One of the things I’ve noticed about straight people is that they’re usually pretty oblivious to the fact that there are different types of lesbians. You know, that there’s more than just butch, femme and “crunchy.” There’s academic, hipster, sports, etc. And while reducing people to lesbian stereotypes is certainly problematic, I feel like it’s also important for people to know that there’s more than three different types of lesbians.

When my friends and I moved to D.C., we had an extra bedroom, so we went about the usual process of trying to find a fifth roommate. We finally found a lovely girl who we’ll call “Cassandra” for anonymity’s sake. She was great, super friendly and shared many interests. Cassandra, while completely straight, has always had sort of a lesbian vibe. After trying to figure out what exactly made Cassandra tip off our gaydar, we finally found it. It wasn’t that she looked like a big ole lesbian, but she looked like what we could only describe as a “Fancy Lesbian.”

Not everyone really understands what a Fancy Lesbian is exactly. I don’t blame them; it’s kind of hard to explain.

Fancy Lesbian clothing is fairly easy. When a Fancy Lesbian goes to the farmer’s market, she wears knee-length denim shorts (rolled up at the bottom), fashion sneakers (Aesics) and a t-shirt. Like a white v-neck one. Then she carries a tote bag.

When Fancy Lesbians go to work, they like to wear cardigans. They will also wear sweatshirts that look like cardigans on casual Friday, with a pair of skinny jeans.

When Fancy Lesbians go out on the town, they’ll wear party tops. However, these are not the run-of-the-mill sorority sister party tops that you find at McFadden’s or Cafe Citron; these are Fancy Lesbian Party tops. They often come from places like The Limited, Gap or even Anthropologie. See shirt above right.

Fancy Lesbians tend to have short haircuts. Not like boy-short, but a sensible yet stylish chin-length haircut. They may wear glasses, but not fashion glasses.

However, it’s very important to differentiate Fancy Lesbians from, say, Power Lesbians or Hipster Lesbians. They’re almost a melding of the two, but they really are their own distinctive category.

Then again, maybe we’re the only ones that really see this category existing. Most people haven’t gotten it, but I promise–the Fancy Lesbian is a very real thing. I couldn’t point to a celebrity Fancy Lesbian., but Cassandra even sees it, and she owns her Fancy Lesbian-ness, even though she’s straight. If any of you see what we mean by a Fancy Lesbian, please, let me know. Feel free to add other characteristics or to request more information in the comments.