“Toronto trans girl inspires supportive dad to design non-binary bikini bottoms”

“Shoddy” means “poorly made.” It’s also the term for used wool clothing and textile scraps. In her book Shoddy: From Devil’s Dust to the Renaissance of Rags, Hanna Rose Shell describes a dump of these fibers as they gradually turn into fertilizer. But in the 19th century, shoddy was often recycled into “new” clothing. She says: 

“With its origins in clothes that were previously worn… shoddy acted as a discomforting intermediary between  human bodies and social classes.” 

Twelve-year-old Ruby Alexander is the inspiration for RUBIES, form-fitting clothing for trans girls and nonbinary children and teens. 

It was Ruby’s insistence on wanting to dress just like her friends that prompted her dad to start RUBIES. Bikini bottoms and one-piece bathing suits are already on sale through the company’s website. Underwear is coming soon. 

RENEE GHERT-ZAND “Toronto trans girl inspires supportive dad to design non-binary bikini bottoms,” The Times of Israel, February 2021.