Marc in skirts

Abstract

Abstract This article postulates that although skirts for men are more acceptable today, they still cut a controversial figure. For the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala in 2011, American designer Marc Jacobs wore a transparent button-down tunic that problematized the discourses on gender and clothing. In this article, Jacobs’s ensemble, created by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons, is analyzed through the following concepts: the western dress code that requires men to wear tuxedos at ceremonial functions; the lace as a feminine textile; the unisex looks that appeared in the 1960s; and the gender-bending styles of cross-dressers, drag performers and gender-fuck practitioners.