Thinking about Coats

Me in hiking gear at Ghost Ranch in 2002

I've been wearing a winter jacket of James's for the past decade or so because I haven't been able to find one that I like for myself.  Today I couldn't fit into my Sunday winter coat because I had a fat sweater on, so I borrowed a black wool one of James's to wear instead.  I loved it.  I want it.  It became clear to me the moment I put it on that the reason I haven't found a coat for myself that I like is because I don't like women's coats.

Partly it's because I have a broad back and men's coats fit me better through the shoulders.  And they are longer without being LONG.  As someone on the short side of height, long women's coats make me look like a coat with feet.  But women's short coats are too short and don't cover enough of me to keep me comfortably warm and unsnowy in the waist-ish region.  So a man's coat just fits me better.

And partly it's a matter of my nonspecific, intermediate, in-the-middle-of-the-options gender.  For general daily wear, I've always preferred "boy's" clothes, now "men's."  They're more rugged, less fitted, no goofy trims or ruffles or cinched waists.  The shoes are WAY better for walking around in, and my toes need a wide toe box that you don't find much in women's shoes.  And I'm not just talking pumps or pointy-toed heels.  It's really hard to find even casual women's shoes with a wide toe box, let me tell you.  (I found my current work sneakers in the men's department.)

Me in a ballgown, singing the Nat'l Anthem at a summer camp in 1985

I do love sexy women's shoes, and pencil skirts, and flowy dresses.  And right now my fingernails are painted a shiny blend of peach and coral.  Once in a while I put on makeup.  So when I was searching for words to define my inclusive, all-embracing, comprehensive, unfettered gender, I came upon mezzo.  What a great word!  I don't know if it's ever been applied to gender before, but why not?  Mezzo gender.  "Middle, medium"—I'm not a girl or a boy, I'm a mezzo!


I'm a mezzo-soprano, too.