The term “Lesbian Chic” has been tossed around with relative abandon since 1993, when it was first popularly employed in response to heterosexual supermodel Cindy Crawford straddling lesbian k.d. lang on the cover of Vanity Fair. Madonna kisses a girl in the 90’s? Lesbian chic. Madonna kisses two girls in the early ’00s? LESBIAN CHIC. The L Word features several thin lesbians with long hair? Holy shit it’s a LESBIAN CHIC INVASION. Over the past year or two the cries of “lesbian chic” have been especially loud, mostly ’cause of Lindsay Lohan.
But which lesbian icons do lesbians actually consider chic? Who’s out there making an actual influence on lesbian fashion & style in 2009? Autostraddle knows.
Sidenote: In response to a 2009 declaration of lesbian chic, Feminist philosopher Susan Bordo pointed out that only “a certain kind of lesbian — slim and elegant or butch in just the right androgynous way — is acceptable to mainstream culture.” True enough. But wethinks this “certain kind of” standard applies to “chic” for women of all sexualities; in fact, it’s upheld for all genders and all sexualities. And actually … not all of our picks fit that mold anyhow. So let us revel in our stylish mainstream acceptable moment. Then let’s all go have a cheeseburger and put on our sweatpants.
Ellen Degeneres
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has changed a lot of things for America’s Favorite Lesbian, including her personal style. Ellen’s classic suits, crisp button-downs, body-conscious sweaters and vests are tailored in youthful, trendy and flattering cuts. Matched with playful colors and her signature sporty sneakers; Ellen DeGeneres proves lesbian menswear isn’t just for smoky-eyed twentysomething waifs. And speaking of smoky-eyes, she’s got the Cover Girl contract to prove her mainstream moment has truly arrived.
On The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s website she talks about her wardrobe each day: My Wardrobe… and I Do Have One. We love it.
ELLEN’S STYLE: Smart-casual veteran lesbian who knows how to work a blazer … with sneakers.
Though we could probably thank her wardrobe stylist for this, Ellen has mastered the art of the scarf/neck accessory. Sometimes, a look isn’t complete without one OR it classes-it-up OR it makes a blazer or vest look casual.
Ellen Says: “Whenever Portia and I are on the red carpet, they’re yelling out for her to tell them what she’s wearing. But nobody cares [about what I'm wearing] because I have a suit on, even if it’s a Gucci suit … I also feel myself more of a person than a gender.”
Ellen DeGeneres’ Favorite Designers: Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs, Viktor & Rolf, Neil Barrett.
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Kate Moennig, 31
Though it’s her character Shane from The L Word who sparked The Look that Launched a Thousand Copycats, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree where Kate Moenning’s personal style is concerned. At 5′8, pouty, slouching & sinewy; Kate’s signature look includes layers tissue-thin t-shirts, classy fitted blazers, low-slung designer jeans, chunky belts, metallic vintage jewelry and always some leather, somewhere. Her punky just-out-of-bed hair, inspired by Sally Hershberger, is perhaps the definition of “Alternative lifestyle haircut.” Kate collects sunglasses, hats and jewelry and has said if she wasn’t an actress, she’d like to be a designer. Kate Moennig does not bend gender, she transcends it.
KATE’S STYLE: A “total tomboy at heart,” effortlessly disheveled edgy hi-lo/boy-girl androgyny.
Kate says: “I like to find men’s clothing in the smallest possible size and then have it altered. Because I don’t like what designers do to women’s clothing.”
“I like my pants low. I’m not trying to emulate Britney Spears or anything. I don’t wear thongs, I wear little boy-shorts.”
Kate Moennig’s Favorite Brands/Designers: Generra, Stella McCartney, Jill Stuart, Dior Homme, Gucci, Librtine, Free City.
Beth Ditto, 28
Best-known for as singer-songwriter for indie rock band The Gossip, outspoken feminist Beth Ditto has recently launched her own plus-sized fashion line for Evans.
BETH’S STYLE: Uber-femme, loud patterns, bright colors and curve-hugging take-notice girly glam.
However, she’s not wearing much at all on the cover of LOVE, which is plastered all over London, promoting positive body image for big sexy girls everywhere. Long before she started her own line, Ditto has been known for her brash, bright and arty dresses; the kind of thing that weird drama girl in your high school would always wear. Now she’s grown up and she’s just as hot and interesting as you always imagined she would be. Her name is Beth Ditto.
Vogue.com describes Beth Ditto’s new collection for Evans as “a capsule range full of slouchy, rock-inspired clothes and accessories with enough sparkle to give Barbie a run for her money.”
Beth says: “Just remember – fashion is something that is prepackaged, bought and sold, but style, like art, is a primal instinct.”
“In elementary school, I was the only kid in class who knew who Todd Oldham was. When you’re my size or you don’t have a lot of money, one reason punk is so appealing is because it tells you that you don’t have to have anything to be somebody.”
