Hypermasculinity in Fashion - Topic of the day 6/2/25
We see hyperfemininity in high fashion a lot, and it’s a fairly well defined concept, with an agreed upon (ish) definition. But what is hypermasculinity and do we also see that? Steak? Camo? Guns?
116 Replies
my idea of hypermasculinity is the obsession with pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a man in a modern age
Hatred of femininity, lack of compassion and empathy and insecurity running rampant
is hog out hypermasculine
Do we see hyperfeminity in high fashion a lot?
like idk this feels like internet brainrot terms
why is it hyper
Hyper masculinity is anyone who comes into this server for hair advice
did they give it caffeine?
yeah this smiles
Is hyperfeminity a fairly well defined concept with an agreed upon definition?
aka i think the thesis of this question is bad and misleading
@pinkkea said so when she suggested the totd and I said I just don’t get it because I’m a man
Knowing my place
I feel like any definition of hypermasculinity has to incorporate irony
alright bro you were reading books in the stores you're performative enough
Or subversion
I would say id define it as very cutesy, frilly and clothing with bright colors?
But i feel like this question is sort of missing the larger picture of how the “manosphere” makes men insecure and gives them a weird definition FOR masculinity
I guess my question is more is this a discussion of feminity v masculinity within clothing
?
We do actually see a lot of hyper femme especially lately
I think that to really enjoy mens fashion, especially when you get more avant guarde, you have to abandon the idea of what is typically “masculine”
I don't!
To me it’s what does/can like the masculine fantasy in fashion look like
idk if it’s runway but I mean it was a trend for a hot minute there
i think any take on hypermasculinity done well has to incorporate irony
For instance I think a lot of Rick is in this area
Rick explicitly i would argue is in that area
based on his interviews its clear thats a guiding principle for him
Alot of people who have a warped perception of what makes a “man” would see rick as flamboyant, though i believe that ricks clothing is very masculine because of how comfortable he is expressing it
LGN would count i think
i could be off base but i think there should be a distinction between hypermasculine (physical form) and hypermasculine (temperament)
I mean Rick did hog out which answers my question
Oh the callout
Ok my 2 cents i guess I think there is something to be said here where masculine is the default, especially within fashion blah blah blah. Feminism/Gender theory 101. I think that complicates this discussion but going past that I think lots of designers have played with this in various way
here is my take on hyperfemininity
honestly isn't a power suit hypermasculine
I was doing it in an ‘‘I listen to women’ way
ya i was gonna mention suits
Rick does it with lots of LGBTQ+ themes obviously
even with suits there's a distinction between soft shoulder hopsack and the exaggeration of st laurent
but I think a lot of designers have played with suits as a masculine icon
Espcially to Zeo's point, exaggerated silhouettes
do the JPG muscle prints count
Hyper masculinity in fashion in my head is like all function over form so not really fashion at all
I'm not sure I understand the idea very well tbh
I could believe this
Feel like the military is a touch point here
My first thought was the duck dynasty redneck larpers lol
Lots of designers have done cool plays on military garment
I just feel like the premise is cooked because hypermasculinity carries political connotations I don't think "hyperfeminity" as a phrase carries if that makes sense
are leather daddies hypermasculine
ok so i think it's really interesting that non-rick people here have this take. within the rick community (at least where im a participant in) there's a pretty big tension between his masc-presenting stuff versus his more fem stuff. easy example is the popularity of his more workwear adjacent things in recent years vs his pandemic era glam stuff (kiss heels, more feminine color palettes, etc). I think his (rick's_ take on masculinity in relation to his designs oscillates a lot depending on where in his career you find him. Where they mix is sort of the million dollar question, lots of people will say that kiss heels look bad in more masc coded things, some people go all out on the glam side of rick and look stupid like bjorn etc etc. to bring it back to the topic of hypermasculinity, i think rick lands in this discussion mostly because of his relation and experience to queer bdsm cultures that sort of rely on this notion, think tom of finland etc where gay men are extremely "traditionally" masculine and express it through a sort of satirical (?) lens lol.
