female Body
Blue is for boys and pink is for girls. A conventional gender distinction that dates as far back as the 1940s. However, this was not always the categorised image used to determine male and female. In the early 20th century, it was quite the opposite; pink represented boys, seen as a stronger, more distinct colour, while girls wore blue, a colour that back then was seen as delicate and dainty. But between the late 1960s and early 1980s, partially as a result of the women’s liberation movement, the colour pink fell into disfavour, as it was linked to femininity and traditional female roles during this period. This, in turn, shifted each colour and their associations with gender as pink for girls and blue for boys.
aesthetic for her album cover Nightclubbing.
Photo: Jean-Paul Goude (1981).
Likewise, fashion and dress reflect the social differences between male and female. Feminine dress, in some cases, has mirrored women’s restrictions in society, wherein they were expected to stay at home, whereas masculine dress demonstrated men’s authoritative position, who were seen as more qualified for working in an out-of-house environment, proving a gender inequality between the two. And whilst in more recent times, women have adopted masculine styles, a factor that goes hand in hand with the progress in women’s rights, there are yet distinct attributes belonging to each gender that may always be features in fashion that differentiate the two sexes. However, women have gained more status in both society and the workplace, by the ways in which androgynous dress has shifted the representation of the female gender, asserting more power in their independence and allowing for gender equality. Androgyny in fashion attempts to eliminate gender from dress by exceeding its limitations and breaking conventional ideologies of women. The term ‘androgyny’ provokes uncertainty in contemporary culture and society, however, it also represents an idealistic perception of fashion and the body that encourages gender equality. The rise of androgynous fashion has explored and transformed the female gender, showing its function to society and how it has portrayed powerful notions of femininity.
Photo: Rue Aubriot (1975) by Helmut Newton.
Yves Saint Laurent sparked a movement not only in fashion but in power steering towards female representation. His menswear-inspired tuxedo, tailored for women, labelled Le Smoking, started a revolution following its exhibit in his 1966 haute couture collection. It was the first time a suit had been designed for women, giving rise to a remarkable and positive change for them. It was a cultural unfolding that brought focus to gender and androgyny, creating a strong sense of power dressing for women, and has continued to create this portrayal since. Take Bianca Jagger, for example, who has been branded an icon for her signature style being the suit. For her wedding to Mick Jagger in 1971, she wore a tuxedo jacket and skirt designed by Saint Laurent, breaking the conventional image of the long white wedding dress and the idea that it is an obligatory form of dress for marriage. The acceptance of Le Smoking encouraged more androgynous styles for women, allowing for an empowering identity, through the vehicle of fashion. Today, Le Smoking remains a symbol for power and sexuality, as well as a design that soon became the source of inspiration to other fashion designers. It marked a turning point in the evolving emancipation of women and their femininity in the late 1960s and beyond, representing the female gender powerfully through its androgynous statement.
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