Floral Blazer

Here’s a little backstory for those of you who are new to the world of She’s a Gent.

When I created She’s a Gent, my primary focus was to highlight that women could rock menswear, specifically suiting! She’s a Gent was a way to showcase my love of fashion. It gradually grew into a tool that could enhance the visibility of androgynous and masculine presenting women. My hope and desire was that others would feel comfortable with exploring their ‘dapper’ style and showcasing themselves to the world.

Now many years later and so much with it has changed when it comes to the style I share.

I’ve gone from wearing and sharing suits with lapel pins, ties, and pocket squares to basically suits and t-shirts. I gradually moved into wearing mainly smart casual attire.

With She’s a Gent moving into the limelight, I purposely compartmentalized many of my identity styles so that my perceived version of women and suiting could come thru in a truly bold fashion!! This was an opportunity to open doors for other women to stand out on this platform and explore along with me how and where they saw themselves and menswear.

On the other end, the well-groomed, sophisticated She’s a Gent persona only represents one piece of me. While the creation of She’s a Gent helped me to escape or rather shift the types of labels and stigmas that society placed on my Black body and Androgynous/Masculine of Center identity, it never stopped me from striving for more ways to be creative.

The Future of She’s a Gent

Suiting is one piece of the She’s a Gent persona. Other parts of my identity will always include the tomboyish sport clothes and athleisure clothing that are a huge part of Danielle.

I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without my first love – basketball. Within the sport, I could be casual, relaxed, and enjoy the freedoms that those pieces also brought.

Basketball taught me how to stay disciplined, strive for more, work hard, connect with others, and hold people accountable. Being a Point Guard forced me to think outside the box and see what other people didn’t.

The game taught me how to stay disciplined, strive for more, work hard, connect with others, and hold people accountable. Being a Point Guard forced me to think outside the box and see what other people didn’t.

What I’m saying is that there’s no one way to be a ‘gent’. She’s a Gent is quite versatile, but more specifically, sophisticated, edgy, and chic. One thing is for sure, fashion and clothing are an important part of my Androgyous/Masculine of Center identity.

Fashion for me will always be a means of visual activism. A way to introduce yourself without having to speak a word. For me, that means resisting ‘societal norms and traditions’ while still challenging the status quo.

As long as I’m alive, I will always be committed to empowering others in hopes that they continue to freely explore and celebrate their individuality and live 100% unapologetically!

So, I encourage you to continue to freely explore and celebrate your individuality.

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