My style changes with the weather these days, but if I really had to describe my style in a word, I'd probably go with tomboy. And luckily for me, if the Internet is to be believed, it's trendy as hell to be a tomboy right now. There's an entire online retailer called La Garçonne (that's a French feminization of the word boy) selling Alexander Wang tees to girls looking for a white tee that also has the perfect, too-cool-to-care drape (I'm really into this, because I am one of those girls). Blogger Lizzie Mettler has a best-selling book based on her blog, Tomboy Style. And, the reason we're having this conversation: mainstream retailer Madewell's entire spring catalog is centered around the word tomboy.
Sartorially, tomboy style separates itself from "menswear" in a couple key ways. The clothing is "borrowed from the boys," not "borrowed from the men," and that's a really important distinction. There's more of an emphasis on freedom of movement, simplicity, a certain sense of ease and playfulness. A tailored jacket and trousers? Menswear. A pocket tee and jeans? Tomboy. There are varying opinions on exactly how feminine you're "allowed" to be and still fit within the archetype, but I'm firmly in the school of thought you can be a tomboy in a skirt if you're still projecting that sense of casualness.
Sartorially, tomboy style separates itself from "menswear" in a couple key ways. The clothing is "borrowed from the boys," not "borrowed from the men," and that's a really important distinction. There's more of an emphasis on freedom of movement, simplicity, a certain sense of ease and playfulness. A tailored jacket and trousers? Menswear. A pocket tee and jeans? Tomboy. There are varying opinions on exactly how feminine you're "allowed" to be and still fit within the archetype, but I'm firmly in the school of thought you can be a tomboy in a skirt if you're still projecting that sense of casualness.
It's kind of a weird term though, right? On reddit.com's highly underrated /r/femalefashionadvice, I once got the chance to tackle this, and it was a really interesting look at my own blindness in using that term. Unlike "butch," the tomboy doesn't deny femininity, but rather considers it non-defining. The term is a celebration of the supposed adventurous spirit of boyhood, not the strength of manhood. On some level, it does imply that adventure and wanderlust are positive characteristics that women must borrow boys, rather than being inherent to their nature - and maybe that's why it's so rarely used as an insult the way "sissy" is.
If 50 years ago it was a word you'd use for your endearing kid sister, these days it's become a compliment, even sexy. Tomboy style, as Madewell would have you believe, is for the girl who's too cool to care - this rumpled, "Oh this? I just threw this on" sort-of chic, for the girl who's bold and confident and whatever other adjectives will sell you a pair of jeans.
I spent a long time as a kid strongly identifying as a "tomboy" and flatly rejecting femininity. It would take me years to realize this, but for me, was internalized misogyny, plain and simple. To this day, I have no idea where that came from. Gender roles didn't exist in our house, and both my parents encouraged my sister and I to do traditionally non-feminine things without a second thought. Somehow I got it into my head that boys just had way more fun, and I sought to imitate that - even if I knew intellectually that that was bullshit. At the time, I convinced myself that I was way above wearing make up just because all the other girls in the 5th grade were, too.
I would love to be able to tell you that I was also a super well-dressed tomboy, but that would be a lie. Make no mistake, that's a polo under that open short-sleeved button down.
These days, if I was really going to dress according to my social beliefs, I'd wear petticoats and full skirts everyday. I don't believe that femininity is a weakness, any more than I believe that "adventurous" is a masculine characteristic or that women need to adopt masculine characteristics in order to succeed. And although for me it was a weird internalized misogyny thing, most girls who identify as tomboy probably identify with the aforementioned adventurous spirit more than any deeper social and gender meanings - and you're totally entitled to your own gender expression without imposing any kind of social pressure on it.
Still, I love the tomboy aesthetic - however broadly defined it might be. Something I really seek when I look for clothing is how easily it blends into the movements of my life - often more in a more aesthetic than utilitarian sense. I love that tomboy kind of underlines that seamlessness and nonchalance. As far as I'm concerned, clothing is something fun - and an outfit is always that much cooler when it looks like it sprang from your lifestyle* and not the other way around.
*my lifestyle is excessive naps
*my lifestyle is excessive naps
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