We’re starting to see more people who identify as men wearing dresses again in the early 2020s and this desire to give the pants a break extends not only to celebrities like Harry Styles and Kid Cudi, but right here in Cape Town too.
For some, it’s a controversial topic. For others, it’s the epitome of letting people wear what they’re comfortable wearing. For historians, it’s a lovely throwback to a look that dominated male attire for thousands of years.
The ‘male dress’ is one of the most interesting fashion ‘statements’ because it has almost nothing to do with the garment and everything to do with the wearer as I have previously explored, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt.
Also read: Will men wearing dresses become a ‘norm’ in fashion?
According to sources, boys opted to wear skirts to a Cape Town school. You might think to yourself that it’s not a big deal with the more gender-fluid, neutral and freely expressive times we’re living in. After all, girls can wear pants to many schools in South Africa – something anyone who identifies as a female will remember as a glorious mark in progress, especially on cold winter’s morning fighting those goosebumps. Not everyone, however, shares the same sentiment for boys wishing to wear skirts, and reportedly claimed that it went against school rules.
A group who claim to be parents of students allegedly brought the ‘school rules’ stake into the matter. This, of course, lit a bigger conversation in Cape Town regarding the concept of men wearing dresses.
Shedding light on governing policies for schools in the Western Cape, the Western Cape Education Department is reportedly drafting guidelines on gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools. The aim is for a more inclusive learning environment free from stigma – and what better way to learn than when one is comfortable within reason? School rules pertaining to uniforms are for the most part dominated by school bodies.
According to Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond:
“Schools are encouraged to accommodate the dress code preferences of LGBTQIA+ learners in their respective codes of conduct and may introduce gender-neutral uniforms. The same rules which apply to girls may apply to boys and vice versa, where reasonable and practicable,” she said.
The topic of school uniforms as a whole has almost always raised opinionated responses. As Medium investigated, “these types of uniforms can restrict some students’ personal and gender expression at a formative time in their lives.” The Latin word for uniform translates to having only one form or shape, and so if school uniforms were accurate representations of their title, then everyone would wear the same garment.
As some social media users commented, the focus should be on education and not on outfits. People further mused what ‘idea’ being able to wear skirts to school would inflict on young minds.
In my opinion, the focus on education is often a consequence of the ability to present oneself as freely as one can within the limited options of uniform culture – whether it is a form of expression or simply because it looks more comfortable to wear a skirt. To those concerned about the shaping of young minds I ask, how can young minds shape fruitfully when they are confined?
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Picture: Twitter