gender, bespoke: Short Film on Gender, Identity, Fashion

When Oberlin College students Becca Kahn Bloch and A.D. (Mandy) Hogan were asked to come up with a final project for their queer theory seminar, they made a documentary short titled gender, bespoke in lieu of the traditional paper.  Their film explores the closets and minds of a few masculine presenting gender-queer students, giving us a glimpse of how identity creates style.

So, what exactly does the term gender, bespoke mean? It’s quite genius, actually. Let’s start with the word bespoke.

1. a : custom-made <a bespoke suit>; b : dealing in or producing custom-made articles

Adding gender, Becca and A.D. get:

Ready-made clothing is what nearly everyone wears; it is made in general sizes (M, XL, 16½, etc.), and it is sewn by machine. The stitches in ready-made clothes are very tight and exact; they are stapled and forced. The stitches in bespoke clothes, however, are looser and “give” more. Bespoke clothes move and adjust and change through time as they move with one’s body. gender, bespoke, then, suggests a self-made and continually changing gender identity. – A.D. via Autostraddle

Take a look at their final project:

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