Harry Styles defends wearing women’s clothes after conservative backlash: 'It doesn’t have to be X or Y'

It’s been about a month since Harry Styles made history by being the first man to pose solo on the cover of Vogue — but it was the Gucci dress the pop star wore in his shoot, along with kilts and other womenswear items inside, that drummed up the biggest attention. While fans and high-profile folks like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hailed Styles for thumbing his nose at toxic masculinity and gender conventions, conservative critics spoke out against his feminine wardrobe.

“Bring back manly men,” Candace Owens demanded in a tweet, while Ben Shapiro called the shoot “a referendum on masculinity for men to don floofy dresses.”

Styles — who has long peppered his wardrobe with feminine items like pearls and a Burberry blouse once worn by his mother — is standing up to criticism in a new interview with Variety. The British singer posed for his latest magazine shoot in a powder-blue suit by Palomo Spain as well as a pink satin Gucci blouse.

“To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes,” the 26-year-old said of backlash to his Vogue cover. “And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

He also posted an image from the Parker Woods-lensed Variety shoot on his own Instagram, which sees him eating a banana in his blue suit. The caption: “Bring back manly men.”

In other words, don’t expect those gelato-hued, Bowie-esque suits, ruffled blouses and lace gloves to go anywhere. And with a name like Styles, who could possibly expect this fashion plate to limit himself to One Direction, sartorially speaking?

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