Accessories for Mascs!
in this newsletter: the September Masc-cessories Shopping Bag, a little accessories musing, and a reminder to enter the Low Ken Giveaway by September 30th if you haven't already!
Why does it seem like all the fun, expressive clothing is reserved for the femme end of the style spectrum?? The short answer: patriarchy.
The slightly longer answer: Without getting into it to much, we know that throughout history flamboyant style has often belonged in the realm of men (see: high heels, poofy shorts, any male bird in nature). But in our current culture, fashion is "girly." How this came to be is much more complex than I can get into in this newsletter, but we've landed in a place where fashion is associated with women and queer people...which means it is considered frivolous and shallow to care about but the tiny trade off is that anyone who skews femme has a wide and creative range of clothing options to choose from, while those who skew more masc tend to have a very limited range of clothing options to choose from. "Women's clothing" can include anything from cargo pants to ball gowns, the universe of menswear is narrow and redundant. And if you are someone who wants to be perceived as masculine, it can feel impossible to stray from this super restrictive path at all without jeopardizing that masculinity.
Menswear tends to include about five whole colors (khaki, navy, olive, black, white) and like four shapes. You may wear pants or shorts. All the products are marketed as if the wearer will inevitably be climbing a mountain or riding a motorcycle. All the stores have a small whisky bar in case it's too emasculating for a man to shop for clothes without a stiff drink in hand. Recently a menswear influencer posted this collection of screenshots of mens' clothing items that use the phrase "built for the long haul" in the item description. As if the intended customer isn't going to wear it to sit at a desk all day.
So many of my male clients struggle with wanting to feel unique and expressive with their personal style without straying too far from the restrictive but protective confines of normative masculinity. I also have many queer, non-binary, and masc-leaning clients of all genders for whom this question is even more existential. When each outfit feels like it carries the weight of your gender presentation that day, getting the right balance of masc and femme is a high-stakes endeavor. Even clients who lean more femme often are missing a few edgy, more masculine elements in their wardrobe to deliver the kind of dynamic tension they crave in their outfits.
And while we do have a lot more examples of creative masc style (thank you Colman Domingo, Harry Styles, Emma D'arcy, the band Muna, etc)...it's usually on red carpets and in editorials from celebrities whose style, while inspiring, is also so elevated as to be unrelatable. This is where accessories come in.
When we hear "accessories" we tend to think of little bags and glitzy jewelry. But accessories don't have to be femme. A chunky leather belt or hearty chain can bring a lot of cool weight to an otherwise femme outfit or personality to a more down-the-middle masc outfit. And a masc-leaning dresser doesn't have to avoid femme accessories, either. A little flower pin on the lapel of an oversized blazer can pop the tiniest bit of delightful dandy-ness into an otherwise normy-guy outfit. A patterned sock, vintage belt buckle, inlay tie clip, or bold pair of glasses will do more heavy lifting than you'd guess to take your outfit from generic to personal.
So that's why, for this month's Shopping Bag, I've put together a roundup of fun, edgy, weighty, playful, masc-vibing accessories (I'm calling them "mascessories" and I don't care if you hate it!). Not only will you find a bunch of fun pieces to choose from, but you might learn about new types of masc-accessories you never knew existed in the first place! This is a clickable, shoppable PDF with four pages of vintage, second-hand, and indie finds all priced under $150 linked below. Remember – the Shopping Bag feature is a perk exclusive to Style School Valedictorians, so if you like the idea of getting a curated monthly vintage shopping list sent right to your inbox, click below to upgrade your membership!
Speaking of edgy, outfit-elevating accessories...this is your last chance to enter the Low Ken Waisted Bag giveaway! All you have to do to enter is follow Low Ken on instagram and reply to me here to tell me you want to be entered. I'll announce the winner on October 1!
And to start exploring the world of mascessories, you'll find the downloadable Masc Accessories Shopping bag just on the other side of the paywall!