Suited & Booted

butch fashion

Getting hitched? Do it in style

It’s true what they say – clothes do maketh the man butch. Wherever you sit on the masculinity scale – transman, transmasc, butch or boi, there are outfits that can make you soar through the day feeling like Leo DiCaprio or KD Lang.

And equally, there are clothes that cause you to curl up like an old Quaver. Remember The L Word episode where Shane has to wear a dress? Yeah, that.

Butch is an internal attitude as well as an outward presentation and the right outfit effortlessly fits your gender identity.

Butch and engaged? I bet your search history is fast filling up with butch wedding fashion pages.

As a hopeless romantic butch myself I decided to do some digging on your behalf and chatted to some butches in the know about ties and pocket flowers. K.Michelle founded butch fashion emporium HauteButch after growing tired of wearing “ill-fitting men’s clothes”.

HauteButch sells clothes exclusively designed for the masculine-identified butch, and even has a whole section dedicated to wedding suits. Hurrah! “I started as a result of both my own experience and the expressed frustration of other women that felt a need for clothing that fit their own personality and style,” says Michelle.

“I wanted clothes that expressed who I was internally. Inside I was a confident, capable, fearless butch with a swagger that walked the fine line of tough and tender… yet my wardrobe didn’t express it.”

Michelle feels her most sexy in “a crisp, masculine shirt with a stiff collar, cool cuffs and a fashionable vest”. I asked her what fashion advice she had for the soon-to-be-wed butch. “If they wanted to wear white, I would suggest a white tux shirt or military collar with a white vest and a bow tie the colour of their bride’s accessories. And a pair of white slacks, colourful socks and a sharp pair of shoes. For a different butch, I might suggest a military-inspired blazer, a masculine brooch, pocket square, fitted slacks and a pair of wing tips. Simple, clean, elegant and masculine.”

Benjamin Butch is a  drag king, who also happens to be engaged. They shared their dream wedding look with me. “As a self-identifying gender fluid person, I describe my fashion as femme butch. I enjoy wearing flamboyant shirts and/or blazers and jackets, but always with tight skinny jeans or trousers. I do feel that most wedding blazers or waistcoats for women are either boxy in shape or tailored to accentuate parts of my body I don’t want them to. I would like to wear a flamboyant but classy suit to get married in. It will probably involve sequins! Then I’ll wear a different vibrant shirt with rolled up sleeves and braces for the after-party.”

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