Harry Styles

Harry Styles poking fun at the notion of the ‘manly man’. Image via Twitter @harry_styles

Liam Payne defends Harry Styles wearing a dress on cover of Vogue

‘I thought it was great,’ the former One Direction member said of Styles donning a dress for the magazine.

Harry Styles

Harry Styles poking fun at the notion of the ‘manly man’. Image via Twitter @harry_styles

During an interview on Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp, Payne defended his former bandmate over the frenzy that was sparked when Styles wore a dress on the December 2020 cover of American Vogue.  

LIAM PAYNE: ‘I THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT’

Payne jumped to Styles’s defense when the Vogue cover was brought up, saying he thought it was great and that there had been a lot more going on in 2020 than whether Styles was wearing the right clothes. 

“I thought it was great, you know. I think he’s enjoying himself and he is free to do as he wishes. 

“There’s been a lot more stuff going on this year than whether or not he’s, you know, wearing the right clothes in someone else’s mind,” Payne added. 

THE CONTROVERSIAL VOGUE COVER 

Styles is the first man to appear solo on the cover of the American fashion magazine. He appeared on the December cover in a Gucci dress and jacket, which caused an uproar due to societal standards around dressing for a specific gender. A a result, the cover had mixed reviews.

On the one hand the shoot brought him support and praise for defying gender stereotypes; on the other, it ruffled feathers because of those very stereotypes around how masculinity “should” be portrayed. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHiCayEH7eW/

STYLES GETS FLAK FROM CANDACE OWENS 

Conservative writer Candace Owens was not impressed with the cover. She retweeted the post of Styles by Vogue saying no society could survive without strong men. The feminisation of men was “an outright attack”, she said.

She called for the return of “manly men” and also posted a video of herself sharing her views on her Instagram story. 

Styles responded via an Instagram post of himself in a frilly outfit, biting a banana while shading the author using her own words: “Bring back manly men”. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CITD0senEDT/

According to Variety, he also said: 

“To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. 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.” 

HARRY STYLES AND CANDACE OWENS TREND ON TWITTER

The topic of Styles in a dress trended on Twitter, with Owens — and others — chiming in to have their say.

This sparked a trend of men making TikTok videos of themselves in dresses to show there does not need to be a stigma around gender-fluid clothing. 

@chris

Take 1 is under review….. maybe I flipped the skirt too high 😤

♬ Kiwi – Harry Styles

@ironsanctuary

I think I can. IB @olsennchris

♬ Kiwi – Harry Styles
@theocarow

don’t wanna hype myself up to much but I absolutely slayed the last look!! @olsennchris

♬ Kiwi – Harry Styles

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