Both of Them Wear Feminine Clothing. This Married Couple Is Putting Freedom and Joy First in Their Life (Interview)

Michaela met Vlasta in 2018 through a dating app. She admits that when she saw a man with neon pink nails, she thought she was being pranked at first. Today, Michaela and Vlasta are married and they even wore almost identical dresses on the wedding day.

You can easily run into the couple in the center of Prague. They would like to change the society's view of men in women's clothes and their motto is that everyone is free to decide what clothes they want to wear and what style makes them feel good. "You don't choose a partner based on their clothes, but on whether you understand each other, laugh together, whether you have the same values in life," says Michaela.

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Your instagram profile Genderblender1 was only created in April 2020. Currently, you have over 7 thousand followers. Did you expect such attention?

Michaela: Gradually, we started building a blog and an Instagram account. We wanted to show people (not only men, but also their family members) that "it" works. That if a man desires to wear a dress, he's able to. At least in our region, so to speak. At the same time, we wanted to show that not all men who like to wear women's clothes wear wigs, fake eyelashes and miniskirts and balance on platform boots. The amount of interest really exceeded all of our expectations.

When it comes to followers of our Instagram profile, it's interesting that the largest group of followers are women (80%), mostly young, in the age category between 18-34. That's 75%. We have about 13% domestic followers, most of which discovered us after the publication of the interview in Respekt weekly.

Why do you think it is that you have a mainly foreign fan base?

Michaela: It seems that abroad, diversity is being addressed more. In Western Europe in particular, it is a much more current, hot and political issue. Our profile was shared on the Instagram of a German member of the Bundestag and a German influencer, who is followed by over a million people. Our wedding photos were even shared by RTL television, so the whole of Germany basically knows us now (laughs).

Could it also be due to the fact that they do not look at men in women's clothes as critically abroad as in our region? You travel a lot, so you also have something to compare to.

Michaela: We travel mainly to the West and we don't think tolerance is that much better in other countries. People in Italy, Austria, Germany or France also stare at us. The only thing that differs are the surprised reactions.

Everyone stares. After all, you don't get to meet a man in a dress every day. People are trying to secretly photograph us, film us. We try to explain to them that they are being rude, but by now, we just gave up

How do they usually react to you in the Czech streets?

Michaela: Everyone stares. After all, you don't get to meet a man in a dress every day. People are trying to secretly photograph us, film us. We try to explain to them that they are being rude, but by now, we just gave up, it cost a lot of energy and you simply can't "educate" 7 billion people. It's just a little annoying sometimes when you're walking around, and you have a bunch of people with their cell phones held inconspicuously on their chest, who feel like they've captured you without you even noticing.

They just don't realize that we came across about ten thousand people like them, and that we can already recognize it at a first glance. We don't mind if someone takes a picture of us, but we do mind the form. That stalking behind your back, and the denial when we call them out, because we're uncomfortable. If they'd asked us in advance, we probably would have felt differently. Depending on the situation, they would get their picture opportunity. This is probably how most of our photos and videos with our butts came to existance (laughs).

But there's only been a few outright negative responses. The reactions are mostly positive, and mostly coming from women who can appreciate a coordinated outfit or a nice manicure. There, on the other hand, the women often completely ignore all social rules and rush to Vlasta with praise, as if Michaela was "invisible". Social events, such as balls, are a whole separate chapter. After ten o'clock, the amount of shyness diminishes as the blood alcohol level rises. That's when people most often ask if the way Vlasta dresses is due to a bet or ask how he enjoys dancing on heels.

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Since you often attend various social events, did you ever run into any dress code issues?

Michaela: Never, not even at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, State Opera, National Theater, not even at our children's ball. It should be noted that even though we always respect the dress code, we only apply the women's version to both of us.

Women's wardrobe is generally much more diverse, and you also need many more accessories to fine-tune your outfits than in the case of men's wardrobe

Vlasta, do you always wear feminine clothing, or is there men's clothing in your wardrobe as well?

Vlasta: I have two wardrobes, one with men's and one with women's clothing. True, the one with women's clothing is starting to expand, mainly because the Women's wardrobe is generally much more diverse, and you also need many more accessories to fine-tune your outfits than in the case of men's wardrobe.

But I like to dress nicely, regardless if it's manly or feminine style, it depends on the mood and occasion.

Over two years ago, you had a wedding where both of you wore wedding dresses. Was it hard to find?

Vlasta: Yes, it was, the male figure is different. Men do not have a waist, chest, hips, therefore not every dress is going to fit well. So the choice of dress had to be adjusted to my options. I tried a few of them before we came across "the right ones". Luckily, they had the same one for Michaela, only mine was ivory and hers was pure white. It was no longer possible to fine-tune that, but we were still very happy that it worked out at all.

Many other things come with wearing feminine clothing that can't be ignored. You must have shaved arms, legs and manicured nails. By the way, I highly recommend a mani pedi visit to all men

I believe that finding suitable dresses for a man must be quite challenging. Who spends more time in the stores?

Michaela: Definitely Vlasta (laughs). But over time, we already know what fits him. We even have a couple of selected brands that suit a male figure.
 
