Historically, American culture has focused more on gay men than other members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. This can be attributed to a greater number of gay men coming out of the closest than women or to the fact that western culture generally views men as the central factor in culture, even when these men are going against already established gender norms. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, gay culture was extremely covert. It relied upon symbols and codes that were woven into a straight context. Gay influence then was mainly identified with high culture.
Gay men’s association with ballet, opera professional sports, musical theatre, fine cuisine, couture, interior design, and the Golden Age of Hollywood began with the wealthy homosexual men sending secret signals using straight media, for example, the in the film Gentlemen prefers blondes, Jane Russell is featured singing ‘Anyone Here for Love’, while men dance around her. The men’s clothes were designed by men and the entire dance was choreographed by men. The men seem more interested in each other than Russell but the presence of Jane Russell enables it to fit into the heterocentric theme of the film (Cante,2008).
The statement that hip hop has gay roots with hip hop fashion and hairstyles being influenced by gay culture has some truth to it. This is evident from the 1970s, where gay male culture was having a significant influence on American popular culture. Celebrities like Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler spent t a lot of time with urban gay men. The men they were with then were viewed as sophisticated and stylish Cante, 2008).
This view could be related to the earlier origins of gay culture in which wealthy homosexual men used codes in a straight context to send signals. It then followed that when the gay culture became publicly acknowledged that the trends of styles and sophistication were inseparable from the gay man. Fashion being an industry that is dependent on sophistication, style and acknowledgment of celebrity status is thus influenced by gay culture since these are characteristics commonly found in gay culture. Celebrities are often trend setters in fashion and when they are in the company of gay folk or are gay themselves then associations of gay culture and fashion become easy to make.
Gay men have the influence of female fashion design due to the fact that most of the designers of female clothes are men and most of them are homosexual. In addition, women are more likely to listen to a man’s opinions on clothes. The fact that many celebrities spent a lot of their social time with gay men, who went with them to activities like shopping and helped in the selection of clothes, gave the gay men a say in fashion for women.
The argument that gay men have an excellent tasks in design and fashion may not be very true. It may apply to some gay men but not all. Saying that this is entirely true would be limiting gay men to a specific type. Gay men are individuals and in the same way that all individuals are unique, gay men are also different from one another. A gay man may prefer long hair, a Mohawk, dreadlocks or spikes or a shaved head. Another one may prefer a Rockabilly look which is not very commercialized.
The association with good fashion sense and gay men may even be seen as a commercial ploy to get high fashion sales. Gay culture is a curious thing and pairing it with fashion increases the novelty and the ability to draw people’s attention.
The widely documented history of gay men who have worked in creative fields like theater and fashion and service industries may explain to a certain degree the connection between fashion and gay men. For most of the twentieth century, the top country’s fashion designers were homosexuals. Some great names that kept their sexuality secret and/or quiet include Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Norman Hartwell, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, and Gianni Versace. With the take over of designers from traditional tailors gay men’s influences became distinct. They were more likely to experiment with new styles, ideas, and fabrics, leading to better quality designs (McDermott, 2002).
The fact that homosexuality was initially more acceptable in urban areas also contributes to the effect of gay men on fashion. Most urban areas are the places where fashion is keenly followed and it is in these places that gay folk are most comfortable both to pursue their sexuality and their careers in fashion. The role of the designer is more proactive than that of the dressmakers. The designer could tell the client what to wear while the dressmaker waited for the client to say what they want. With greater say, the designers mostly gay men gradually had greater influence in female fashion design.
Hip-hop fashion and hairstyles are influenced by gay culture. This is true because most of the hairstyles and designers even in hip hop are gay. Hip hop’s fans and artists are found mainly in urban areas and large cities. These same areas are the ones liberal enough to accept homosexuals. With a lot of hip-hop artists being gay and marketed as straight, their influence on fashion is still great. Generally, the public looks to celebrities for fashion ideas, especially women, and those who do so find these artists and their stylists who are gay and as such, the influence of gay people on fashion is maintained.
In the 1970s and 1980s, gay culture began to include machismo which was a response by gay men to the fear of gayness by straights. When gay men started to grow a mustache, straight men would run for razors, if they wore tight trousers, straight men would quickly wear baggier pants. Part of the influence of gay culture on hip-hop fashion is thus driven by fear. The mentality behind this is that the most macho thing hip hop musicians and American black culture can do is to counter gay culture with homophobic machismo by dressing gay (Sutcliffe, 2006)
The influence of gay culture on hip hop fashion and women’s fashion cannot be denied or explained easily. This is because like in the hip-hop industry some of the artists are gay; most of their stylists are gay too taking the influence further. In addition, some straight hip-hop artists are in a way fighting back the gay men by dressing like them in an aggressive attempt to impress other men and prove how macho they are. For women, the fact that most designers and critics of fashion of high fashion are gay is a significant factor in explaining the influence of gay culture in women’s fashion.
Works Cited
Catherine McDermott, 2002. Made in Britain: Tradition and Style in Contemporary British Fashion, ISBN 1-84000-545-9. pp. 46-48.
Cante RC, 2008. Gay Men and the Forms of Contemporary US Culture. London: Ash gate Publishing. ISBN 0 7546 7230 1. pp. 20-22.
Sutcliffe W, 2006. How low can you go? Web.