Is Fashion Evolution The Reason Men Are Dressing Up More And Women Dressing Down?

Fashion, as we know it, is changing. Every year, new trends emerge and modify or overthrow the old ones; old trends are brought back, refurbished and repurposed to fill the unending (natural) human quest for not just clothes, but also new things; norms are challenged and these disruptions birth new forms.

The evolution of fashion and fashion trends has been known to work hand in hand with gender. And as gender is becoming more fluid and less rigid, fashion is walking alongside it. Today, men are dressing up more and women are dressing up less in relation to what we had before.

Denola Grey

Even though the change is gradual, “gendered” fashion is wearing a new face. The social concepts of masculinity and femininity are being watered down to give new, personal, and flexible shapes.

The boring, rigid, and cliche suit tradition of men is changing and we are seeing more brighter-colored men’s suits than ever before. Men are sporting more colors, styles, and patterns; dying their hair pink, blonde, blue, green—all sorts of colors; getting more piercings and wearing more jewelry—earrings, necklaces, bracelets; painting their nails, shaping their eyebrows and wearing makeup, and their sense of style is constantly shifting. Cis men are proving to be more gender fluid than they think they are.

For women, there has also been a noticeable shift. Women no longer have to choose between the binary of elegance and comfort in fashion; the two concepts are becoming more of partners than opposites. From wearing lower heels to being comfortable in their natural and “messy” hair to flaunting earth tones to wearing more suits and going for more comfortable and durable purchases, the fashion sense for women is evolving.

Temms

The traditional ideas about men’s and women’s clothing are being challenged and norms are being disrupted, reconceived, and expanded.

In Nigeria, these new trends are heavily influenced by the growing Alté culture, a movement led by many young, vibrant, and talented musicians seeking to redefine sound, fashion, art, and everything else.

The global impact of the LGBTQ+ community in the fashion world and otherwise cannot also be denied in this regard, many of whom were seen as outliers and misfits and took the bullet years ago for straight and cis people to be comfortable in what they wear today. They are at the forefront challenging these perceptions and stereotypes and the influence of their growing visibility is indisputable.

Prettyboy DO

The influence of social media is also quite profound in this regard as the world’s become a globalized village and people are getting more exposed to trends and discoveries from across different cultures, races, and sexualities.

Today, many Nigerian designers, stylists, and models are taking control of this narrative, challenging gender stereotypes, and deconstructing traditional barricades that limit our understanding of fashion in relation to gender.

It will be interesting to watch how the (Nigerian) fashion scene evolves in the coming years and to see more people become open to new norms and reject the stiff social prescriptions of gender.