Dyke Clothes!

Hey! So I haven't written in a long time because I felt like all the issues I was having in the realm of Queerness and Feminism were somehow tied to the readers of this blog and I felt a bit limited by it. By which I mean, I was dealing with drama in a small town that I felt would be perpetuated by my subject matter. I like writing this blog though and people seem to enjoy, so I think I'll make a point to keep up with it.

I'm gonna go with a less heated topic this time and go with formal lesbian clothing. I recently applied for and recieved a $200.00 stipend from SUNY New Paltz to by myself a suit. Sweet! However I was only given to weeks to spend the money and that mission proved more difficult than I expected. I recieved a packet along with the check recommending what I should buy and where I should shop. One page - I shit you not - had the heading "What's a Gal to Wear?" as well as a seperate section (of course) entitled "What's a Guy to Wear?" Sections were accompied by a picture of a brunette, caucasian man and a blonde, lip-stick wearing woman in what appears to me a jacket and skirt. The fact that a good deal of the recievers of this stipend of people of color and the pictures of the people "Dressed for Success" are white is offensive enough, but the gender specificity really got me.

Women are to wear a "professional suit with single or double-breasted jacket with matching skirt or pants," "minimal make-up and hair pulled back out of face," "conservative hosiery," "conservative shoes...make sure heels are no higher than 1.5 inches..." I get what they're going for here, and I myself could use some guidance in looking professional, but do they have to be so 1950's about it? Not to mention suggested shopping places were Marshall's, Dress Barn and Men's Warehouse, among others.

This whole thing might just be a minor annoyance accept that after I buy my suit I have to have it approved by the college, so I asked the woman at the desk in the Career Resource Center what exactly I needed. She said firmly, "A SUIT. A two piece suit." And I'm thinking, no way am I finding a whole suit in a set that doesn't have "boob darts" as my friend Heather calls the boob lines on jackets, or a tight fitted waist on the fact and with a low waist on the pants. I wouldn't refer to myself as butch, but I dress a bit androgynously a lot of the time and a traditional women's suit would look ridiculous on me, not that I would want one any way. But what if the person who has to evaluate my suit decides androgynous is not synonymous with "dressing for success"? I think the systems a bit flawed in that sense. They really need to update their guidelines if that "Gal's" guide is what their judging us by.

So with this stipend I went to Macy's which was bullshit - you either get a frumpy woman's suit or a man's suit and if you're trying on men's clothing than you have to walk out of the men's section to a women's dressing room. H and M wasn't fancy enough. I made a couple trips with no luck. So in asking a couple Queer friends I came up with Banana Republic. If you need a suit, go to the Poughkeepsie Banana Republic and ask for Marge because she fucking rocks. I lucked out in that she helped me find pants I could wear on my hips, a shirt without obvious boob darts in a neutral color and a really sexy, loose-fitted "boyfriend jacket." Fuck Macy's and their stupid gender specific clothing - I had been waiting since tomboy-dom for boy-style underwear and women's boxers which Macy's briefly provided by Calvin Klein and then took back like it was just a tease. (Which didn't stop me from buying a drawerful of them while I could.) Pat on the back to Banana Republic and Marge for being cool. And in the end New Paltz was cool as well and happily approved my suit, despite their conservative guidelines.

Any other good dyke-friendly clothing stores people recommend?

Here's a clip by Julie Goldman who I have a huge crush on despite the fact that she can be controversial. And since this is a radical feminist blog as well, let me say that I don't approve of refering to other women as "bitches," but I DO approve of Banana Republic... http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/julie-goldman-lesbian-wedding/15000147

And one of my favorite bits by her, which you gotta start at 6:43 if you want the part about Victoria Secret, which I think is the best part. Got it, 6:43?
http://www.logoonline.com/video/misc/225126/comedy-cocktail-for-ae-julie-goldman.jhtml?id=1588750
Love her <3

K, that's all I got. Keep loving, keep stickin' it to Macy's.