bananapeppers:

how do butches differ from men in how we wear menswear?

how do we communicate that we’re butch through not only the things we wear but also how we wear them? and, of course (you can’t answer that without bringing up this): how do things worn on the body and ways of wearing them become butch signifiers in the first place?

in this regard I’m obsessed with jewelry. I fantasize about a project: a photographic catalogue of butches’ jewelry items. if you wear jewelry, what jewelry do you wear? what jewelry do you wear together? what does your jewelry mean to you? what do you mean to communicate through it?

when I think of butch details, my first thought is of tall jeans cuffs and thick sleeve rolls. I have longer legs and arms than the butches who cuff(ed) and roll(ed) the hell out of their jeans and shirtsleeves out of necessity. I don’t need to shorten my jeans legs, but I’ve been looking for longer inseams so I can.

1. from “How to Cuff Your Jeans: Style Tips and Rules for Men” — Cladwell. · 2, 3, 5, & 6. Meg Allen, from the BUTCH series. · 4. (L–R) Sarah West, Marcy Coburn, and Dane Whitaker, photographed by Laurel Elizabeth in Mission Dolores Park at 1996 San Francisco Dyke March — h_e_r_s_t_o_r_y.