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The fashion industry writ large reinforces gender norms in many ways, but there’s one every one of us encounters daily: gendered sizing and styling. A faceless entity decides what a man or woman should look like, and if you don’t fit either mold or identify with either label, that’s your problem. Thankfully, there's a growing segment that offers tools to opt out of that binary.
Gender-neutral and gender-inclusive clothing brands offer a wider range of fits and styles than you might find at a traditional company. These companies make clothes for queer, nonbinary, and trans bodies of all shapes and sizes. I've tested and worn dozens of these and whittled down my favorites below.
Every garment in this list links to its manufacturer and also some other retailers that carry these garments. On some third-party retailer websites, the items we've highlighted are placed in gendered clothing sections, which is disappointing considering it's 2024 and these items are explicitly gender-neutral. I'm just giving you a heads-up so you're not surprised to see the gender-neutral underwear I recommended get categorized as “for women” at Amazon.
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Both&
Photograph: Both&
Both& Khazeel T-Shirt$49 at Both&
Both& offers a wide assortment of tops and bottoms based on a sizing system the company developed independently. Rather than using existing size frameworks, Both& developed its signature length-to-width ratio by surveying its community, asking people what they liked and didn’t like about the way traditionally sized clothing fit their bodies.
Photograph: Both&
Both& Queer by Design T-Shirt$49 at Both&
The result can be seen best in its signature tees. Not only are they made from durable heavyweight cotton, but they also hang on your body in a way that creates a silhouette that steps outside the shapes that gendered garments often reinforce. The Khazeel tee, for instance, hangs in such a way that it easily conceals the presence of a binder, while the drop shoulder cut hangs off of, rather than skims, the body.
TomboyX
Photograph: TomboyX
TomboyX Boyshorts Underwear$20 at TomboyX$20 at Amazon
I’ve been a TomboyX wearer for years now and can’t help but sing its praises. With everything from shorts, briefs, and thongs to bras and outerwear, I’ve never had a TomboyX garment that disappointed. Underwear can be tricky for queer and trans people for any number of reasons, but TomboyX has a wide variety of cuts and fits, with sizes that go up to 6X.
Photograph: TomboyX
TomboyX All-Day Bralette$32 at TomboyX$39 at Amazon
I’m a big fan of the bikini briefs and boy shorts for everyday wear, and the 9-inch shorts for wearing around the house or under skirts. The bra selection is also one of my favorites of any company on this list. TomboyX offers traditional number-letter sizing on some of its bras but offers standard S to 4X type sizing on other bras. If you’ve had trouble finding a bra that fits, I can’t recommend the all-day bralette enough. It offers support and breathability, plus fits perfectly under any top.
Wildfang
Photograph: Wildfang
Wildfang High-Waisted Coverall$178 at Wildfang$178 at Urban Outfitters
Originating in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, Wildfang has been a mainstay of the gender-neutral fashion scene for years. Its founders sought to break free from gender norms and offer clothes that can be feminine, masculine, neither, or all of the above.
With inclusive sizing going up to 4X on some garments (unfortunately, some top out at 3X) and including tall sizes, it’s pretty easy to find things that will fit your body no matter your body’s shape or gender presentation. Some of the pants do tend to have a higher crotch than you might expect, even on the larger sizes, so you might have to size up on those depending on your proportions—or get the tall size.
I’m a huge fan of the high-waisted coverall. Not only do you get to wear a flight suit like an astronaut or space miner, but they’re fashionable, come in a variety of vibrant colors, and fit so well you’ll want to wear it all the time even if it’s way too warm out to be wearing a full-body coverall.
Photograph: Wildfang
Wildfang Essential Linen Cropped Button-Up$88 at Wildfang
Another mainstay of my wardrobe (and my partner’s) is the essential cropped button-up. As just an outer layer, it can turn a sports bra and a pair of pants into an outfit, and the fit hangs off your body rather than squeezing it or circus-tenting off of it like traditionally sized men’s button-ups can.
Thistle and Spire
Photograph: Thistle and Spire
Thistle and Spire Medusa Bralette$64 at Thistle and Spire
I’ve historically had a complicated relationship with lingerie. If it fits my bust, it doesn’t fit my shoulders; if it fits my waist it doesn’t fit my butt, and so on. I could write a dissertation on the lingerie brands that have failed me. Instead, I want to highlight my new favorite: Thistle and Spire. If you’re active in online sex worker (OnlyFans, Fansly, etc.) communities, you’ve seen some of these garments, for good reason.
Thistle and Spire offers inclusive sizing and size details on its garments that tell you what you need to know about how each item fits. A part of the reason for that is its dedication to offering garments that will make you feel hot no matter your size, gender, or sexual orientation. And you’ll see that dedication reflected in the models wearing each garment. Finding lingerie modeled by someone with a body that looks like yours is an extremely affirming experience.
Photograph: Thistle and Spire
Thistle and Spire Medusa High-Waisted Bikini$42 at Thistle and Spire
Thistle and Spire’s entire catalog is ornate, sexy, and creative, but my favorite is the Medusa set. The bralette fits my bust (and shoulders) perfectly and offers a high degree of adjustability to make sure it fits the body just right. The same goes for the matching bottoms. Here’s another thing Thistle and Spire does that feels like it should be impossible: the lingerie is comfortable. It supports my body where it needs to be supported, and it’s comfy to wear for long periods, so much so that you’ll want to wear it everywhere—you can!
Just throw on some pasties (Thistle and Spire offers these too) and you can wear the bralette as an actual top. They even ship in a mesh bag you can use to wash them (in delicate mode).
The Fluxion
Photograph: Fluxion
The Fluxion Half-Chest Binder$48 at The Fluxion
Shopping for a binder is hard. The best results you’ll get come from stores that take your measurements and custom-make you a binder made for your specific body, but that can take a long time, and it’s expensive.
When shopping for binders for my partner, hearing about the wait filled them with dread. So I set out to find a middle option: a binder that fits them the way they want and ships in a shorter time frame. That’s how I found the Fluxion.
The binders are durable and well-made, with sturdy stitching on every seam, and a comfortable cotton lining inside a Lycra shell. It feels like a tight swimsuit material, and during testing I found it does a great job of binding a large bust on a small frame, or a medium bust on a large frame. Because they're made from Lycra, they do stretch out and need to be washed to get the tautness back. That’s something you don’t have to worry about as much on binders made from non-stretch fabrics or custom-made binders like those offered by companies like Shapeshifters.
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