The Evolution of Unisex Fashion

Proposal Statement 

I plan on studying the increasingly popular unisex brand with particular interest on Zara fashion collection. The study aims at establishing the reasons for the increased relevance of the unisex fashion. The study is significant since it will focus on the trend of unisex fashion and the factors that have prompted its increased acceptance. Notably, the contemporary movements have always influenced change in the society, especially along the fashion line. For instance, the New Harmony movement active in the nineteenth century resulted in the acceptance of unisex trousers. Therefore, this project will look into the role of the many contemporary social movements regarding individual identity in increasing the relevance of unisex style in our society today. Moreover, the study will look into the role of subcultures and social movements in influencing fashion as well as their push for mainstream values. 

Currently, studies regarding unisex fashion focus on the active role that fashion plays in demonstrating equality of the sexes or freedom from sexual roles. Therefore, since the objectives of my study focus on the ungendered line in Zara collection, I plan on establishing the main reasons behind the continuous increase in relevance of unisex fashion. After reading an article about Zara's new "Ungendered" line, I thought that this brand would be appealing as it is worldwide and was found in 1975 which means it was after Yves Saint Laurent's "Le Smoking tuxedo" in 1966. To add to this fact, Zara collection offers a wide range of unisex clothing for all categories of people in its ungendered line. 

The scope of the study will be encompassing both scholarly and non-scholarly literature since the two categories have different perspectives regarding the subject matter. Mainly, the study seeks to capture both traditional and contemporary perspectives regarding unisex fashion as both sources are helpful in covering the topic. Additionally, these alternative views enable unisex style to expand, producing a better and broader understanding of the topic. For instance, Noelle Sciacca, 2014 article “Why Zara calling sweats ‘genderless’ is problematic” used tweets and direct quotes from fashion magazines. However, this research will not discuss the aesthetics of unisex fashion. 

Annotated Bibliography 

Blakemore, J. E. O. (2003). Children's beliefs about violating gender norms: Boys shouldn't look like girls, and girls shouldn't act like boys. Sex roles , 48: 411. Doi: 10.1023/A: 1023574427720 

Judith E. Owen Blakemore, 2003 article, “Children’s Beliefs About Violating Gender Norms: Boys Shouldn’t Look Like Girls, and Girls Shouldn’t Act Like Boys” examines 3- to 11-year-old children’s beliefs about violating several gender norms (e.g., hairstyles and clothing) as compared to social and moral norms. After conducting surveys, researchers have reported that kids view violations of gender norms as similar to those of other social norms, such as the rules of politeness (Carter & McCloskey, 1983–1984; Carter & Patterson, 1982; Damon, 1977). However, Smetana (1986) found that preschoolers ranked gender norm violations as less serious than either social or moral norm violations. 

Chrisman-Campbell, K. (2015). A Brief History of Unisex Fashion. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/when-unisex-was-the-new-black/390168/ 

The article, “A Brief History of Unisex Fashion” is an online post on the “Atlantic” magazine. The article examines the way by which unisex fashion has altered from the 1950s until today. According to the article, even though unisex as a concept remains the same, it has mirrored broader social changes throughout the 20th century. After Selfridges transformed its shopping areas into gender-neutral, the author began examining unisex fashion. As Paoletti, 2015 tells it, "unisex clothing was a baby-boomer corrective to the rigid gender stereotyping of the 1950s, itself a reaction to the perplexing new roles imposed on men and women alike by World War II.” The author moves on by mentioning that 1968 was the year that unisex movement emerged. 

Although unisex clothing was a move to minimize the differences between genders it has the opposite effects. The unisex movement may have made women’s clothes more masculine, but it never made them unfeminine. Paoletti, 2015 traces the end of the unisex era to the mid-1970s, but in 1974, Diane von Furstenberg introduced her wrap dress, a garment that combined femininity and functionality. Finally, coming to recent years, unisex fashion Indeed, unisex everything appears to be back after Rad Hourani showed a unisex haute couture collection for Spring/Summer 2015. This article gives me exactly the object of study I wish to use with details and attitudes toward the trend as well. 

