It is the year 2222, when we celebrate the 100th year anniversary of an official genderless society. One hundred years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights added Article X: ‘How someone is perceived from their physical appearance, may not be judged by rules constructed by society.’ This rule implied to every individuals physical appearance, whether one is abled or disabled, cisgender or transgender, asian or white, etc. etc.

In this conference paper we will look at at the roll of fashion and dress in relation to gender.
It may sound funny in a genderless society where the boxes of gender seem rather redundant rather than restricting, but until not that long ago society was still structured in a binary gender system.

Throughout history the way we decided to dress and consume our outfits has very much been influenced by one’s gender. In terms to understand this phenomenon, it is important to unpack the terms related to gender used before 2100. The terms will be used to dive into the history of dress and gender. Hereby it is crucial to take into consideration how fashion does contribute to the making of genders, and how it participated in the production of a binary (male or female) gendered system and society.

Everyone wears clothes. Clothes have always been a way of expressing identity. Whether this is social status, profession, beliefs, or one’s position in society. With position, there comes judgement from the outside world. For ages gender has been a binary system, created to empower certain groups and exclude other groups. Hereby clothes and ways of dressing, as one of the most visible forms of consumption, plays and always have played a big roll in constructing social identity (Crane 2012).