Take Our New Updated Autostraddle House of Style Survey!

A Note From The Senior Editors: Yesterday, this post and its survey were published on this website, and, due to various miscommunications within the Senior Editors Team and it being a day off for our Editor-in-Chief, it was published without going through the traditional Autostraddle Survey screening process. That process usually involves Riese (aforementioned EIC) looking through it and editing it, often a resident scientist with research experience looking at it, and then 3+ team members taking it and giving feedback. None of that was done this time. We messed up and did not set Nora up for success! Which is awful because Nora is so great and this project is so exciting! We are so very sorry!

When Riese returned to the world at 1am and saw a survey-related post had been published without going through those channels of approval, we chose to take the post down until the survey and post had been edited.

All comments on this post prior to August 3rd reference the original post and survey. Presently, the body of this post and the survey it links to are an edited version of the original. If you took the original and you’ve got the time to take this new one too, that would be great!


Hi!

We’re in the very preliminary stages of possibly putting together an online storefront of thrifted & secondhand clothes to fill various voids in the present market. This survey is intended to help us in this project!

Typically, Autostraddle Reader Surveys exist for one or both of the following reasons: 1. To gather data about the queer community for research purposes consequently shared in Autostraddle posts, 2. To gather data about Autostraddle readers in order to help us plan content for Autostraddle Readers.

This survey isn’t like those other surveys! Info from this survey could definitely be useful for content planning and maybe even a listling, but that’s it’s off-label usage, not its mandated and FDA-approved intention.

For this survey, we’re asking about your personal style, your shopping habits, and more. Are you more Annie Clark or Lena Waithe? Petite or extra tall? An online shopper or strictly IRL?

Whatever the case, take the Autostraddle Reader Style Survey by next Friday, August 11th and let us know what’s up! Thanks, love you, bye!


Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our A+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining A+ and supporting the people who make this indie queer media site possible?

Join A+!

Nora

Nora is a writer and shoot producer living in Brooklyn. Send her links to weird clothing and dog videos to nora [at] autostraddle [dot] com.

Nora has written 52 articles for us.

97 Comments

  1. So, funny story. On Sunday my mom tried to describe me as a lipstick lesbian (this was while she was assessing all the more butch looking women surrounding us at the Melissa Etheridge concert). After me protesting a bit, she then thought for a minute and said “No, you’re actually more like a Hannah Hart.” I’ve never been so happy in my life, since she is my celesbian style icon.

  2. Not to be annoying but the call for only “celesbian” style influences was kinda meh. Autostraddle has great content for non-lesbian queer women like myself but I’d love for it to be seen in the fabric and language of the site.

    Other than that I’m super excited about this survey! I really love y’alls fashion coverage and inclusion of plus-sizes in articles :-)

    • Just took the updated survey, it was a lot better! I could definitely sense the original survey was sent out quickly so I didn’t really comment of the vagueness but the new survey was a lot better!

  3. The linked size chart doesn’t specify what an XS is, but it’s an option on the survey. Should I just extrapolate another 5 inch difference in measurements compared to a S, since that’s how the size chart seems to work? Also, do I put the size that matches the measurements or the size that I would probably buy, since I prefer a looser fit for shirts?

  4. The questions were simple, but the topic is complicated. I would dress very differently – much more masc. I think – if I had a body that was closer to the one I wanted. As it is, it’s just too hard / I feel too “sloppy” in the clothes that look super sharp on other people.

  5. That was… like a foreign language. I don’t know why I expected to feel less completely alienated by this than other style content, just because it’s on Autostraddle. It’s weird. I spend a lot of time thinking about style, and the wardrobe I’m building, but then other people talk about these things and I can’t relate to any of it – that’s not something I wear, that’s not how I shop, that’s not how I think about clothes or money. At all.

    It’s definitely not a problem with the writing or the direction AS is taking, though. It’s more of a genre thing. Like how I don’t get anything out of money tips and tricks, even though I spend a lot of time on money, budgeting and the future, because the basic idea is to give up things I don’t spend money on to start with or to save money I never had.

  6. Honestly, my boobs are the bane of my existence when it comes to leveling up my fashion. Loose fitting or flowy makes me look boxy and shapeless, fitted is often more revealing than I’m comfortable with (especially business attire). I’d love to emulate the looks on all the small breasted models I saved to my pinterest but I don’t know how to adapt the look or where to shop to make it work for me. If my chest were two sizes smaller I would be so much happier style wise.

  7. So.. done.

    But in the future for those of us who tend to shop in menswear a bit more choice would be swank. Like, IDK how to translate my waist/inseam into women’s sizing since I promise you, my weird ratio doesn’t seem to exist in womens. Also? Shoe size? I had to find my one pair of heels to figure that out, I buy mens shoes and they size differently.

    Dunno, this just didn’t seem to have the usual thoughtful care attached to it surveys seem to have with clarity or enough explanation options for when we’re not quite one answer or another.

  8. Thanks for asking.
    I have a *really* hard time finding clothing that fit how I like to express myself, so I’m excited to explore some new options.
    I see people wearing clothes that I like (on the internets) but I have no clue wear to find those clothes, especially something that fits a petite woman like myself.

