At first glance, James Bond and John McClane seem to have little or nothing to do with each other. The first – whoever interprets him – is always dressed in his immaculate tuxedo, with his hair well gelled; the second, embodied by a Bruce Willis who hangs between the torn tank tops, showing off his tattoos and scars, and the leather jackets typical of any self-respecting badass. However, the essence of both characters lies in the same thing: challenging their target by compensating, through the image they project, that aspirational hegemonic masculinity, which can manifest itself in diverse ways.
In the same way that there is a wide plurality in terms of the ways of inhabiting that classic masculinity in patriarchy (depending on class, racialization, the historical moment, the personality of the individual…), there are also multiple ways of subvert it. And, of course, fashion plays an essential role in this. In Spain there are some clear examples, such as Borja Iglesias, AItor Ruibal and Hector Bellerin, who have dared to claim another type of masculinity more in line with the times from one of the sectors that had served best until now as a bastion guaranteeing the survival of the macho and that exemplary macho fraternity: football.
And around the world there are more and more celebrities who are highlighting the wide variety of possible paths to follow when a man decides to start that search. And it seems that the new masculinities have huge closets, but not to lock themselves inside them, but to take over all the spaces with their dazzling looks.
Pedro Pascal has earned the title of the internet’s favorite father thanks to his roles in The Last Of Us and The Madalorian, in which he represents how a man can unapologetically embody the role of caregiver (finally!) in full 21st century. However, in real life Pascal has not had sons or daughters, which has not been an impediment for the online community around the world to also grant him being our “daddy” in the most erotic and seductive sense of the word. Something that, in reality, has little transgressive. Is it news that a man who takes his nephews to the park one afternoon is considered a sexy guy?
In any case, what is still genuine is that a man shows himself sensitive, emotional and vulnerable to the public, just as he has done on numerous occasions. Of course, without giving up a fairly normative masculinity in many aspects, although much more modernized. And something similar happens with his style, which has something of a remix between Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Great Gatsby and the grandpa trend.
Compared to other examples presented in this article, the clothes that Pascal normally chooses are, perhaps, not so groundbreaking (until now it is unlikely to see him wearing a dress, although you never know). But although the Chilean-American usually wears pants, shorts, shirts and ties, all of his outfits seem to have always gone through a certain update filter. And it is common to see him immersed in an explosion of color with loud hues, striking prints and high-contrast fabrics, even at black-tie events where men are expected to display the great masculine renunciation and get stuck in the classic black tuxedo or navy blue suit jacket.
There is no doubt that actor Jacob Elordi has emerged in recent years as the king of men’s street style. Many of her stolen photos, which dominate inspirational content on networks like TikTok, recall those times when the image of any native Y2K top-model going shopping in jeans and a T-shirt was capable of setting a trend for an entire generation.
If this Australian with Basque roots stands out in something, it is in the domain of accessories: although he has just left the gym in a white t-shirt and sports shorts, Elordi is exalted as a style icon only for the fact that he always goes with any outfit. some luxury bag. Whether it’s a Bottega or a Fendi baguette, a Vuitton holdall or a fanny pack, the way Elordi is applauded every time she uses a bag highlights the double standard that still exists. when it comes to judging the looks of women – of whom much, much more is required to be considered fashion icons – and those of men.
In just 20 years, mainstream cultural production has gone from ridiculing Joey Tribbiani for wanting to wear “a man’s bag” in the series Friends to now dozens of headlines reading Ten Times Jacob Elordi Has Worn a Luxury Bag, as if It will be a great international event. Of course, this break from the boring male aesthetic mandate is worthy of review, but could we imagine that same headline applied to any Hollywood actress? Ten times Sarah Jessica Parker has been seen with a bag? It would sound empty. There would be no news anywhere.
The first thing that catches the attention of the New York actor is the softness of his features, almost boyish, along with those disheveled-looking curls with which he enhances his natural beauty in a way that is very consistent with his way of dressing. One of her most iconic looks is probably the one she wore on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival in 2022: a satin red jumpsuit composed of slim-fit suit pants and a blouse with a halter neck tied like a scarf that left her back uncovered. . The use of the halter had traditionally been restricted to women, since it leaves the air and places emphasis on precisely those parts of the body (the shoulders and the chest, respectively) that are only considered erotic and elegant in their case.
