Adornment & Masculine Reticence

Suits have historically represented the male worker, a professional, a stable provider, etc. These enlarged lapels represent the security which some can claim when adopting symbols of masculinity, however, the exaggeration and campiness of the garment bring into question who is really able to adopt that masculinity, and what does that reveal about the true characteristics of masculinity as opposed to the assumed ones in today’s society? Paralleling visual qualities of the Tallit, a jewish prayer cloth, communicates a parallel to religion, which similarly enforces hierarchies of power related to gender and typically exclude people who have lost or lack masculinity in society.
Being that queer people already live as social outcasts, the stringent qualities of these gender based hierarchies no longer apply, meaning that in a way that exclusion means freedom. The symbol of masculinity prominent in this piece is a western style belt, which is a characteristic cowboy’s tool. Cowboys, being in many ways considered the peak of masculinity in western society, provide context to the idea in this piece that masculinity has the potential for transformation, and can be ‘reborn from the chrysalis’. The chrysalis, being a universal symbol for transformation, narrates the potential for personal transcendence that comes with exploration of one’s identity, and place in the world of gender.