hypermasculinity is a funny word to use but i think in a lot of gayer spaces it's pretty commonplace, while in more straight places it's more of a co-opted political thing that's all like retvrn coded
One party in agreement on this is Chitose Abe who frequently uses military stuff as the ‘masculine’ component in her hybridized pieces, which she views as a ‘marriage’ between a masculine piece and a feminine piece
Hyperfemininity has a ton of political connotations imo but this isn’t the space
Like kyn literally uses the words ‘praying’ ‘trad’ and ‘volcel’ in the paragraph pinkkea dropped
"praying" is a brand tbf
the other two i agree lmao
Fuck
i guess you could argue that naming the brand "praying" is also political
ok i did think of that but also i agree with seth too
if there's a brand named "volcel" idk about it
i mean prayings thing is kinda inherently political but i don't wanna derail this thread
yeah let's get back to hypermasculinity
It’s known by its full legal name yohji yamamoto
The ‘vol’ part is putting the clothes on
yeah it’s funny I think @sierra might have nailed like leather daddies or other similar queer exaggerations on masculinity are what come to mind for me
me and sierra = sheogorath and jyggalag
drag kings perhaps
The rare unironic :true:
i hate the prayingg aesthetic can we do a TOTD where i can hate on that for like 2 hours
seth you can just do that in #fashion
now I wish some of those guys are a little more fitted but the general concept is there
Women have reclaimed masculine looks but the opposite isn't really true so it's hard to find the equivalent for masculinity
there's not really room for reclamation in the opposite direction in a patriaracal society imo
hey im here to talk about a designer i never mention a guy named willy chavarria and how he incorporates concepts of masculinity and its various connotations thru lenses of race, culture, gender, and sexuality, often exaggerating masc motifs to the extreme
I’m also never submitting this because I think this space is too male demographically for dunking on the praying aesthetic to go well
If you guys are really good in totds for a few weeks straight I’ll consider it
I considered getting this praying hat for 1 second
just do it in #fashion rn or no one will contribute
dont ever consider that again
thats true i remember i was in dsm and saw a pair of khakis and not knowing much about anything i was like, wow, these khakis look like. a cartoon of khakis. willy chavarria!
IT WAS YOUR IDEA
praying by and large is very stupid and i've heard their quality is shit but goddamnit if i sometimes see the occasional piece of praying clothing and think about buying it for like 2 weeks (i never pull the trigger)
i think the aesthetics of prayingg are fine but if i hear dirtbag leftist it activates me like the winter soldier
i imagine u saw his cholo chinos ! in this essay i will expound upon the effects of cultural decontextualization within fashion and
prayingg and its surrounding aesthetics are too peter thiel core for me
where the essay
Zoot suit
im not actually gonna type anything im tired
Peter steele core would be cooler
so real queen happy monday
and its role is masculinity, hispanic-american culture, and enduring impact on fashion
praying makes clothing for insufferable people but i like to think im built different and can actually style it in a good way
You’re the definition of volcel you choose to fumble every time
hypermasculinity is what got me to buy workwear as an IT worker with soft liberal hands in the 2010s, i can never forgive it
ive been wanting to play with exaggerated masculinity more, i think the contrast could be a lot of fun. as i've gotten more comfortable in my identity ive been more comfortable styling more masc clothing in general, like i used to avoid denim for a while because of my own connotations
(cat reading newspaper voice) i have to get more butch
Hypermasculinity is dead, we have all been estrogenized by Doc Martens
ESTROGENIZING BOOTS
my first thought for hypermasculinity in fashion was this- giant exaggerated shoulders, leather, military details. I guess as these looks were originally done it was in a more or less toxic kind of way but looking at them now I can't help but see them as campy and theatrical
im thinking now of the soviet china propaganda posters
Me n who???
although i guess these posters are more focused on the jawlines than the clothes
Both are important
ni hao...
idr keep up with praying but I just had a scroll thru their ig and girl the whiplash I just received
these 2 drops back 2 back is diabolical
it's interesting because whatever intention tom of finland and his contemporaries had (j.c. leyendecker comes to mind), the image of man they provided - broad shoulders, tapered waist, long legs - served as aspirational for those viewing it. the leather stuff has some added context but there were plenty of men in denim and other blue collar facing men, which i imagine people saw as a way to counter the view of gay men as effeminate
especially when coupled with the aids epidemic
Dis could be u and me
Which one of us gets to be the chinese one
can I be in it too
im chinese
[looking at a couple] so which of you is the left chinese man and which of you is the right chinese man and
in thebchinese man sandwich i want to be the filling
wait is this totd
yea
this is bypermasculinity in action
fearnonfiction
In case anyone is confused about our relationship 🥰
#outfitinspiration #relationshipgoals
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why did we have to midjourney the pic for the thread
“shredded vegan hypermasculine shirtless white guy using cleaver to cut farmers market produce please no protein anywhere in the image except in his muscles”
I took it off google images sorry
thread pic should have been tom of finland smh
lmao that was my first thought I reverse searched it and nope :xd:
:xd:
Thank u for ur service nico
ehhhhhh
fine
yeah i was like i took this from a real looking article i think its a real guy
it was on vegan manosphere influencers iirc
yeah its just stock image lighting
Hey that looks like me