Check out Vogue’s Beth Ditto Style File.
Beth Ditto’s favorite designers: Jeremy Scott, Karl Lagerfeld, Charles Anastase, Louis Vuiton, Gareth Pugh, Vivienne Westwood.
K.D. Lang, 47
K.D. LANG’S STYLE: The Original Butch. Classic, dapper, sophisticated and eternal.
Ariel Levy says: “Never before had Americans seen female masculinity so overtly and unapologetically on display, and we couldn’t take our eyes off it. The reason that notorious Herb Ritts cover of Vanity Fair with lang reclining in a tie in a barber’s chair while a barely dressed Cindy Crawford shaved her face made such a splash, rendered some people so irate and others so aroused, was that it suggested that lang was the kind of woman who probably enjoyed doing all sorts of things with women that only men are supposed to get to do. And that there were women who wanted her to.” (New York Magazine)
K.D. Lang says: “I don’t feel like a woman, and I don’t feel like a man; I feel like both, simultaneously. Suits help me achieve some kind of balance, because I have a very voluptous, womanly shaped body — a Botticelli sort of body — and I have a mind and an emotional self somewhere in the middle.”
KD Lang’s Favorite Designers: Miuccia Prada, Richard Tyler, Helmut Lang, Gaultier. “To me, some of the Japenese designers are more at, and I hate to use this word because it’s been abused, the androgynous centre of fashion — you know, where it’s just this kind of beautiful clothing.”
Honey Labrador
Though Queer Eye For the Straight Girl lasted for about one hot minute, Bravo’s selection of Labrador was a significant moment for a franchise previously based on the gay man’s intrinsic ability to dress, fashion, feed and culture the people of less enlightened sexualities. Labrador, who’s Latina, Filipino, Chinese and Spanish, has been modeling since she was 16 and as an adult has seemingly set out to singlehandedly prove that “lesbian” and “stylish” aren’t mutually exclusive; hosting Q Telvision’s behind-the-scenes fashion show “XCess/Access,” founding Honey L Designs to match celebrity endorsed branded products with benefiting charities and created a limited edition jeans line for the fourth season of The L Word. She also hosted L’Elements of Style, which provided an inside look to the show’s fashion.
At 5′9 with an athletic model physique, Honey can rock just about anything. As a teenage model she sported an androgynous style before it became Officially Trendy for lesbians to do so. She will remain on the cutting edge. We have a feeling.
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Jackie Warner, 40
It must be nice to be Jackie Warner, the star of Bravo Reality Show Workout credited with seducing straight housewives nationwide via television. Having dedicated her life to fitness, it’s hard to imagine anything looks bad on her, and her perfect lip gloss, evolving blonde shag and perfectly tanned skin doesn’t hurt either. Warner actually has a degree in fashion & illustration, which has come in handy when designing her own line of athletic wear for her gym Sky Sport. Her style outside the gym is equally noticeable however; fusing weight training to sleek, futuristic downtown edge for the ageless, shiny Outsiders-gone-fancy icon.
JACKIE’S STYLE: An athletic, timeless clean-cut style that makes even cargo shorts look fashion-forward.
Kim Stolz, 26
MTVNews correspondent, political activist and former reality television star Kim Stolz was a revelation when she ushered in a new wave of sexy androgynous style into prime-time on America’s Next Top Model. Kim can rock hoodies with pearls, make plaid look high-fashion with Park Avenue understatement.
KIM STOLZ’S STYLE: Kim is sometimes boyish, sometimes girlish, from prep school boy to Brooklyn hipster and back again. Gender binaries are so over.
Kim says: [In the Kim Stolz Autostraddle interview/photoshoot, Kim responds to accusations that post Top Model, she "changed" her style to appease the mainstream]: “If everyone could go back in my life they’d see that I’ve always fluctuated my look. Yeah, back on Top Model I had short hair and was acting a bit more androgynously, if that’s the word you want to use. Today I’m wearing a dress, and my hair is straight and long. Last week I went to an event wearing a tie and jeans that were certainly too low. It just depends on how I feel. I just wish they’d realize no matter how matter how I dress or look, I will always be really gay.”
Kim Stolz’s Favorite Designers: Balenciaga, J. Mendel, Marc Jacobs, and Theory.
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Comments
Top 10 Lesbian Fashion & Style Icons
(40)
August 14, 2009
3:53 pm
The thing I found really interesting about this article…Kate Moennig is 32. Just saying. And also the boy shorts thing.
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Also, as gay ladies running a gay website, how many times, on average, do you have to type Kate’s last name before you can stop double checking that you spelled it right?
August 14, 2009
4:04 pm
It has taken me four years to spell it right. Ppl used to yell at me a lot on The L Word Online. I spelled it right this time, right? By 2010 I’m going to pronounce it right.
