Cross Dressing 

By Sophie Gardner

Worryingly, the other day, my boyfriend asked me if they made tights for men. He was just wondering apparently if they did, so that he could wear them underneath his trousers if he got cold. I do worry about the diminishing masculinity of our male race these days, but another thing that concerns me is the blurring line between male and female fashion. Ok I admit my partner and I share clothes, he borrows my colourful beads vintage sunglasses, Topshop vests (Kate Moss for Topshop to be specific) scarves and trench-coat, although not all at the same time thank God!  Whereas I borrow his granddad cardigans, oversized sweaters and choose from his vast array of Vivienne Westwood necklaces. In fact my boyfriend and I don’t just borrow each other’s clothes we actually buy the same clothes too.

 Last winter, my boyfriend couldn’t cope with the image of his girlfriend wrapped up in a cosy parka and just had to go one better by buying an army printed parka lined with sheepskin. I on the other hand shamelessly copied his black and white lumberjack shirt by purchasing a cute dress version.

Whilst this swap shop may be handy in a relationship, you may run the risk of loosing your identity…..and sexuality. I was walking down Market Street recently and a couple pranced past me, donned in skinny black jeans, Vivienne Westwood style pirate boots, cool rock tee-shirts and leather biker jackets. The sexual orientation of this couple was ambivalent; it was difficult to tell if they were boyfriend and girlfriend, platonic mates or gay best friends. In fact, from a distance, it proved challenging to distinguish whether they were female or male! Whilst I have no problem with this increasing emerging a-sexuality sometimes, especially in a relationship, you need boundaries.

Every so often I must remember that I am a girl and shall not cover my body in boys’ baggy cardigans but maybe flaunt it in a flowery feminine dress and my boyfriend needs to remember that it is not acceptable to covet women’s hosiery.

If however, you are a fan of this ‘cross-dressing’ trend, then girls I suggest TopMan is your one-stop-shop for plain cardigans (which are so hard to find in girls shops, they are either frilly patterned, cropped or embellished) in an array of colours and various sizes starting from XXS. Boys, I’d recommend buying girls skinny jeans if you want to achieve that desired sprayed on indie look.

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To contact Sophie email: Sofia61283xx@aol.com