Why I’m now shopping in the men’s section

Unpopular opinion: women’s clothing options are shite. Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to wear dresses and tops that have nice designs but women’s clothing also means having to deal with problems like thin jumpers that do not keep you warm, confusing sizing systems, jackets and jeans with no pockets (or worse, FAKE pockets), tops made of material so thin that it’s basically see through, and all this other garbage that men seem to be immune to. Not to mention the pink tax, the exact same button down shirt in the women’s section could cost almost twice as much as in the men’s section and a plain white shirt in the women’s section might cost upwards of  £15 when they sell five packs for a tenner to men. The solution to all this is obvious: I started shopping in the men’s section.

Pockets muthafucka

At first it was daunting, walking down the stairs and crossing that boundary between Topshop and Topman for the first time was terrifying. Having two X chromosomes in the men’s section made me feel like I was sticking out and I worried that people were judging me but not a single person said anything or even gave me a sideways glance, it was a reasonably pleasant experience. And it was worth it because of hoodies that are actually thick enough to keep you warm. And – hallelujah – there were denim shirts made out of actual denim not that synthetic crap. And the comfiest undies you have ever worn. To be honest, if you shop in the men’s section no one is even really looking at you, they’re all too busy trying to figure out whether or not that NASA logo t-shirt is overplayed yet or not (hint: it is).

Shopping in the men’s section can be a solution to other problems, like if you have wide feet you might be able to find better fitting shoes in the men’s department. Or if you’re tall it’ll be easier to find long sleeve tops that reach all the way down your arms rather than ending abruptly two inches away from your wrist.  And if you want simple looking clothes then the men’s section is perfect. While women’s clothing is saturated with bright colors and prints men’s clothing tends to come in simpler but still nice designs.

Naturally your own style will play into whether or not you want to shop in the men’s section, if you like dresses and skirts and stereotypically girly things you might not be in love with men’s clothing options whereas if you’re like me and enjoy a good oversized jacket then men’s clothes are perfect.

And it’s not that I think anyone should shop exclusively in the men’s section, I buy men’s and women’s clothes, it’s just nice to keep an open mind and have more options in terms of clothing so shopping in both sections can be beneficial in that sense without any real downside. So I implore you all the next time you go shopping (either IRL or online) to not be afraid to disregard unnecessary gender constraints and at least take a look around the men’s section. I think men should shop in the women’s section too if they want, after all gender marketing is bullshit and clothes are just clothes so we should all wear whatever the hell we want.