Gay Men’s Style: Fashion, Dress and Sexuality in the 21st Century

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Gay male identities in the 21st century are increasingly fluid and flexible, calling for a more nuanced understanding of gay male dress and style. From the hyper-masculinity popularised by the Gay Liberation movement to self-knowing drag culture, and from subcultural tribes like gay hipsters to androgynous gender play in the fashion industry, Shaun Cole argues that multiple gay identities exist that are each historically specific, with the 21st century changing the way in which men self-identify and present themselves to the world through dress.

Technological advances, global communication and gay men’s increased engagement with the fashion industry, alongside vast strides in gay rights, have changed the western world and the identities of gay men who inhabit it. This book redresses and readdresses the subject of gay men’s style in a time of social and sexual upheaval. How do gay men use fashion to present their identities to the world? Does gay dress take on new significance in a post-metrosexual, mass-communication age?

Based on the oral histories of gay men from the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Japan, and analysis of popular gay press such as Gay Times, Attitude, Advocate and DNA, this authoritative work balances the voices of gay men with the faces of traditional and new media to re-orientate our understanding of gay men’s style into the new millennium.

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