Hey, y'all! Since this is my first article, I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be doing a song of the week for every article I write! Basically it will be a song that I’ve been listening to and enjoying a lot that week. This week’s song is “Careless Whisper” by George Michael, which I honestly forgot existed until it came up in my Spotify Daily Mix the other day (fun fact: he wrote it when he was 17). Now on to Harry.
Last week “Vogue” announced Harry Styles as its December 2020 cover star, and I haven’t stopped screaming about it since I found out. He made history as the first man to ever appear solo on the cover since the magazine began in 1892. The series of outfits he’s wearing in each photo are simply beautiful. Photographed by Tyler Mitchell (@tylersphotos on Instagram), the December cover features Styles blowing up a light blue balloon in his iconic H and S gold rings–but that's not even the best part. One photo in particular spotlights Harry Styles in a lovely, periwinkle Gucci dress paired with a black Gucci blazer, and he looks absolutely stunning. Mind you, this isn’t the first time Harry has worn a dress.
Harry Styles has been challenging gender norms for quite a while now, and his wearing a dress isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Both the Gucci dress and blazer highlight his masculine and feminine sides,which he often expresses freely. He’s known to paint his nails in all different types of color combinations, has worn dresses on several occasions, and has also worn other typically feminie accessories like heels and fishnet tights. Harry’s experimentation with both masculine and feminie clothing and accessories is one of the aspects I like most about him and his signature style, especially because he tends to blur the line between what men and women are societally expected to wear. The other photos from his photoshoot carry the same theme as he’s pictured wearing three different skirts and another dress with a hoop skirt underneath exposed. While the periwinkle dress is definitely my favorite photo from the shoot, my second favorite photo is the one of him wearing a trench coat by Maison Margiela! I love the layers the coat has and how it hangs off his shoulders.
Unfortunately, when Harry’s “Vogue” cover reached Candance Owens, a conservative commentator, she decided that it was a good idea to insult the dress. She tweeted “Bring back manly men,” and Ben Shaprio, another conservative commentator, had even more to say regarding the dress by tweeting a combined 47 tweets, quote tweets, and retweets criticizing the cover. Obviously, men wearing dresses isn’t traditional in our society today, but that’s the beauty of it: feeling comfortable enough in your own skin to keep pushing against rigid gender norms demonstrates the confidence you have in yourself and your assurance of your own identity. In addition, it highlights how Harry is confident in his own masculinity. No matter what somebody like Owens might have to say about a dress that probably costs more than any single piece of clothing she owns. She, or anybody, has no business judging what others are wearing, Harry Styles or not. Clothing is one of the perfect, most easy ways to express yourself regardless of how others may perceive it.
While Harry Styles and his Gucci dress are noteworthy, he is definitely not the first person to blur the line between what men and women should wear. Black celebrities like Prince, Jaden Smith and Billy Porter have all worn makeup and traditionally feminine clothing, but they did not receive the same praise when it was clearly deserved. In addition, a lot queer people in general have been dressing adrogounsly for decades now. While Harry Styles's “Vogue” cover is splendid in its own way, we must not overlook the individuals who have been doing the same and setting precedent, and I encourage you to look into each of the people that I have mentioned.
I haven't been a Harry Styles fan for very long (I really didn’t start listening to his music until this past summer), but I must say his “Vogue” cover made me appreciate his music and style much more than I already did. I never thought in a million years that I would subscribe to a physical magazine, but I just subscribed to “Vogue” to get the December issue in the mail, and I’m honestly so excited for it to come!!! Harry’s inspired me to switch up what I wear, so I might just go and do that as well. I hope you all had/have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Image credits: Tyler Mitchell for Vogue, December 2020 (https://www.vogue.com/article/harry-styles-cover-december-2020)