My Relationship with Clothing was Complicated

Close-up of Chrissie, in interview format, sitting in front of a track sewing machine.

Chrissie: I want to say growing up, my relationship with clothing was complicated. My family had a pretty limited budget, generally speaking, and so often that would mean that my siblings and I would be wearing clothing from like discount stores, like Giant Tiger, Ross, Walmart, as well as secondhand stores, while other kids were wearing, you know, popular brands and the latest trends at the time. I had to make do with what I had and unfortunately I was teased for it.

Around that time, I was also exploring with my own style and I was exploring styles that would be, you know, characterized as more androgynous or masculine. I loved wearing cargo pants and trousers and baggy t-shirts and collared shirts. I also loved wearing athletic clothing, also loose fitting athletic clothing, like shorts and sweatpants and I also really enjoyed wearing, like, sports bras. But that quickly got me labeled in school as a tomboy and was teased for that, as well. I did occasionally dip my toe in more, you know, feminine styles, like dresses and skirts, but I- you know, would often feel uncomfortable doing so. I think part of me also felt like I was conceding, in a way, to societal expectations of who or how I was supposed to express my gender identity, so that was tough.

But then, you know, going through public school I made friends and most of these friends are friends that I still hold today, decades later. And these are friends that affirmed me and supported me in my style and how it evolved, and so the teasing and bullying that I was experiencing didn’t stop but it lessened a lot. I think it was because I was insulated by them, so that was really great at the time. And so, moving past public school and into my 20s, I felt like I was able to kind of dive deeper into that exploration of style, leaning more into androgyny and more masculine expressions of style.