Well-dressed American men were culturally coded as gay for decades.

Evidence

While European men maintained their reputation for sartorial dignity, dressing well in the US became coded as gay. Designer fashion, in particular, was viewed as a female and queer domain. In the pilot of Glee, when football players threaten to toss gay countertenor Kurt Hummel into a dumpster, he pleads, “This is Marc Jacobs’ new collection!” The 2003 hit reality show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy leaned into the idea that improving a heterosexual man’s style was a Herculean task requiring divine intervention. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 396

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Grafting & Growth piece’s interest in dress norms and to the reader’s prior interest in status-signaling through appearance.