Tomboy Tales: It’s the shirts that fit

I wear guys’ clothes. A lot. Hey I’m a lesbian, that’s our schtick right? For many of us on the tomboy end of the spectrum, the frilly, flowery, midriff-exposing, cleavage-enhancing women’s section of a department store is a definite no-go zone.

Instead, posters of hot androgynous male models lure us into the menswear department where lesbian fashion dreams of being a dandy with a paisley shirt buttoned all the way up to the bowtie, a James Dean-inspired biker or a baseball jacket wearing jock come to life. Almost.

It all comes crashing down the minute you step into the change room and discover that your C-Cup boobs won’t let you do the second top button up, everything is too big around the shoulders and men’s pants come with dick-room which makes the wearer look like they have one, even if they don’t.

Lucky for us over the past year a number of new fashion labels offering masculine-inspired clothing for women have popped up in response to the growing popularity of androgyny.

Chances are you’ve already heard about Wildfang, a Portland-based online store specifically catering to tomboy style. They released a cool launch video in February this year featuring brand ambassadors Kate “the lesbian Fonz” Moennig, Hannah Blilie – the queer drummer from The Gossip and sexy American pro soccer player Megan Rapinoe among others. Google pronto if you haven’t seen.

While not exclusively catering for lesbians it’s pretty clear who their target audience is. Wildfang’s latest campaign features Australia’s number one glamour-dyke Ruby Rose and queer French heartthrob Casey Legler who rose to internet fame earlier this year as the first woman to be signed exclusively as a male model.

Closer to home, new Sydney-based label Kreuzbach10 is specifically offering men’s shirts cut to fit women’s bodies. They ran a crowdfunding campaign last year and almost doubled their target proving that there is a real demand for menswear that accommodates boobs, hips and all the lady bits.

Other tomboy labels coming out of the States include LA-based Androgynous Fashion, which offers elegant, classy menswear for chicks and Tomboy Tailors, a San Fran fashion house that specialises in custom-made suits and shirts catering predominantly for butch queers and trans-masculine folks. You’ll never struggle to find a wedding outfit again.

Other queer-targeted formalwear labels include Saint Harridan, catering for the “handsome butch,” and Fourteen, which now plans to expand into swimwear. Hoorah. I long for stylish androg bathers that don’t make me look like an Olympic swimmer or a kid in a rashy.

While queer tomboys have been owning men’s fashion for like, forever, it’s awesome that the look that feels right will now fit right too.