August 15, 2009
1:11 am
about the boyshorts: you know what they say, seeing is believing
http://4.media.tumblr.com/NQmX74pk8od8al9wGnt6MNMAo1_400.jpg
August 14, 2009
4:16 pm
OK, I haven’t read the entire thing, but it sure looks spiffy!
I love a good, clean clipping mask. Not too hard, or too soft. Perfect curves. And when you stroke it, it gets even better. (Sexually suggestive design critique, yes?)
August 14, 2009
4:23 pm
the graphics look good. Leisha is probably the cutest woman on earth. Except for all the Autostraddle people.
August 14, 2009
4:43 pm
montreal anglo lesbians, especially in my neighbourhood, make a very, very strong case for the fashion influence of tegan and sara. i think the formula breaks down to something like tegan & sara x samron, divided by JD Samson, multiplied by the yeah yeah yeahs to the power of assymetrical haircuts. it’s not an exact science but you get what i mean.
August 14, 2009
7:00 pm
ahh we had definitely considered Tegan and Sara for list! I agree, they certainly have great style and influence on our lezbo culture etc
August 14, 2009
9:29 pm
LOL. Love that equation! And I would think they would have some influence. Esp. the hair.
August 14, 2009
5:48 pm
ooh I also have lot of feelings about menswear for girls, although probably mostly because last time I went shopping I got 4 things from Topman and 1 thing from Topshop, and am trying to justify it. I’m also skint, and find that ‘mens’ clothes are often better made slash sometimes cheaper.
Great article and ace graphics!
August 14, 2009
7:02 pm
I would just like to say that I only go to TopShop for the menswear in TopMan. I like the button-down dress shirts cause they’re slim and look good when tucked into pants (with a belt on, obvs.)
August 14, 2009
7:48 pm
obvs. I definately have a few button downs, and also the hoodies/sweatshirts are a lot more snuggly than the ones in topshop. Also like how Topman has tiny sizes for all the waif-like indie boys so its not a stress finding things to fit. I’m slowly converting my friends!
August 15, 2009
1:39 am
we have topshop/man here?!
goddamn, the filipina lesbians were ALL ABOUT that shit.
on another note, uniqlo makes really great women’s buttondowns. they’re fitted but not tapered much, so they probs fit a lot like the ones in topman.
August 14, 2009
6:04 pm
This is a great article as usual. However, I want to point out how freakin rad Alex’s designs are for EVERYTHING you ladies do.
For real. As someone who dabbles in design professionally and is part of the intended audience (obvz) I just have to make it known: your design is just dead on and i’m so impressed, every time.
August 14, 2009
6:33 pm
Seconded. I love the action-font!*karate chops* accompanying all the pics on this post. handshakes all around!
August 14, 2009
7:14 pm
aww thanks y’all! I’m glad we’re satisfying the exquisite taste of the autostraddle audience.
August 14, 2009
6:47 pm
Just wanted to say that I LOVE the feature pic for SamRo… If only she hadn’t sparked the unfortunate rise of the fedora. She really is the only one who can pull it off.
August 14, 2009
10:05 pm
I believe Kate Moennig is 31. Her birthday is December, 1977.
August 15, 2009
12:54 am
OMG I JUST HAD THE MOST GLORIOUS IDEA!! i don’t even think it’s possible but how amazing would it be if you turned the people graphics INTO STICKERS FOR US TO PUT ON OUR BINDERS AND TRAPPER KEEPERS OR WHATEVER OMG IT WOULD BE SO PERFECTTT!!
August 15, 2009
1:36 am
OMG
like lisa frank for my lesbian youngadulthood.
August 15, 2009
2:29 am
EXACTLY
August 15, 2009
11:19 am
Yes with the lower budget andro/masc style and all the feelings about menswear for girls! And the more style coverage please? I’m in need of more nice, well-made-and-fitting jackets (so much need) among many, many other things.
August 15, 2009
12:30 pm
Kate has a good point about altering smaller menswear… I’ve never thought of that. I’ve been looking forevs for a new blazer and I just can’t find one! My mom always looks at me strangely when I shop in the guys section at H&M or god forbid just going into American Apparel because yaknow how that unisex stuff is!
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On the note of what Leisha Hailey said… Does anyone here carry a purse around, often? Just curious.
August 15, 2009
5:10 pm
carries a purse everywhere. calls it a bag.
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actually i’d like to make a further comment re: Leisha’s quote about purses — i really hate when people overgeneralize like that! the only accurate generalization you can make about lesbians is that we don’t want to fuck men.
August 15, 2009
10:42 pm
I agree! I definitely carry a purse (and call it a bag). I get so annoyed with generalizations like that!
