News & Blogs - GFW Clothing — Opinion

Guest blog: Beth Kennedy How do we recognise another lesbian now that the short hair and masculine clothing, considered by some as the bedrock of 'lesbian fashion,' are more widespread among all women’s sexualities? And well, who cares anyway. In terms of dating or finding your folk however, it is still important. In years gone by, the classic short back and sides was the ultimate way to identify a lesbian - because it was a way of expressing the individual which wasn’t conforming to feminine cultural norms.  But over several decades we’ve seen more diversity with regards to hair length...

By Andi Allen Let’s talk about the boyfriend shirt. Oversized. Button-up. In the world of retail this supposedly means “borrowed” from the man in your life (and we certainly aren't assuming everyone has one of those!). It’s meant to feel effortless, a little flirty, a bit sexy. But honestly? The idea is worn out. Here’s the thing: I don’t care if it’s your boyfriend’s, girlfriend’s, dad’s, mum’s, or your cat’s – if it’s not your shirt, why are we still romanticising wearing it? Credit: Valaria Nikatina via Unsplash Women have been conned into thinking they’re getting something special with these...

Guest blog by William Elisabeth Cuthbert Dressing for your gender identity can change everything about how you move through life. Confidence, posture, accepting compliments or opening up around others, can all shift towards how you are inside. But it can also reveal ways you’ve never imagined you could feel about yourself, as I found when I needed an outfit for two family weddings in 2021. Two ceremonies, one weekend, maximum pressure. At my sister-in-law’s, in the stately surroundings of Kenwick Park Hotel in the Lincolnshire Wolds, I hoped to make an impression as a member of the bridal party. What...

Guest post by Finn Williams "Is that a boy or a girl?" We hear it all the time. So I decided to address a few things non-binary and gender-fluid people are really very bored of hearing. Beware, this article is very blunt, if you're easily offended then I'd say stop reading this article now. A quick note on what is what: Non-binary: Any gender identity that isn't specifically fixed as male or female Gender-fluid: A form of non-binary gender; people may feel specifically male, female and non-binary but they 'flow' between each one naturally. I'm not lumping gender-fluid/non-binary into the...

Where does the Progress Pride flag come from? In 2017, Philadelphia introduced a “More Colour, More Pride” flag as part of a campaign from the state’s Office of LGBT Affairs. They added both a black stripe and a brown stripe to the original rainbow flag. The original pride flag was created by gay activist Gilbert Baker, friend of Harvey Milk, to better represent queer and trans people of colour. But why is the Progress Pride flag significant to Philadelphia? The city wanted to address the ongoing problem with racism in gay bars. In fact, it was reported that 11 gay...

By Beth Kennedy We’re here, we’re queer...but how can we signal this without saying anything? Queer signalling has been around for decades. In the 70s, LGBTQI+ signalled to one another using a handkerchief system. They would put hankies in their back pocket or their waistbands and each colour signalled a specific sexual preference and specific kinks. There were several variations of the hanky code, so if you’d like to find out more about this slice of LGBTQI+ history, take a look at this great article about flagging (TW: lots of very explicit sexual language). Flagging is not so common now,...

Women have to put up with rubbish (and even useless) features on women’s wear. It’s like the person in charge of all women’s wear said “Let’s make the clothes as impractical and....

You know how it goes - in H&M you might be a size 14 but in Primark it’s an 18 (or vice versa). So why are women’s clothes sizes so inconsistent? Plus sizes are defined differently too, it’s not just in the UK, the US have the same problem as us... and much of it can be attributed to vanity sizing.  What is vanity sizing? In short, it’s a marketing tool. Clothing companies wanted to compliment shoppers by reducing the sizes to make women feel they’re a size or two smaller than they really were. Well, it was a marketing tool but apparently...