Is the Australian men’s market ready for skirts yet?

My son was two when a family friend bought him his first tutu. It was navy blue – like his football team – and covered in silver-sequined stars. He would use it deliberately, purposefully, putting it on only for specific twirling purposes and removing it when he was done. Skirts aren’t particularly utilitarian items, after all.

He’s always had a flair for the dramatic, my kid. I remember him reaching for a sparkly mauve bomber jacket in a store, aged three. He ran his pudgy little toddler fingers over the silky, shiny fabric and asked breathlessly, “Mummy, can we have it?”

He’s always gone for show-stopping, look-at-me pieces like hoodies with built-in masks, light-up shoes, and jeans with glitter knee patches. He was rocking a matching tracksuit well before lockdowns made them cool.

Now that he’s six going on 13, my son’s fashion taste is mellowing. The tutus have been stuffed at the bottom of the dress-up box and he’s dismissed a particularly bright pair of pink shorts. Sequins are no longer appropriate daywear and while he still wants his nails painted, he removes the polish before going to school. The social stigma of a boy embracing his femininity has seeded itself in his mind, even if he’s too young to explain it.

I am hoping this might be about to change. I’m no style writer but even the most casual celebrity watcher will have clocked the growing number of men bringing it on the red carpet. This year’s Met Gala was a veritable smorgasbord of male looks. Leslie Odom jnr wore a gold Brioni suit. Colman Domingo a shocking pink Versace number. Lewis Hamilton wore Kenneth Nicholson, a white lace dress over black suit pants. And Lil Nas X served up no less than three different outfits, including an enormous golden gown-like cape.

But the Met Gala is a costume event, I hear you say. People are supposed to push fashion boundaries, you protest. But what of the Emmy Awards, which followed shortly after? Men emerged from the COVID-19 closet with a wardrobe of wonder.

There was Dan Levy in a long, electric-blue Valentino coat and pants. Billy Porter in elegant black Ashi Studio, with pleated fan-like sleeves and Lorraine Schwartz diamonds. Leslie Odom jnr in a white Dolce & Gabbana suit and fitted shirt, covered in so many crystals, beads and sequins it made my wedding dress look dull.

Is it possible that boring binary fashion boundaries are finally being broken down? Will gender-neutral dressing become the norm as this beautiful new generation of men insist on wearing clothes that make them look good, regardless of expectations? Is the Aussie men’s market ready for skirts? Perhaps not quite yet.