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Nevertheless, the gender divide in fashion was not always so rigid. Even as newborns, baby boys are fashioned into their masculinity through the colour blue, showing that masculinity and fashion are inherently linked by our society’s fixation on gender. Masculine ideals of power, strength and dominance are often demonstrated through male clothing, with height and athletic stature being emphasised by modern menswear. Dressing up, wearing makeup, and taking an interest in clothes has largely been dismissed by the world of straight men, and yet fashion and masculinity have been intertwined for centuries. Significantly, fashion itself has traditionally been a gendered activity, associated with women and gay men, reduced to something that is frivolous and meaningless by wider patriarchal norms. “The ‘manly men’ are those who have the courage and strength to dress in whatever they prefer”
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But these terms should not denote anything bad: neither ‘feminine,’ ‘gay,’ ‘soft,’ nor ‘fragile’ should ever be used as an insult. These terms are used especially among men themselves about those who do not conform to masculine stereotypes. These confined, toxic notions of masculinity demand that men fit into a specific box and suggest that for a man to dress in anything less than the ‘fully masculine’ would be akin to stripping him of his manhood: he would become soft, feminine, gay, or fragile. Throughout history, who wears what has created controversy and strong opinion, and in particular, masculinity has been shaped and restricted by gendered expectations of fashion: skirts and dresses are girly, suits are for men heels are for women and athletic gear is more masculine. A creative fluidity has blossomed in men’s fashion in recent years, propelling us into the midst of a menswear renaissance, and refashioning stale historic notions of what it means to be masculine or feminine.