The Case Against Performance

In December of 2020, singer-songwriter Harry Styles graced the cover of Vogue Magazine. The magazine featured Styles clad in a ruched, light blue Gucci dress, proudly proclaiming that he “makes his own rules”. Who could expect the storm of controversy to come?

Left and right, couch commentators and podcast pundits disparaged Style’s masculinity. He was belittled for undermining traditional notions of gender, for representing what seemed to be the rapid decline of western civilization as we know it. However, others pointed out that Styles — a man in a dress — was really nothing new. Performers and artists had been experimenting with wearing skirts and dresses for years beforehand. So while Dress-Gate didn’t necessarily break fashion history, it still reflected the decades long taboo of crossing the gender binary.

Nevertheless, Style’s embrace of dresses seemed to signal a more mainstream acceptance of genderless clothing. Gone would be the days of girl pink and boy blue; no, a new world where even a so-called ‘manly-man’ could lament his joy for the feminine loomed on the horizon. However, as we look across the fashion landscape of 2025, it appears as though trends have taken different turn.

Sourdough, stilettos, and still frame shots of manicured nails gently cracking eggs over a pan. Enter the pristine world of Nara Smith, a well-known fashion model who is one of many of the internet’s rising moguls. Her camera is poised to cinematic perfection as she waltzes around her kitchen, adorned in runway ready taffeta and silk. With her coiffed bob, it’s easy to see why Nara’s look would make her an it-girl internet darling. Her rise coincides with the recent popularity of tradwife influencers — women on TikTok who film themselves fulfilling their 1950s fantasy of baking, gardening, and homeschooling.

The style of these “Ladies who Lunch” has become quite ubiquitous in its uniformity. All it takes is a taste of quiet luxury, echoed through crew neck cardigans, tweed coats, pleated midi skirts, Mary Janes, and vintage cinched dresses. To be honest, the strict perfection and coordination of the outfits makes them quite appealing. This aesthetic has certainly become all the more notorious as more and more women are mimicking the visual of the kitchen starlet, complete with the perfect hair and glamorous dress. It’s hard not to fall in love with the look of a flowy skirt in a homey, sunlit kitchen. But that’s part of the propaganda.

Now, on the surface, there’s nothing wrong with filming oneself doing acts of service for loved ones. However, many of these trad wife influencers use their platforms to espouse their conservative values, lamenting on the sheer necessity of antiquated gender roles. These short clips present a kind of tunnel vision — a world where women are subservient to their cold, domineering husbands. A world where women strictly adhere to their god given purpose as homemaker, mother, and wife above all else. The trad wife aesthetic is weaponized to promote MAGA imbued conservative culture. To put it plainly, it’s a performance — a performance playing out in real time to the cue of not-so-subtle alt-right dog whistles. Suffice to say, it’s a far cry from that gender-defying Vogue cover from five years ago.

In spite of this, the current popularity of trad wives doesn’t mean that fashion as a whole is destined to forever reflect rigid gender norms. When the pendulum swings one way, it always comes back to swing the other. Already there are mumbles of the teeny-tiny bikini season to come, reminiscent of the party aesthetics of Charli XCX’s Brat Summer. Who knows, we might even see another iconic Vogue Cover, maybe this time with Benson Boone sporting a sequined tankini?

All this to say, what exactly does it mean to present oneself as feminine? What does it mean to present oneself as masculine? What is the perfect cut-off for pants or assortment of accessories that tip the scale one way or the other? In the polarized cultural climate of today, the manner in which we dress has taken on a new kind of urgency. One where microtrends are desperately trying to keep up with the fast-moving cycle of culture and politics. So, forgo the performance. Forget defining yourself through the lens of gender when the definition of what makes you man enough to wear a skirt might just change tomorrow.

Featured Image Courtesy Of Vox News