I don’t think there’s anything cliche feminine about Jane Austen. And, anyway, her earliest champions were Sir Walter Scott and the Prince Regent.
I hate the word ‘feminine!’ I mean, there is a woman and a man, and when I say ‘woman,’ it suggests all that is radiant, tender, fascinating, gentle, demoniac, exaggerated! ‘Feminine’ makes me think of somebody who is spindly and over-sweet – I don’t like that!
My style icons are Lucille Ball for her bouffant hair and all the updos, James Dean for his rockabilly style – the denim and rolled-up T-shirt thing. And I am also inspired by Dita Von Teese and Gwen Stefani. Their style is retro, but it’s still very feminine at the same time.
If any human being is to reach full maturity both the masculine and feminine sides of the personality must be brought up into consciousness.
If I was to pick a cartoon character I am most like, I would say Daisy Duck because she is very stubborn, she has a very feminine sense, and she knows what she likes.
Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.
I’d always thought hurricanes were romantic, with pretty feminine names like Celestine.
I identify with women more than men. I guess I have a strong feminine side.
There’s always been something about Jeffrey Tambor, not only as an actor but as a person, where his ability to embody a sort of very dignified feminine way of being just – this was just very clear to me.
If I ever feel like I don’t know what to do next, I always think about WWJD, like ‘what would J-Lo do,’ ’cause J-Lo for me is like the epitome of feminine sensuality, mixed with show stopping beauty.
I think I’ve drawn from some of the most feminine women, like Jackie Kennedy. I am totally devastated that she’s gone. She had it all.
I am a liberated woman. And I do believe if a woman does equal work she should be paid equal money. But personally I am feminine and I do like male authority to lean on.
It’s fun playing a more feminine part. I can identify more with a woman of passion and emotion than with a cartoon character. Who knows what a cartoon feels?
When I came to America, there were two kinds of women: women who looked serious and who didn’t wear color and print, and women who looked girly and feminine and like second wives.
We are very luck to be women, so even if we’re wearing trousers, I always wear them with some lace underwear or a very feminine bra – I like that.
As a result of the feminist revolution, ‘feminine’ becomes an abusive epithet.
I feel that, historically, the Art Deco period has the most resonance for me. As a person, it has to be the plucky Clara Bow, the heroine of American silent movies of the 1920s. She embodied feminine dressing mixed with men’s style. All this then evolved into the exquisite style and simplicity of Coco Chanel.
I am always surprised by who wears my shoes. This is a good thing. There is no type of woman, but all my women like to feel feminine. They are women who are happy to be women.
Ideally, people find mates with whom they can express both their masculine and feminine sides.
I believe women should be feminine.
I’m tall with broad shoulders, and therefore, I like clothes with a bit of a swagger – mannish clothes that you can wear with a lot of feminine, sweet tops. I put my own looks together – a favourite coat, a bit of vintage, a bit of high street.
I could have hidden in Boston and lived at home for three years, gone through my transition, taken voice lessons to make my voice more feminine, gotten gender reassignment surgery, and spent time to complete my transition, but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to be in the world.
Like a French poem is life; being only perfect in structure when with the masculine rhymes mingled the feminine are.
I started off as an Australian model. I had so many knockbacks, having short hair and being rejected, and I always thought: I’m never gonna get to where I want to get unless I start looking more feminine.
I was always just so feminine. I don’t think anyone who ever met me would describe me as a man.
I had no boundaries at home, so I had nothing to push against. I only rebelled with clothing when I was 14. I would wear purple Doc Martens and had purple streaks in my hair, dirty jeans, and baggy tops. Very Britpop. Anything that wasn’t girly or feminine. My mother hated it.
As a racing driver, you’re representing a brand and your appearance is part of your job. But there’s a fine line between being feminine and creating attention on yourself because of what you’re wearing.
I occasionally wear Miss Dior perfume. It’s quite elegant and feminine. It reminds me of a romantic evening out.