August 17, 2009
7:31 pm
I would like to point out that I own many purses (also call them bags). Sometimes they match whatever outfit/shoes I happen to be wearing. That comment is slightly ridiculous although I too love Leisha, she’s super sweet and was probably just teasing the stylist.
August 15, 2009
6:13 pm
I almost always carry some kind of messenger bag type deal around, usually unisex or from the men’s dept. My friends call it my ‘man satchel’… only for fancy things do I carry anything resembling a feminine purse.
August 16, 2009
1:45 am
Phew… glad I’m not the only one who was a little irked about that comment. It’s ok though, I still love you Leisha! You’re a cutie! I carry a tote or messenger bag around with me quite often. I mean, where the heck else am I supposed to put my crap?
August 15, 2009
6:18 pm
Love love love the article. But anyone who knows me/has seen me IRL knows I have no fashion sense. I’m all over the place, too. I used to wear button-ups/polos with ties all the time. I’ve even been know to wear little boy clip-on ties with tshirts. Yep. A lot of my clothes are from the men’s dept. at Target and Steve & Barry’s cuz I gots no $$. Before that it was all weird punkish thrift store stuff. And peasant skirts. I’d be more ashamed… but I just don’t care anymore.
August 15, 2009
7:42 pm
Love Ellen’s style…although I saw her waring a garish diamond-print Christmas jumper the other day! She is definitely a style icon. If only she’d bring out a clothes line
August 19, 2009
10:53 pm
I agree with whomever above said that tegan & sara are a HUGE dyke fashion influence! I went to a women’s college for undergrad and it seemed like every bdoc was trying to emulate them.
August 21, 2009
6:13 am
I took a few seconds to stop reading and laughed my ass off after I read “and has the scantily clad girly bad-girl girlfriend to match (or does she? We haven’t checked twitter yet today).” < Samantha Ronson part.
And I have more of the Samantha Ronson type style. I'm not sure what I think of myself anymore.
September 8, 2009
11:59 pm
I think this style feature is amazing! I think what Kim said was really great; it doesn’t matter how you dress – feminine, masculine, androgynous – in the end, you’re still you. Although, I’m quite jealous she can rock both short and long hair and look gorgeous both ways.
Oh, and Beth Ditto has the most killer style. Good pick! She’s so under-represented in America. Anything she wears looks good. Definitely one of my top style icons period.
October 16, 2009
4:19 pm
[...] Y bueno ya que es noche de salir, y mostrarse, ver y ser vista, lo más seguro pase por la mente de muchas, ¿QUÉ ME PONGO? Definitivamente, vernos lindas es un tema importante en la vida de cualquier mujer, y bueno, también es cierto que las lesbianas tenemos una visión muy particular y diversa de la moda, desde el hecho de que Sí nos agrada estar más comodas, hasta algunas que imponen su propio estilo, y se convierten en todas unas trendsetters. La vida de las lesbianas famosas como la de todas las mujeres famosas se desarrolla frente a las cámaras y es por eso que nosotras también contamos con nuestras Fashion Icons, que nos inspiran en cuanto a moda se trata! Autostraddle el famoso sitio de cultura girl-on-girl lanzó la lista de las Chic Lesbian Fashion Icons 2009, pueden ver la lista completa aquí. [...]
November 22, 2009
9:45 am
It doesn’t matter as long as you are comfortable.
December 2, 2009
9:59 am
Disclaimer: I have a penis. I guess it’s sorta the point, but I stumbled across a webpage
devoted to Lesbian Fasion, listing the “top ten fashion icons”.
I guess if I thought the women looked good, that would mean
their fashion intent (to attract women and repel men) had
failed. Yet…..somehow, I feel as if I have a better “eye” than
most men when it comes to women’s clothing, and all this just looked
incredibly frumpy and ugly to me. Here’s a clue, ladies:
messy is NOT sexy, to anyone but a drunk or heroin addict.
My credentials as a critic: immediately throw out of your
closet any clothing item that combines the colors blue and brown.
Immediately discard any shoes that hurt your feet, no matter what.
Try on every outfit in your closet BRALESS, and see how it
looks/feels to you.
December 2, 2009
10:39 am
Disclaimer: I have boobs! You don’t want me trying on clothes with out a fucking bra, dude. It’s not pretty.
December 2, 2009
10:02 am
Trailer trash is not sexy. Don’t get that piercing or tattoo, you’ll love it for a month, and regret it for decades. Trashy is gross. You don’t have to look like a criminal to be fashionable.
December 20, 2009
11:58 am
Nobody here cares if you think we’re sexy.
Obviously we’re pretty happy with them. And ourselves.
Is it time for a patriarchy joke?
December 28, 2009
8:00 pm
what about Portia de Rossi? did anyone see how high-fashion she’s dressed??? Hello??
January 12, 2010
2:56 pm
This list is guh-ross. Where’s Edwige Belmore?