Cunningham, E. (2014). Rad Hourani, The First Unisex Couture Designer: Canadian designer Rad Hourani has broken boundaries by designing the first unisex line to be recognized by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture . Retrieved on March 25, 2017 ( http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/29/rad-hourani-the-first-unisex-couture- designer.html ) 

Erin Cunningham, 2014 article “Rad Hourani, The First Unisex Couture Designer: Canadian designer Rad Hourani has broken boundaries by designing the first unisex line to be recognized by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture” analyses the first unisex couture designer, Rad Hourani. The article opens with a brief summary of the designer’s background and analyses what drove him to create a unisex line. He moves on, by offering a history insight. Unisex fashion dates back to the 1920s when women started tailoring men's garments to their fit. This practice started being mainstream when Yves Saint Laurent introduced the Le Smoking tuxedo in 1966. This brand introduced the androgynous Le Smoking suit which brought empowerment to women as it was only associated with men. Cunningham attempts to explain the difference between the terms “androgyny” and “unisex” by defining androgyny as a style and unisex as erasing all limitations. 

Finally, Cunningham, 2014 states three questions that Hourani came across and prompted him to create a unisex brand. These questions were: 1) ‘What am I interested in?' 2) 'Who decided that men should dress differently than women?' And 3) 'How can I create something that can fit a man's body and a woman's body and something that I can keep for my entire lifetime.' These questions form a major section of my guide on which articles to choose for the purpose of this study. 

Sciacca, N. (2016). Why Zara calling sweats 'genderless' is problematic . Retrieved on March 25, 2017, http://mashable.com/2016/03/08/zara-genderless-clothing/#qalGrzvUlZq5 

Noelle Sciacca, 2014 article “Why Zara calling sweats ‘genderless’ is problematic” attempts to explain what the title says. After Zara released the new ‘Ungendered’ line many people, not only from the fashion industry, expressed their controversial opinions. This movement began to questioning whether this new line furthers the intention of the movement or whether calling an unimaginative fashion line "ungendered" is a marketing play. The author, to support her previous statement, she uses actual tweets as part of her article. On the one hand, regarding the advocates, Anita Dolce Vita states that Zara’s new collection make difficult to imagine how these simple items become gendered, but it is refreshing as it gives us the opportunity to view something without being tied to ‘normative gendered descriptors.’ On the other hand, a mass number of people worry that worry that the industry's new obsession with ungendered clothing will lead to mainstream culture without context. This source isn’t quite like the rest of the other sources I have found, and it would be a great article to present arguments that come from the social media. 

Styer, M. I. (2012). Hoodie Today, Gown Tomorrow: An Ideological Rhetorical Analysis of Gender-Neutral Clothing. 

This article, is a study that examines the gender-neutral clothing and its role in self-identifying women. This research explores both the positive and negative consequences of gender-neutral clothing on a woman's recognition and perception. Clothing plays a very important role in communication between genders. Clothing is very important in creating an individual’s personal identity. For instance, when an infant child dressed in a pink hat is presumed to be a girl; if the hat is blue, the baby must be a boy. However, the importance of clothing as means of communication creates many issues for those who wish to communicate through gender-neutral clothing. 

Zara’s “Ungendered” line. (2017). Retrieved on March 25, 2017, http://www.zara.com/us/en/trf/ungendered-c816001.html 

In this website, various models are used in all manner of unisex fashion designs. The website uses models representing both genders, that is, both male and female models. Nonetheless, female models dominate the section with various unisex fashion designs. From the details on Zara’s collection, certain designs though unisex, still leave the gender of the wearer distinctive. For instance, although both the male and female models are dressed in the same white t-shirt, the individuals remain distinctively male and female. In other words, the unisex fashion does not seek to change the gender or sex of individuals but rather, seeks to increase the choice of fashion for both genders. Another example is the picture showing a combination of a man dressed in a striped long sleeved red t-shirt while the lady is dressed in a faded sweatshirt. Despite the unisex clothing, the gender of the individuals remains clear. In a different image, a female model is dressed in unisex trousers, unisex t-shirt and unisex boots that uniquely bring out the genius behind the fashion. Nonetheless, the sex of the individual remains absolutely clear to the viewer. 

Gunn. M. (2015). Body Acts Queer . 

In the article, Body Acts Queer, an investigation of the roles and conceptual purposes of garments with respect to gender queer and feminism. The author presents an inventive, practice-based approach in focusing on the area of fashion and design. The author includes different perspectives based on different projects namely; if you were a girl, I would love you, even more, On & Off, and The Club Scene. Throughout these projects, the author asserts the various ways in which the garments have served a fundamental role in the society. Moreover, the author explores the bodily experiences of garments and examines the functions of clothes with an emphasis on heteronormative cultural, and social structures. Moreover, the author explores queer design as a terminology encompassing varied ideas about garments and language. Additionally, the author presents the summit point concerning literature and actuality and the capability to interpret the resulting transformations on the body and the resulting change.