Pride: A Fashion Retrospective

This past pride month, I have seen (more than ever) a huge outpouring of love, support, and of course fashion. 2018 was a fantastic year for pride, and a fantastic year for looking the part. From H&M, to boohooMAN, to American Eagle, to Abercrombie, there were a plethora of choices and it was very exciting to see! A quick side note: one talking point I had to deal with all month was “corporate pride”. Corporate pride is the term people throw around when they feel that pride has become over commercialized and use it as an excuse to not participate. It’s a similar thought to over commercializing Christmas. But just like Christmas, I refuse to let something like this take away from MY celebration of LGBTQ+ communities and myself. I invite companies to keep selling pride lines of fashion and accessories and continue to push toward making the idea of Pride mainstream. Make America Gay Again!

Pride, but make it fashion…

Looking back on some of the pieces I was able to grab this year, I really was excited. The thing with pride attire is that it generally is a bit casual and sometimes a little cheesy. But honestly, isn’t that what makes it the best? I loved parading around all month in my pride tees showing the world I love being me. Here are a couple examples of my casual looks I was able to throw on this year:

Though these casual looks were definitely some of my favorites to put together and accessorize, I was also happy with a couple of my dressier options as well. Sometimes your pride-wear needs to be a little more subtle, and allows for different occasions. The best part…even store like Target were getting in on the action and helping to round out my collection! Here are a couple examples of my dressier options I was able to wear this season as well:

What Pride means to me…

I just wanted to throw in a little extra section here about being proud and about being a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I say this to my friends all of the time, but I (for sure) am one of the lucky ones. I was not bullied in school, I don’t feel oppressed at work or while I’m out, and my parents support me in everything I do (in fact, my dad actually asked me if I was gay versus me telling him). However, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel the pressure every day to adhere to a more masculine demeanor, or that I didn’t have fears of coming out. These fears can only be worse for those that are bullied, oppressed, or have any other issue that may change the dynamic of their story. It is our job as LGBTQ+ community members to use our good fortune and strength to continue fighting for those that don’t have the means to fight for themselves, and not settle. Every single day needs to be Pride season, and we need to show that it can get better. That’s really what Pride is all about, and I hope that through even the simplest of things, like posting pride photos, blogging, and sharing our stories, that we can all come together and make a difference.

Friends to the cause…

I want to take a moment to highlight here some of my fellow LGBTQ+ bloggers (and my favorite shots) who really took time to embrace Pride month, share their stories, and have fun along the way! No matter how distant we are in the world, Pride is something that brings everyone closer together, and I really hope you all take the time to check them out and live through their stories as well:

How was your pride month? What did you wear?? Take time to let me know in the comments with some of your favorite looks and pride related events!

-Chris