Thus, Chamelet usually goes one step further by integrating typically masculine elements in perfect harmony with other hyperfeminized ones, giving rise to a new conception of genderless that is no longer limited only to the use of loose and falsely neutral clothing whose function is to disguise the shapes of the body – more typical of a moment in which biologicalism seemed to be the differentiating factor between men and women -, as in the past, but just the opposite: horizontalizing the body parts of everyone, everyone and everyone in the face of scrutiny and judgment of the gaze. social.
What the singer of the Italian band Måneskin does when it comes to dressing, was actually done in the seventies by artists like the New York Dolls, who elevated the androgyny of punk glam until it became their main hallmark. Dresses, lipstick, boas, platforms, lurex… everything that was forbidden to respectable men was precisely everything that, at that time, Sylvain Sylvain, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Marc Bolan or David Bowie liked to throw themselves on themselves without the slightest Be careful when going on stage. Then came Freddy Mercury, Elton John, Prince and even Rob Hadford, each with his own, to make it clear that that change of aesthetic paradigm in the world of music had not responded to a mere temporary madness of a nihilistic and hedonistic youth to equal parts that would end up being passed on to them when they grew older.
In some cases, that disruptive aesthetic had to do with a cry for freedom in terms of his sexual orientation, as was the case of Hadford, who after many years was finally able to declare himself openly homosexual, something totally revolutionary in the world of metal; or even that of Bowie, who publicly wanted to insist that trying to pigeonhole him into heterosexuality or homosexuality by the media and public opinion was extremely biphobic.
Even so, on many occasions, the transgression regarding the aesthetic dimension did not prevent the rockers from living their non-heterosexuality from a horrifyingly normative and even violent masculinity. For example, one of Sylvain’s best-known partners was the model and Playboy girl Bebe Buell, who thoroughly embodied the canon of female beauty of the time. Regarding Mick Jagger’s masculinity, to continue, it is not even necessary to elaborate. But in addition, some, like Bowie himself or Iggy Pop, carried behind them a multitude of stories about gruesome sexual relations that they had with girls of just 14 or 15 years of age (the exercise of historical memory pertinent to reparation remains pending). , among others, by Lori Mattix or Sable Starr).
In the case of Damiano David, he himself has wanted to insist on his heterosexuality, making his relationship with the model Giorgia Soleri more than public, and has denied that his stylistic decisions are due to the fact of identifying as queer, despite the rumors that They provoked his appearances dressed in skirts, pearl necklaces, leather, glitter and other elements inherited from glam rock.
If there is a man who has been able to subvert the aesthetic mandates of the patriarchy to the point of its demolition, it is surely Billy Porter. The American actor has dared like no one else to use his visibility for political demands, defending the rights of black people and LGTBIQ people. And, perhaps, one of the most interesting aspects of his activism is the one that also has to do with the daily praxis of his own identity and the way in which he understands, inhabits and uses the power of fashion. . It has been a few years since Porter appeared at the Oscar gala in that spectacular black velvet dress with a skirt like a baroque infantryman and a tuxedo on top, designed by Christian Siriano. It was then that Porter stated in a letter published in Vogue one of his most revolutionary statements: “I am not a drag queen, I am a man in a dress.”
And, although aesthetics are not always decisive when performing gender (something that, precisely, Porter comes to demonstrate), society still associates certain elements with men and others with women. And it is that inertia that drags the collective imagination that Porter likes to play with so much; He may well present himself with his hair and makeup as if he were attending a ballroom in 1988, as if dressed in a princess dress without a speck of cosmetics on top and with a beard of several weeks (of course, almost always very well trimmed). Furthermore, what is particular in her case is that she never tries to hide the clothes she chooses to try to ensure that they are integrated into a masculine outfit with small touches of femininity, but instead she mixes excessive volumes, strapless necklines, enormously sized hats… . In short: Porter, when he goes, he goes with everything.