Vlasta: Many men write to us on social networks, asking for clothing advice. It's not that simple. Fashion is very diverse and each of us has a different preference. The key is not to look like "I ran around the laundry room and my mother's dress hung there, so I took it" (laughs). Many other things come with wearing feminine clothing that can't be ignored. You must have shaved arms, legs and manicured nails. By the way, I highly recommend a mani pedi visit to all men. It is one of the visible differences - men from Western European countries take much more care of themselves and their appearance than in our neck of the woods, which is a shame. I think their ladies would appreciate it tremendously.

We met in 2018 on a dating app and I've got to admit that when I came to our first meeting and saw Vlasta with neon pink nails, it was a shock. I instantly started looking for a hidden camera (laughs)

In an interview with Respekt, you've mentioned that the freshly manicured nails were what made Michaela freak out on your first date. How did you meet?

Michaela: We met in 2018 on a dating app and I've got to admit that when I came to our first meeting and saw Vlasta with neon pink nails, it was a shock. I instantly started looking for a hidden camera (laughs). When I asked Vlasta why his nails were painted, he said that he likes it and that he doesn't eat children.

Is that how he impressed you? Did you know right away that he was the one?

Michaela: Not at all. I liked him, but I was put off by the nails and skirts initially. In the end, probably thanks to Vlasta's complete openness, the "spark" went off.

But it's necessary to say that although it looks like it, I don't like guys in skirts. You don't choose a partner based on their clothes, but on whether you understand each other, laugh together, whether you have the same values in life

So women's clothing was not an obstacle for you?

Michaela: It wasn't. But it's necessary to say that although it looks like it, I don't like guys in skirts. A lot of people think that, and I'll probably have to write an article on our blog on this topic to set things straight. I like Vlasta. You don't choose a partner based on their clothes, but on whether you understand each other, laugh together, whether you have the same values in life. 

It's not easy, because society does not consider it normal. It is still a social deviation, and by exposing yourself, you become very vulnerable. You put your relationships, work, your social status at risk, because you are not behaving as expected, in association with your role

When did you, Vlasto, start wearing feminine clothing?

Vlasta: I knew that I liked it and that I didn't want to be deprived of it as a child already. But there was still a long way to go to publicly incorporate elements of women's fashion in my wardrobe. In fact, I did it in a quite evolutionary way, by gradually including individual elements such as manicure, painting my nails with a soft pink color first, then on weekends with a more extravagant one, followed by the introduction of heels or skirts. Then I finally started wearing dresses. And that's been unrolling over the years. It was not a revolutionary leap over the weekend.

It's not easy, because society does not consider it normal. It is still a social deviation, and by exposing yourself, you become very vulnerable. You put your relationships, work, your social status at risk, because you are not behaving as expected, in association with your role. It was easier for me because I never wanted to change my gender, and I didn't feel wrong in my body. I just wanted to enrich my wardrobe, and be able to simply switch between styles as I please. For many people, this is a big surprise, because pop culture portrays people in certain clichés. The fact that I am heterosexual and just like to enrich my wardrobe with women's clothing is confusing to them.

To sum and lighten it all up, I'll use a Woody Allen quote: "Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night." I'd like to paraphrase him by saying: "Why limit yourself in clothing choices by eliminating outfits of a whole entire gender." (laughter).

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We can't advise someone whose culture we don't know and he might get attacked on the street just because he's wearing women's clothes

What advice would you give to men who would also like to wear feminine clothing but have not yet found the courage to do so?

Vlasta: So probably the main advice on my part would be that it is not possible to just draw one element and simply include it in the men's wardrobe, which we often see happening. It's a lot of work. Much more than buying a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers which is often the case in men's fashion. There's lots of combining going on.

I'll give an example. When you see a photo of a woman in a suit with pumps, you can't just take a men's suit and pumps. It won't look nice. The whole fit is different in the case of a women's suit. Different length, different cut of both trousers and the jacket. And the pumps will not fix it on their own. The cut of the shirt is also different, taking into account women's proportions, which usually has a larger neckline and is often supplemented by some jewelry. Long story short, it's not that simple.

And when those type of things don't quite match, you don't feel subconsciously good and your self-confidence drops, and that's a problem because it shows. So you simply become the target of various bullies.

Same goes for quality. Nowadays, you can buy quality clothes at a reasonable price, and you can get them through e-shops, which allows you to return the goods in case of a non-fitting size or fit. It's not possible to expect that suits or shoes worth thousands, will suit you just as well as dresses and shoes for a few bucks at the Vietnamese market.

And of course, the hardest part is finding the right fit that suits you and fits your character type. Another recommendation is to dress appropriately for the occasion and your age. In short, in your fifties, with ninety kilos, you can't dress like Ariana Grande. It simply won't work. (laughter)

However, they ask us for advice, thanks to the composition of our followers, especially the men from abroad. The situation is more complicated with them. We can't advise someone whose culture we don't know and he might get attacked on the street just because he's wearing women's clothes. So we are careful in the advice, but I'd definitely recommend everyone, when possible, to make free choices. That will give them confidence, self-esteem and they will be happier.

On the other hand, what would Michaela recommend to women whose husbands long for more feminine clothing and don't know how to deal with it?

Michaela: Let's not forget who you like and why underneath all those "rags". Sometimes you might have to fight for your lifestyle choices a little bit, but it's totally worth it.

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