00:00Genderbending is really having a moment right now, but it goes way, way back.
00:04Heels were actually first worn by men.
00:06Actors in ancient Greece who were playing gods would wear super, super high heels, so
00:10when they entered the stage, they would look much more powerful than regular men.
00:14In the 10th century, Persian horseback riders would wear heels to better stay on their saddle.
00:18And then, because of the Crusades, kings and dukes and other rich people brought heels
00:22back to Europe to show that they had horses and did not walk on cobblestone streets.
00:27Not to be outdone, women started wearing heels that were higher than the guys, but they
00:31got so high that they couldn't even walk without help from servants.
00:34Clearly, this went out of fashion.
00:36So I'm sure you've heard of Mulan, but what you probably don't know is that Mulan's based
00:40on a real woman who, in 1200 BC, rose through the ranks of the Chinese military and became
00:46one of the most decorated soldiers in Chinese history.
00:49Coco Chanel started the trend of women wearing pants by accident.
00:52She was on vacation, wanted to go swimming, of course, but men's trunks were the only
00:57option.
00:57So she put them on, someone took a photo, the photo went around the world, and the rest
01:02is history.
01:03In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent debuted the Le Smoking suit, a tuxedo exclusively for women.
01:09And the beauty of this piece made it clear that clothing can transcend gender binaries.
01:14After the smoking jacket came out, the floodgates basically opened.
01:17Prince, Grace Jones, Bowie, and a bunch of other celebs have worn pretty much every outfit
01:22under the sun, and they look sexy as fuck doing it.
01:25So since the 1980s, honestly, genderbending has gone totally mainstream.
01:30I mean, today if you see Kanye West in a kilt, the most that's going to happen is they'll
01:34have a blog post written about him.
01:36I mean, nobody's going to throw a rotten tomato.
01:38You can turn on your TV and watch RuPaul's Drag Race whenever you want.
01:41You better work.
01:43Genderbending fashion isn't really new, but it's awesome.
01:47If you want to wear pants, wear pants.
01:48If you want to wear a skirt, wear a skirt.
01:50Wear whatever you want to make yourself feel good.
01:53And please, God, don't be boring.
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