  9. Hmm, maybe I’m not enough of a style person but that survey was really tough. I wish there was an ‘explain’ option even if you picked one of the regular options because I wanted to explain so much. Would echo commenters above that the survey could have felt more inclusive (especially the ‘celesbians’ bit)?

  10. So, I took this a few hours ago, and I responded to all of the comment boxes sincerely. There was a moment tho when I was (and I’m de-anonymizing myself here maybe?) entering in some of the text and it dawned on me that using my wardrobe as a coping mechanism for post-election anger and rage kindaaaa makes me a weirdo.

    But I usually wear eShakti fitted basic black A-lines when out and about or Uniqlo airism when lounging in my apartment. Loungewear is a class unto itself in my minimal wardrobe because I change out of work/outdoor clothes right when I get home.

  11. two MASSIVE quibbles:

    1) are these mens or womens shoe sizes/why can’t it be a checkbox question with sizes like 4-14? I’m US8-10 womens depending on the brand, so…no good choice for me there, hashtag sadface

    b) “What’s a reasonable price range for casual clothing? Office-appropriate duds?” like….for an entire outfit? for a single shirt? for a kicky tie? MORE SPECIFICS PLEASE

    (and then the tiiiiniest of sub-quibbles: leggings aren’t on the Heavy Rotation list? once the first leaf flirts with orange-ness, I live in those stretchy fuckers .___.)

  12. Ummm… No offense but did this survey have several people look at it before publishing? Because I felt like it was very vague and very exclusionary, so I doubt you are going to get accurate results. I know this isn’t a Super Professional Survey™ but as someone with training in research methods, there were several red flags for me.

    • Same! I’m trying to do better, fashion-wise. But budget makes it hard and this really underlined how much work I need to put into just finding inspiration and curating my tastes. I started to answer the Celebrities you look to for fashion question and realized pretty quickly that I was just naming women I think are pretty.

  13. See this, right here? This is what makes Autostraddle the best place on the Internet.

    1. Thing happens.
    2. Community politely and constructively critiques said thing.
    3. Editors listen to the critiques and take them to heart, sincerely apologize, explain what happened, and fix the thing.
    4. Community expresses their gratitude.

    This is the way everything should work, and yet this would never happen anywhere else on the Internet.

    Good job, team!

  14. Thank you Nora for putting together this survey, and for all the great fashion-related content you’ve been writing and curating!

    Thank you to the senior editors for the update and for the transparency about what happened. I’m so grateful for this website and for the thought and care that you all put into it.

  15. I have this weird and probably-not-correct fantasy that this “project” is Autostraddle convincing Wildfang to incorporate actual inclusive sizing into their line (and maybe, like, collaborate with Universal Standard)

  16. Tbh my favourite team has really good sportswear so I basically just wear the lads version of that w the odd AS thing in here & there. If I worked outside the house I might vary that a bit but I don’t.
    Yeah. I know. I’m not stylish…
    I wish suits could be made less tight cos I have touch sensitivity issues and every time I wear a suit that fits I feel like something’s nipping my armpits/shoulders.

    • That’s a good point. I actually liked the wording of this question more in the first survey, because there was an “other” box where one could ramble on about one’s gender presentation feelings rather than having to fix a number to it. If one were so inclined.

      • Me too – and I’m definitely identifying myself here, but I don’t think numbers should’ve been attached to it at all if there’s nothing there to say what they mean. Perception of presentation varies A LOT depending on who’s asking, and I don’t know what *the writers* think fem and masc mean, so the number I gave might mean something very different to them than it does to me.

        (That’s the long version of STEM-kid me going “Where are the units???!
        What’s the scale?!”)

        • surveymonkey doesn’t have an option to get rid of the number for sliding scale responses, or to add an “other” to it, at least not that i could figure out in my limited time this morning. i wondered if maybe it was for mobile or an accessibility issue or something? i agree this question would be better without it and with an “other,” will find a new solution for next time.

          i think with this specifically we’ll just have to settle for imperfect results. tons of “others” is also a lot to wade through… but (seriously) thank you for letting us know to keep that in mind when looking at the results

  17. I was a bit concerned that me,who does not can’t really online shop, taking the quiz would not be helpful at all to the purpose, but then I realised a suggestion about providing item makeup (what materials it’s composed of) could help someone else with a different set of allergies or texture problems. Like nickel and wool allergies for instance, also just because clothes are not an option doesn’t mean accessories like belts or ties for short torso’d people aren’t.

    • Same. Like, I wear t-shirts or sweaters, and jeans or shorts. Weirdly, neither t-shirts nor sweaters were included in the “what’s in your daily rotation?” question, so my response reads like I’m just always going topless.

  18. Ughhh this was hard. Fashion is the bane of my life right now- all of my clothes are based on convenience/what I had instead of what I want to wear. I’m lucky that I’ve stayed the same size for a while so I can wear clothes for longer, but I can’t seem to justify buying new clothes and donating what doesn’t fit my sense of style anymore.

    Also, I realized I don’t care about celebrity fashion. All my “celebrities” were musicians and characters.

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