Amy interviewed Lucy, who’s fashion is fluid and evolving, as she uses style to express her bisexual identity
We often use clothing to express our identity and for Lucy Smith, 22, this is especially important. She talks to us about how her fashion has evolved through the years as she aims to express different aspects of her bisexuality at different times.
Lucy says, “I liked wearing baggy t-shirts and hats when I was single because they’re more androgynous and comfier too [the t-shirts] but generally speaking, I feel like I wore clothes like that because, to the right people, they made me stand out and I guess they attract other gay/bi girls?
“I think myself and a few of my other gay/bi friends use more androgynous clothing as a silent sign to other girls that we’re a part of the community. When I used to dress like that, I certainly felt like I was further down the gay end of the spectrum.”
Lucy uses her style when she wants to signal that she’s a part of the LGTBQ+ community, but says her clothes have definitely changed since she started dating a boy. “In the first few months I developed a love of skirts – something I honestly never used to wear – and even now, a year down the line, I love getting dressed up all femme for a date. It’s not because I feel the need to conform to the wants of a het man or anything, but I do feel like I slip into the femme role more naturally.
When I’m wearing clothes I’m comfortable in I don’t care about drawing attention and I’ll kind of relish it – it makes me feel good about myself.
“I think before I used to dress like the sort of girl I wanted to attract (think Shannon Beveridge) and, even though I enjoyed dressing that way, now I’m dressing more girly because I really am such a female stereotype in a relationship,” although she admits that she does still dress androgynous from time to time.
Lucy wonders whether her fashion would have eventually become more femme even if she was with a girl since she reckons she would play a very femme role in any relationship.
“To be honest, I love fashion,” Lucy says, “and these days female fashion is evolving to become at once more flamboyant and femme (Vivienne Westwood) and more androgynous and so I absolutely love dressing on-trend, and drawing attention because of that. When I’m wearing clothes I’m comfortable in I don’t care about drawing attention and I’ll kind of relish it – it makes me feel good about myself.”
Overall, Lucy just dresses to feel as confident as possible. She says, “I love it when I feel good in what I’m wearing and then my boyfriend loves it too because what I wear reflects something about me, whether that’s athletic or like, a really sparkly eyeshadow.”
Lucy says that on some days, particularly when she’s not feeling confident in her body, she may choose to still dress more androgynous for comfort, to hide away a bit in the baggy clothing. She thinks it’s nice that she can always revert to that, depending on how she’s feeling.
She says that now she’s in a relationship, she doesn’t consciously dress to express her sexuality. She explains, “I’ll dress to look fit or cute or pretty but I remember when I was single I’d wake up and think, I want female attention, and dress to attract it. It makes me laugh thinking about it now, but everyone just sees you as straight until told otherwise, in my opinion anyway, and so I guess I tried to project the otherwise in my clothing.”
When asked whether she gets different responses from different genders based on her clothes, she says, “Oh definitely, straight men won’t look at me twice on the street if I’m in a baggy t-shirt, I’d just blend into their periphery. I’m not saying all men, but you get the picture. My straight friends used to always say that they wouldn’t think anything different about a girl wearing androgynous clothing, but I know my gay friends are looking for it.
“My best friend and I (she’s also bi) used to always notice other girls that were dressed like us, we’d speak about their outfits and stuff. I was always too much of a coward to ever speak to them though!”