Why are clothes important to me? One of the questions that Jennifer asked me was if I felt comfortable in the clothes I had at the time. All the clothes I owed were feminine, not non-binary. I got online and started looking for non-binary clothing, but I couldn’t afford the clothes on the websites I found. (genderfreeworld.com and matchesfashion.com) . However, as I looked at these sites I realized that clothes were not gonna tell the general public that I didn’t identify with a gender. So I started to remember a time when I wore clothes that I felt comfortable in. This was in college.
When. I was in college, I got the opportunity to buy my own clothes. Most of the clothes I bought during that time came from the “men’s department”. I liked to dress in either athletic wear or jeans and t-shirts. I loved khaki’s and button down shirts. I also mostly had a hat on my head, because I never liked my haircut.
So with all that said, the way you dress doesn’t really mean that is what gender you identify with. I identify as agender or gender neutral. However, my gender expression is “male”. So for me to be able to feel comfortable in the clothes I wear, Jennifer helped me go through my clothes. I tried stuff on and if I didn’t feel comfortable we put it in a pile to donate. When we finished there wasn’t much left.
During this time our church was hosting Treasures and Trash. Which is a fundraiser by the Child Welfare Guild to benefit children’s organizations in Ottawa, IL. It is like a huge yard sale. So we went shopping.. Not only that. JCPenny’s was going out of business and we also went to Goodwill and other thrift stores.
I found my style, dress shirts and bow ties on Sundays or days that I felt like dressing up. T-shirts and jeans or athletic wear on my casual days. This was another step toward becoming comfortable in my own skin.
After reading this, I hope you realize that clothes do not always tell you the gender that a person identifies with.
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