Tranz Looks

I took a survey today about Trans people and our thoughts on racism and prejudice (National Center for Transgender Equality). One of the questions struck me as interesting and I wanted to write about it. The question was about being embarrassed in public with trans people who don't pass. You might think, of course TSG would be embarrassed cause usually "not passing" is a synonym for "poorly dressed". But, that is the interesting thing. I am not embarrassed at all, in fact I think that meshing into boring hum drum society is doing, and has done, our community a disservice. BUT... I think that even if you don't pass you can dress well.

Dressing well and passing are two very different things. Just look at the history of dandyism. From Mel's blog Footpath Zeitgeist:

The dandy's clothes are based around a semiotic building block that Barthes calls the "detail". For the dandy continually strives not only to be "other" but also to be alone in his otherness (unlike a subculture, which aims for collective otherness). It is this "detail" that enables such pure distinction. And it is in the (at least theoretical) infinity of singularity that dandies can identify each other. They are recognising (sic) each other's thoughtful originality: the precision and subtlety of each other's sartorial signatures. They are not identifying with the other's stylistic similarities, but with the other's stylistic differences.

The dandy stands out, does not fit in, yet is at the height of style. This is partly what my goal is as TranzStyleGuy. You do not have to fit in, but I think you should be at the height of style. I want to help empower our community to be stylish, to be ourselves, not to "pass".

-TSG

For more info on dandy's go to this GREAT site: Dandyism.net
Picture of Beau Brummell from dandyism.net