American sports are quite masculine. And football – although it’s still played by men all over the world – football compared to American football is quite feminine in its artistry. And there’s no padding. It’s America’s loss, though.
I don’t believe that you have to dress in a masculine way to seem powerful. I think that the way a woman dresses doesn’t have to be so aggressive. Being feminine is a powerful feature in itself. Power is in a person’s demeanor.
My purpose as an artist is to heal the divided feminine in our culture. Well, okay wait, that sounds incredibly cheesy and like something a massage therapist might do at Esalen.
The deepest experience of the creator is feminine, for it is experience of receiving and bearing.
I always thought that feminine, softer side was just too vulnerable to put out there, because then it’s like you’re opening up a door for everybody to come in, and you don’t know who’s going to come in that door.
The L. K. Bennett and Jenny Packham bride is confident, feminine, and fashion-forward.
Sometimes I’m very feminine – I wear tight skirts and pumps.
Although people often equate them, glamour is not the same as beauty, stylishness, luxury, celebrity, or sex appeal. It is not limited to fashion or film; nor is it intrinsically feminine. It is not a collection of aesthetic markers – a style, as fashion and design use the word.
The thing is, Mac Miller wrote all of ‘Divine Feminine.’ That was a great album.
I have a really feminine voice, but I also feel quite powerful when I write. So my songs feel heavy, and that’s how Banks sounds. It’s a really short, powerful sound. It almost sounds masculine, and I like having that dichotomy.
It’s fascinating how much of our sense of attractiveness and feminine identity is bound up in our hair.
I’ve been known to create clothes that are very formfitting and feminine.
When you’re a big money earner and your husband isn’t, it makes you question how feminine you are. I felt I was less feminine than if I was a supporting wife, or a second fiddle, or ‘Mrs. Higgins.’
I see myself as quite feminine. But many people seem to think differently about that; sometimes people mistake me for a man. In Paris I often hear ‘bonjour monsieur’.
I like to have bright colors and to feel feminine on the court.
I have always been surrounded by women with strong personality and feminine: my mother, my sister, my aunts, my friends. I am fascinated by the look they can have – simple details such as a step, a way of speaking, a gesture, a way of wearing a garment.
My style has been nurtured over time. It’s more about knowing what doesn’t suit you. I love suits and anything sharp, and I know that shape suits me. I don’t feel feminine in floaty dresses with spaghetti straps – I feel more like Freddie Mercury in drag.
You can be very feminine and be a leader. Christine Lagarde, she’s very chic and she dresses very well, and she’s a woman. And she has a lot of power.
Every day now, I discover something new. Go through phases in which I feel much more in touch with my feminine side in ways I never thought possible. I’m letting the woman inside of me speak, the desires of this woman, speak as loud as they can.
I don’t know why I’ve always been uncomfortable being too feminine. If a dress has too many flowers on it, if I’m giggling too much, I’m like ugh, put some combat boots on. I love masculine women. I think it’s because I’m like a fake lesbian, I don’t know.
My work is not about ‘form follows function,’ but ‘form follows beauty’ or, even better, ‘form follows feminine.’
Wagner is contrapuntal in a philosophical way as well as a musical way. What I mean by that is that every tendency has its opposite, and you see that in the man himself. He’s a metaphysical hermaphrodite – he embraces hard and soft, masculine and feminine.
I’m interested in asking: ‘What does feminine energy mean?’ I don’t have answers – I just have questions and interesting examples.
My personal style is very comfortable and feminine.
I think that you need to balance a critique of feminine, patriarchal beauty ideals while simultaneously understanding how they can make you safe, and they can make you feel safe, and they can open up certain doors for you that would have been closed.
Our culture often demeans and devalues the work, the pleasures, and the contributions of women and feminine people. This is, in part, why beauty culture is dismissed as unimportant and frivolous.
I remember being afraid of doing drag when I was younger because I didn’t really like my feminine side – most gay guys at some point are told that that’s the worst part of you, so that becomes a negative thing.
