Androgyny Can Reinvigorate Modest Fashion

The current basic formula for modest fashion in the 21st century is simple: dresses, loose-fitting pants or skirts, and shirts that hit the knee or at least cover the butt. These are occasionally accompanied by a hijab, commonly associated with a conservative religion such as Orthodox Judaism or Islam. A great example of a more modern take on modest fashion is Project Runway runner-up Ayana Ife’s New York Fashion Week debut (pictured on the left). Many people who aren’t Muslim choose to dress modestly because they are simply attracted to looser clothing and shapes. However, for those who identify as Muslim, it can be even more challenging to distinguish one’s own style when individuals, culture, and religious leaders can have such a heavy hand in determining how modest fashion should or should not look. 

There are a handful of social media influencers creating their own names in the realm of modest fashion by stepping outside of those pastel colored norms, deciding that those aesthetics do not define them. Ascia, Dina Tokio, and Hodan Yousuf (pictured on the left) consistently break the norms of modest fashion. There are even hijab-wearing women, such as Saima Chowdury, who have successfully taken on cosplay. Modest fashion can be political and occasionally associated with religion, but to me, it is primarily a creative endeavor. However, many notable brands in the modest fashion industry have yet to take a fresh, creative approach to their designs, and perhaps they just don’t know where to start.

I’d suggest finding the answers in an exploration of androgyny.

Androgynous fashion was born from a movement in which certain individuals no longer wanted their gender to determine what they wore. These people kicked holes into the box of femininity to let in the freedom of gender expression, which reminds me of the many women who dress modestly out of a desire to reclaim their bodies by not having them on display. Both styles of dress have clear messages: the outside world has no control over my body or beauty. Current modest fashion brands might not accentuate the female form through their clothes, but they fail to give women the option to define what this feminine form looks like. Androgynous fashion, on the other hand, throws away the concept of femininity and masculinity in clothing belonging singularly to women and men. This is the kind of revolutionary attitude we need in the modest fashion industry and in brands right now — there is a desperate need for some rule breaking.

The Ramadan Collection from The Modist

The modest fashion industry risks losing the average, everyday impressionable under-40-year-old woman. Muslim women have incredible buying power around the world, let alone women who generally dress modestly. In predominately Muslim countries, the aesthetics, shapes, and colors of prominent modest brands might have appealed to women because they were the norm for so long. But with social media introducing a younger consumer base to a new way of expressing modesty, the industry must keep a closer eye on what exactly constitutes modest fashion and how to design for that audience. Brands like Modanisa, The Modist, Aab, and Verona who all claim to have on-trend modest fashion items in their collections are missing a huge category of eager, Instagram-addicted shoppers who have been introduced to a more radical way of dressing. If the average young woman cannot find her own style among the racks of fancy modest clothing, she will shop at stores that offer more flexibility for her wallet and wardrobe. The only way the industry will keep its younger audience engaged is by taking a less conventional approach to the female form and by being more creative with silhouettes and colors. 

I can’t talk about modest and androgynous fashion without acknowledging the political implications of choosing to dress in either style. The banning of the niqab (a traditional Islamic face covering) in France, as well as the banning of the modest bathing suit, the infamous burkini (also in France), means that certain variations of modest clothing and expression are oppressed, politicized, and demonized. While this does not have immediate implications for most modest fashion brands, this reality is important to keep in mind. The burkini may have evolved in style, and certain brands such as Lyra Swimwear have successfully modernized the burkini design, but the fact remains that in at least one Western country, women cannot swim fully covered because the burkini has been politicized. Androgynous fashion is also political, especially when, at its inception, women created international controversy by beginning to wear something that was then exclusively worn by men: pants. It is deeply connected to busting the gender binary and embracing gender fluidity, sexuality, and sexual expression. The idea is that “Androgynous fashion is meant to address the ridiculousness of prescribing clothing as ‘male’ or ‘female’” and that, for example, a dress is not just a woman’s garment. Despite feeling like the world has taken steps to embrace different expressions of gender and sexuality, violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as people who cross-dress still remains a problem, for the way these people dress makes them stand out. However, for the purposes of this article, I will only be discussing androgynous and modest fashion in an apolitical way.

Because both styles embrace loose-fitting clothing, androgynous fashion is a good place for modest fashion brands to find inspiration for different silhouettes and shapes. One of the hallmarks of androgynous fashion is the men’s suit. Janelle Monae and Tilda Swinton (featured on the left) are both known for rocking a tailored suit on the red carpet, and it is a masculine outfit that can inspire modest fashion as well. It is baggy and loose but can still be complex and tailored. These women are also both known for embracing feminine shapes. They are confident enough in their bodies and their sexuality to enjoy both feminine attire and masculine attire. The option to explore this fluidity and freedom in designs from modest fashion brands is an unexplored realm, therefore offering an untapped opportunity. This kind of fearlessness with fashion is what I want for all future fashionistas who dress modestly, and I want the brands who supposedly create clothing for all modest-dressing women to begin taking some notes. 

One purpose of androgynous attire is to remove the “sex appeal” of clothing from women, taking away the ability for a masculine gaze to create a sex object out of the feminine form. This absence of sex appeal is also, to an extent, the purpose of modest fashion. However, I want to be clear that just because a woman chooses to dress modestly or androgynously does not make her inherently un-sexy. Covering up your body should be seen as women’s empowerment: as a way for a woman to own her sexiness through the act of deciding for herself how she wants to be seen and identified. Because androgynous fashion is so steeped in the idea of removing the gender binary, there is room there for women to safely explore femininity and gender expression while staying within the bounds of dressing modestly. Therefore, as an aesthetic, androgynous fashion is an unproblematic way to reinvigorate the modest fashion industry.

Androgynous fashion has a depth and history to it that is complex, and it has a lot to teach us. Its aesthetic focuses on comfort, practicality, and freedom of choice — all concepts that the modest fashion industry, as well as the women who choose to dress modestly, could benefit from. Cultures all over the world have embraced this way of dressing and have made it their own, as the idea of choosing to dress how you want can have very little to do with sexuality and gender and more to do with freedom of expression and comfort in your own skin. For this very reason, many women choose to dress modestly in their own style, but the modest fashion industry and its top brands have yet to catch up. Perhaps it will find a revolutionary formula for a new wave of modest collections tucked neatly between a pile of men’s dress pants.

Artwork by Garreth Chan