A Thought on the Resuscitation of Tight Clothes

Has anyone else in this treehouse been wearing tighter clothes lately?

No?

Well, if I told you that I plan to wear the same sequined dress that Chloe, photographed above, is wearing at some point this week, what would you have to say about that? And the striped turtleneck and jeans? Sign me up. The entire slideshow above is essentially an outfit mood board to reflect my current cues. Today, as a matter of fact, I’m wearing a fairly similar iteration of look #1 and I feel better than I ever did in culottes.

Which isn’t to say that culottes are dead, but maybe they are to me.

If you’re not with me yet, my guess is that you will be relatively soon. Reason being that the elusive cycle of fashion is on the brink of a change that is seemingly deviating from all of that formerly-praised body obstruction to move further into the favor of what I want to call “healthy constriction.”

Invariably, this has forced me to think about what tight clothes mean for the notion of man repelling. Am I remaining true to my ethos if I’m opting for the skinny pants in lieu of the flare legs, or the bodysuit instead of the swing jacket?

What if I’m actually being complimented by the male gaze?

The simple answer is yes because at its core, Man Repeller is a synonym for you do you, and the definition of doing you runs a gamut more extensive than the shades of hair Gwen Stefani has assumed in her lifetime.

The more involved answer is contingent on redefining what we mean by “Man Repeller,” because for as long as this site has been around, our argument has clearly stated that women dress to please a) themselves, b) their female peers. As a result, the clothes we select to tell our stories don’t frequently align with the archetypical visual pursuits of our male counterparts. But what happens, like in the case of the bodysuit, when they do? Are we submitting ourselves to “the patriarchy,” or are we doing what we’ve always done: dressing for ourselves?

It’s weird, you know, that more often than not people can now see the shape of my ass through my pants.

And that wide leg trousers, though still a personal mainstay, can sometimes make me feel like I’m lying to myself.

I haven’t quite figured out how to articulate why certain things feel right and others don’t in terms of what I put on my person beyond the very simple excuse of, “because personal style,” but maybe the point that has not yet been explored is this: all of this time, we haven’t really been man repelling — that would have been far too active, too passionate. No, we’ve been man ignoring.

Much more powerful.

Styled by Leandra Medine, photographed by Krista Anna Lewis

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