Whether it is to attract less attention, gain more perceived authority, or simply a personal preference, there are many reasons that some women have chosen to try to look more masculine.
There are several simple techniques that can be used to accomplish this look.
How Can a Woman Look More Masculine
Overall, a woman can look more masculine by choosing a shorter or sleeker haircut, wearing a wide-cut shirt and jacket, slacks, and thick-soled shoes or boots all in cool, dark, and/or strong colors. Completing the look could be a tie, a wide-banded ring, and a satchel.
Silhouette
To mimic the male silhouette, which typically has broader shoulders than the female silhouette, a woman may choose to wear shoulder pads, or some other fashion that adds width and a bit of height to their shoulders.
This was seen in an exaggerated way in some fashion in the 1980s. Besides wearing actual shoulder pads in their shirts, this look can also be accomplished by wearing a jacket or shirt with stiffer material, such as a denim or leather-type jacket.
Some women’s jackets may have broad enough shoulders to achieve this more masculine look, but another option is simply wearing a man’s jacket. A man’s jacket would typically have the shoulders cut wider than a woman’s jacket, thereby automatically giving a wider-shouldered silhouette.
It also would usually have a more masculine cut overall. Whereas women’s clothes tend to accentuate a narrower waste, men’s clothes tend to have a boxier cut around the waste, which would increase the masculine silhouette, as well.
Clothes
Of course, if choosing to look more masculine, a woman would typically not wear a skirt, especially one made of soft or flowing fabric. The most masculine choice would by slacks or another type of pant, such as jeans, cut in a typical style for men, which would have rather straight styling and not be too form-fitting.
If wearing shorts, they also would generally opt for shorts that are not form-fitting or revealing, and instead choose shorts that have a straighter, looser cut and that tend to be a bit longer in length as well, compared to typical women’s shorts.
The choice of shirt would also be important in conveying a masculine look. Whereas soft or flowing blouses, a deeper cut neck, or a tighter shirt all tend to be associated with a more feminine look, a boxier cut, stiffer fabric, and button-up or collared styling are associated with a more masculine look.
A more masculine choice for a shirt would be a polo shirt, button-up professional shirt, or a loose-fitting tee-shirt.
Height
On average, men tend to be taller than women, so if trying to look more masculine, a woman may choose to wear shoes that will increase their height. Although the first thought to come to mind for increasing ones height might be to wear high-heeled shoes, many of these can also be very feminine looking and so not exactly the optimal choice in this case.
Instead of wearing traditional, feminine-looking high heels or stilettos to increase their height, a person might choose to wear either variations of thick-heeled boots or shoes that simply have thick or chunky soles. This will increase the person’s height in a neutral or masculine-looking way.
Standing up straight and holding your head high also increase both ones height and perceived height.
Hair
Masculine-looking hair tends to be short and relatively simple. Naturally long, wavy hair and any hair accessories would typically be minimized if attempting to look more masculine.
A woman can make their hair look more masculine by choosing a short haircut, such as a pixie or bob, or even a traditional male haircut if so desired.
Other options include pulling their hair back in a sleek ponytail, braid, or bun, or simply combing it back and wearing it down in as simple and unadorned of a manner as possible.
Some women also choose to do a partial short haircut by trimming either one side of their hair or the underside of their hair very short. This style allows them to pull the longer hair out of the way and accentuate the shorter hair when desired, while at other times they can choose to comb their hair back in a more traditionally feminine way.
Facial Styling and Make-up
The typical male look does not include make-up, but may include natural, yet strong-looking features, such as darker or thicker eyebrows. To make a more masculine look as far as make-up or facial styling, a woman might choose to forego makeup altogether.
Alternatively, she may opt to have very neutral makeup, especially on the cheeks and lips, but accentuate the eyebrows with a bit of extra makeup or styling.
Another option could be to use facial contouring techniques to accentuate the cheekbones and chin.
Color Choices
Whereas feminine colors tend to be brighter and warmer, people tend to associate darker, cooler, and sometimes stronger colors with masculinity. If attempting to look more masculine, good color choices for clothes and shoes may include black, gray, blue, white, and a sometimes bit of red.
Accessories
There are certain accessories that are typically worn by males versus those that are typically worn by females. If a woman is trying to look more masculine, then she would probably avoid delicate-looking jewelry, scarves, purses, and feminine-looking belts.
More masculine alternatives would include a strong and simple-looking belt, a wide-banded ring (if wearing any jewelry at all), and a professional-looking satchel, backpack, or wallet instead of a purse.
Additional accessory choices to emphasize a masculine look could perhaps include a tie, suspenders, or even a folded handkerchief in a chest pocket.
How a Woman Can Look More Masculine Overall
Putting all of the above advice together will result in a woman looking more masculine. This includes a shorter, sleeker haircut, minimal accessories, a wide-cut jacket and shirt, pants, and thick-soled shoes all in cool, dark, or strong colors finished with a tie, satchel, and a wide-banded ring.
