Jul 07, 2006  |  By: KATHERINE VOLIN  | COMMENTS     

George Gutierrez lights up when he discusses the sartorial strategies of his contemporaries.

“We can take something from Ringling Brothers and make it work,” Gutierrez, 18 and gay, says proudly. “We can take a pair of holey stockings and make it work. We can take a pair of underwear and make the whole outfit work around it. We can match it down to our eyes.”

Gay teenager Antoine Edwards, 18, says he doesn’t bother much with fashion, but agrees that the fashion of gay youth is distinct.

“They make their own clothes,” he says. “They coordinate different styles into one outfit.”

But as exuberant and outlandish (to older, more staid eyes) as their love of clothing may be, the fashion of gay youth is difficult to categorize, much like the youth themselves. As young people increasingly refuse to allow their sexual orientation to be labeled, so do they also decline to identify their fashion as little else but “different.”

The result isn’t a cookie-cutter look, like the “gay clone” phenomenon of the ‘70s, where many gay men wore their clothing, hair and beards in the same style so as to be recognizable to one another and as a show of solidarity with their gay brothers.

These days, those coming out of the closet at a young age aren’t looking to conform to anything. They often use their clothes to show the world they are not just another Abercrombie kid straight from the mall.

Cornelius Robinson, 18, who is gay, says young gays are more likely to wear bright colors and “a tight shirt with some cut-up jeans with gay shoes.” Robinson identifies brands such as Converse and Vans as having gay appeal.

The characteristics of what constitutes “gay fashion” vary, but many gay youth describe the style of their peers as eclectic and radical, with teenagers creating unusual looks by blending old with new, homemade with purchased and prints with patterns.

Raven, an 18-year-old who is gay and spoke on condition his last name not be used, says he often wears jewelry with his otherwise “sporty urban” look.

“I know I’m different,” says Raven, who estimates he spends 45 minutes getting dressed each morning. “I want to express my personality — I don’t want to look like I’m crappy.”

THOSE WHO WORK with gay youth harbor no doubts that the young have created their own style.

“Clearly, I can tell my youth from other youth in their fashion sense,” says Victor Price, youth services and activities manager at the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, a local non-profit that assists gay youth.

“I think it’s radical,” Price says about the general nature of the clothing worn by many gay youth. Price says that he often sees deliberately shredded or tattered clothing and T-shirts with provocative statements written on them. 

SMYAL’s youth are so interested in style that the group hosted a fashion show to express what they had learned about HIV and substance abuse prevention this past spring at Cada Vez, a nightlife venue on U Street, NW.

“They’re growing up in a culture — particularly in a gay culture — where [designer] labels and the appearance of having more than they have access to is important to them as far as their status and self-worth, so a lot of times they go for things that are kind of flashy and extravagant looking,” Price says. “They always have shirts with gold, silver or metallic on them.”

Price also says SMYAL’s youth favor “European cut,” or tighter, clothing.

“Their heterosexual counterparts more and more are wearing baggy fitting jeans [and] loose shirts,” Price says.

Edwards agrees with the notion, but categorizes the clothing differently.

“I don’t look at it as a gay style, but it’s more fitted than what straight people wear.” Edwards says.

Robinson is also unwilling to label clothing or style as “gay” simply because gay people are more likely to wear it. Indeed, although both teens dismissed the notion of any particular “gay” style, each could identify distinctions in gay fashion.

The reluctance of gay youth to identify themselves or their styles as “gay” simply because gay people wear them is a trend, others say.

GAY AUTHOR RITCH Savin-Williams has studied gay youngsters for years and published a book last year, “The New Gay Teenager,” on how gay youth identify themselves.

“A lot of kids are sort of saying, ‘I know what my interactions are, I know what I’m interested in, but let’s not to make a big deal of it,’” Savin-Williams says. “[A girl’s clothing could say,] ‘I have attraction to other girls, and yeah, I’d like to date her, but that doesn’t ...