#mondaymailbag

Thanks for the ask! I will provide some links to “menswear” astrofashion below, but first I need to dust off the old soapbox. Yes, we feature mostly “meant for women” clothes, but we are careful to use gender nonspecific or gender-inclusive terminology, especially for kids’ clothing (the “Let Clothes Be Clothes” campaign’s FAQ explains why). No, we will not have a Men’s (or even Menswear) Monday.

Why do we bother to do this? Besides the issues of gender participation and representation in science described in the link above, clothing itself is fraught with sexism. Have you noticed that “unisex” fits (t-shirts, etc.) are usually cut and sized for men? Or that it is much more socially acceptable for women to wear men’s clothing than vice versa? We think that stinks.

Actually I’m glad this is a frequently asked question. I hope the people thinking the same thing will take a minute to realize that there are large groups of people who feel excluded like this all the time, and not just excluded from an astrofashion blog in one corner of the Internet, but excluded from mainstream culture. Imagine not being able to find a band-aid that matches your skin color (here’s one solution!), or a hairdresser who can cut your hair, or otherwise being told you are different in a hundred tiny ways everyday (read about microagrressions to learn more).

As advocates for equity and inclusion we believe changes in the way we think and talk about every day experiences (even, or maybe especially, “superficial” things like clothing) really can change our culture for the better.

Finally, as promised - here is how I recommend exploring our tags if your style is of the dude-ly persuasion. We have a menswear tag, but it is far from exhaustively inclusive of the posts you might be interested in. You’ll find more by using tags specific to the type of clothing, like t-shirts, ties, sweatshirts, socks, shoes, and more. Enjoy!

This #MondayMailbag warmed even the Pedantic Astronomer’s heart! (Links added by me):

My name is Nicholas and my daughter Diana love science. She wants to learn as much as she can to become a "roller coaster engineer and astronaut", she already builds her own robots, roller coaster models, codes, star watches, and many more experiments. We learned about Startorialist from @startalkradio (listen to the episode here! -E), which we listen to every week. Diana found some clothes she want to show off to you. She was so happy to be able to get clothes like these and now wants to find some accessories to go with it for the March for Science. She had a question to ask you as well; she was wondering if any clothing has solar cells on them to help make power?

Diana’s tank top and leggings are from “tween brand” Justice, which is new to me but just jumped to the top of my “I’m Not Too Old For This, Right?” list. On a quick search I found a hair bow, sequin Saturn tee, and earrings, and I will most certainly be posting more soon!

To answer Diana’s questions: you have come to the right place for science-y accessories! For a budding engineer, @sci-chic leaps to mind (gears! stars! everything from our collaboration!) for fun jewelry, and their new subscription boxes provide themed surprises every month.

Second question: there is indeed clothing (and accessories, and more!) with solar cells, mostly for charging your phone, but also for storing and converting to heat on demand.

Diana, we cant wait to see what you discover and create!

did you guys see this rad dress Nicole Kidman wore to the Met gala! so cool!

best

Clare

Yes, we’ve seen this gorgeous Alexander McQueen gown before, but there’s no reason not to post it again!

Just listened to your star talk episode on fashion with my 13 year old daughter we loved it! My question where’s the menswear?! I am a science teacher and can’t find Neil’s ties. Can you add a #mensmonday?

Welcome to our first #MailbagMonday post! We’re getting more and more questions so we’ve picked an alliterative day of the week to answer them. (Check out the archive from our hiatus in December 2016 or our About page for more daily themes.)

First of all, thanks for listening to our @startalkradio All-Stars science fashion episode, and especially for sharing it with your daughter! We also have one on women in science, which is also related to this blog as you’ll find very soon...

Second of all, I chose this question to post first because it’s an easy answer: no, we will not have a #mensmonday. Let me explain. We *do* post “menswear” (e.g., #TieTuesday), but for one thing, we don’t like limiting clothes to any one gender. We’ve frequently heard complaints that most startorial fashion is for clothes that women typically wear, to which I respond: TOO BAD. When women are equally represented in science, as more than 1% of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics, for example, I’ll care that menswear is underrepresented in astrofashion. Harsh, but true.

Besides, a major motivation behind this blog is to normalize the participation of women in science through fashion, because women tend to be more interested in fashion than men. So discussion of astrofashion and women in science might not be as different as one might initially think!