Anonymous asked: As a heterosexual woman who loves menswear and feels utterly gorgeous in a suit and bowtie, is it okay for me to be taking inspiration from your blog? I only ask because I was raised in a kind of homophobic environment and I've only recently gotten to a place where I can ask questions and try to learn and be accepting without feeling guilty, and I really don't want to be disrespectful of queer culture in any way. But. The outfits. I LOVE THEM.

Thanks for reading Qwear! And no, I don’t believe that you are appropriating queer culture by taking inspiration from this blog. I actually put “women with gender noncomforming styles” as part of the description to include straight folks. (Gender deviance is not just for queers!) As far as I’m concerned, if you like this blog, then you should read it and take as much inspiration as you please!

BUT it’s great to raise these questions and continue to talk about privilege and oppression. There are many ways in which taking inspiration from cultures other than your own (particularly oppressed ones) can be appropriating. And for this, we need to educate ourselves, discuss, and keep asking questions! I found this post by thesadnessofpencils about appropriation really helpful.

- Sonia

Anonymous asked: I'm a straight girl, but I only really feel comfortable in boyish or unisex clothes. I would never change myself just to get a guy, but often my friends will try to persuade me to 'girl up' a bit to try to attract a date. They never force anything on me, but sometimes when I'm out with them my clothes can sometimes make me feel like a child in comparison to their short dresses and high heels. My question is, do you think that some men are attracted to more masculine women?

Definitely. So glad you wrote, because there are soooo many straight girls out there just like you who prefer to dress more boyish/androgynous. And there are so many straight guys who are into that. (I know many!) They might not all have the eggs to say it, but secretly they all want to bone the boyish girls. And I’d give you the same advice I gave the last person about how to talk to your friends about it. Right now, gender non-conforming dressing is often more accepted and celebrated in queer spaces. I really hope that someday everyone will be just as exploratory of gender presentation and identity. 

This is definitely the least preppy context in which I’ve ever seen a Fred Perry shirt modeled. The suspenders and bleached hair and white socks makes the look so much more edgy than you’d think Fred Perry was capable. And on the subject of Dr. Martens, these oxfords are another great choice.

Shirt: Fred Perry
Suspenders: H&M
Jeans: Bought in Canada
Shoes: Dr. Martens

Follow Sophia: bush-beat.tumblr.com

stickmansaga asked: Hello! Just wanted to take a moment & say that I basically identify as straight (though you have some gorgeous girls featured here), my style definitely leans more to the masculine-inspired/tomboy-femme, and finding your blog recently has given me a lot of inspiration and a bit more confidence in how I dress. So, thank you for what you do! I appreciate it, and always look forward to new posts.

Thanks!! I <3 tomboy-femme style on everyone.

Anonymous asked: Opposite of that last question, but how to I not be mistaken for a lesbian while still looking awesome?

Carry a coach purse. Or this.

Anonymous asked: I am a straight androgynous girl with very short hair who's on her high school wrestling team. I'm pretty flat chested and I have to hit the weights with my team mates so I have a more muscular build. The only giveaway that I'm a girl is my rather large butt which I hate because I am also asexual and am very uncomfortable with any type of "overt sexual body part" (sorry, that sounds weird). How can I hide my butt and wear masculine clothing, but still look like a girl?

What do you mean by “look like a girl?” Looking like a girl means completely different things to different people. Some people might think you’re a boy just because you have short hair. Rather than worrying about looking like a girl to the outside world, I’d recommend basing your choices off of how you feel. It sounds like you are very self-aware about your identity, which is a great!

For hiding your butt, try looser pants; either men’s pants or men’s style pants in the women’s section. Check out this post for a list of recommended brands. If I’m misunderstanding something you were asking, feel free to comment anonymously on this post and I’ll do my best to answer.

Anonymous asked: I'm a straight girl, 14, but I love genderqueer clothes (I know little about this, so if I say something offensive, I assure you it's an accident and I'm sorry!). I like wearing shirts and boyish jeans etc, but I don't know whether that's acceptable/normal. I'm worried it will give out the wrong impression, not that there's anything wrong with being queer, but I'm not...I don't know, I just don't know if I should keep getting more boyish clothes, or dress more 'normal'

Whatever you are is normal! It sounds like you are afraid of your Gender presentation not matching up with what people think is typical for your sexual orientation. Gender presentation is the way you present yourself (like wearing boyish clothes) and sexual orientation is whom you’re attracted to.

People might label you as “queer” because they are only familiar with queer identified people dressing in gender non-conforming ways. But playing around with gender presentation isn’t just for queers (although we ARE really good at it!) Straight people can be awesome too, and it sounds like you are. From running this blog, I’ve actually heard from a lot of straight identified people who dress in gender non-conforming ways and were mislabeled as queer because of it. Here is another question from someone in a similar predicament.

Anonymous asked: I'm 100% heterosexual, but I also 100% love androgynous fashion. But lately, as I've been experimenting more and more with gender-fluid fashion, people have started to mistake me as a lesbian or start rumors about it. People don't believe me when I say I'm straight. I actually had a guy at work today tell me he'd ask me out if I were "more into guys". Is there any way to keep up such kickass style while avoiding confusion?

You should dress however you want. I mean, do you really want to date a guy who makes assumptions about your sexual orientation based off the way you dress? Probs not. If people get confused, just explain that, believe it or not, EVEN THOUGH you have kickass style, you are still a straighty-pants. If people judge you, it is because they are jealous/afraid. So just laugh at them for being so stuck in their boxes and then steal their lunch while they’re not looking.