Building an androgynous capsule wardrobe around men’s leggings
For a while now I have been working on creating a look for myself that involves wearing leggings habitually. This hasn’t been easy. In previous posts, I have shared my frustrations with styling men’s leggings for fashion and I have also recently found a solid solution.
If you read into those previous articles you’ll find I have been shifting my attention away from the big box athletic brands and the boutique men’s fashion leggings and instead set my eye on women’s leggings. This is mainly about fabric than anything else but it also comes down to price. Building a wardrobe especially a capsule wardrobe where pieces are mixed and matchable and outfits that need variety etc will require that my spending goes to more things than just leggings. If I can save money on leggings, which I can by buying women’s leggings - like substantial savings, I can spend more on tops, shoes, and accessories.
While I still fully intend to wear the leggings I have that are specific to the male anatomy - I also intend to start wearing women’s leggings a lot more.
Creating an androgynous capsule wardrobe
First of all why androgynous?
Well for me it boils down to redefining how my gender is defined. I am a cis male. I have a wife and three kids and a mortgage. I started my own company but if I start wearing leggings I am doing something that for most people is taboo. Women can take all kinds of looks from male fashion without it calling up big questions about their identity and men, at least right now, don’t have that luxury. By being androgynous I feel I am better able to explain my desire to wear feminine clothing.
It may just be a weak ass attempt to protect my own ego, but it should also help shield my children and wife from the negative impacts society may want to cast upon my family because of my clothing.
Another major reason I am looking to develop an androgynous look is that I really like the way women style leggings. Sure you can wear spandex tights and a t-shirt but I want to go to the theater and the office and out to dinner in leggings and I want to look fashionable. The “I just came from the gym” look is great. It is the basis of the athleisure concept but I want to build my entire wardrobe around leggings and because of this I’ll need a lot of diversity in the looks and outfits I’ll be creating. Androgyny really gives me a lot more flexibility to create a wider arrange of styles.
The final reason, and perhaps the most profound reason, is androgyne feels the best to me. I have written about my past and talked about exploring my masculinity while wearing leggings. There is a large part of me that wants to better express itself. I really rediscovered this whole side of myself because of leggings. It solidified when I went to Pinterest and started to create a lookbook of all the ways I wanted to style myself and build outfits. I found myself drawn to the way women wear leggings. Feel free to check out the inspiration board.
What does androgyny look like?
That’s a great question. It’s extremely open to individual interpretation. The basic definition of androgyne may help here.
Androgyny is the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics into an ambiguous form.
In my case, I want to feel cute and soft and agile, not a word you generally hear a cis-gender male express himself. Leggings are a big part of that desire. I love the way they feel and the way they hug my anatomy. I feel like something more than myself when I wear them. Wearing feminine clothing makes me feel fully whole.
I am a male. I have facial hair. I have wider shoulders and I have a fit physique. But when I wear classically male outfits I feel less like myself than when I layer in feminine looks. For me, androgyny is as internal as it is external.
For years I was able to feel the spark of androgyny by wearing thong underwear. I knew I had something that was cute and form-fitting and agile under my clothes. This same feeling has grown into the desire to share my truer self with the wider world.
What will my androgynous capsule wardrobe look like?
Well, it is certainly going to be a work in progress. I think I am going to try and stick to more classic looks. Neutral color schemes and wear tighter clothing on my lower half and then wear longer and looser tops with layers.
I am not really interested in wearing dresses or skirts. Not saying they can’t be worn by a gentleman but I am not drawn to that aesthetic.
I recently purchased a crop top and bringing in the female stylings of athleisure is something I definitely want to keep exploring with my androgynous look.
My androgynous capsule wardrobe will definitely be built on top of leggings. Especially black cotton leggings.
I plan on incorporating longer t-shirts. Larger-sized tops like oxfords, flannels, and sweaters.
My biggest issue is a lack of footwear. I need more than 2 pairs of shoes and boots to really pull together the diversity of looks and fits and want to create with leggings and tops. I have a few accessories like scarves and hats that will work for now.
For now, much of this is still a work in progress, but I think I have about 5 different outfits I feel confident in. Perhaps I’ll be able to bribe my wife into filming a fashion show with me so I can write up a blog post on what my wardrobe actually looks like versus just talking about it.
Stay tuned ;)
