I got a text today from a handsome boi I know, complaining that she can’t find a decent suit out in the market to save her life. I wanted to send her a text back with a laundry list of places where she could go in her hometown (which is not NYC) to shop for suits that fit a female body well, but aren’t cut all curvy and feminine. I was stumped. It made me want to do some investigating to see what is available out there for women who like to rock a nice, tailored masculine or androgynous suit look.

Women’s love affair with suits goes way back. Marlene Dietrich seduced women both on and off the screen when she appeared in a tuxedo suit and top hat in the 1928 movie Morocco.

Radyclyffe Hall, the best-selling British author of The Well of Loneliness (1928), bore a striking resemblance to her protagonist, Stephen Gordon, particularly in their love of suits.

k.d. lang is the dyke who stole my heart the first time I saw her strutting on a stage in a smoking jacket back in the early 90’s. Her love of a fine suit and her ability to work a dandy-esque crooner look still makes me weak in the knees.

We’ve even got female Japanese anime character that is famous for wearing a suit and being a lesbian with ambitions to be a racecar driver: Haruka Tenou.

My latest suit crush is the trans lead singer of The Cliks, Lucas Silveira. He brings a sexy rock-n-roll edge to the way he rocks a suit.

Where To Buy A Suit: High Roller — $1000 plus

For those slender and/or flat chested females whose challenge is finding suits that work with their smaller frames, you are in luck. The hot trend with the major high fashion designers is the Skinny Suit. Gone are the bulky, boxish, shoulder-padded man suits of the 80’s and 90’s. A somewhat 60’s, mod silhouette is coming back with the suit, especially with some hot labels like Gucci, PaulSmith, Ralph Lauren, and of course, Giorgio Armani. Most of these labels are available at Nordstrom or your local high-end men’s boutiques.

One of my good friends, Summer, is a menswear Sr. Designer at Club Monaco and I have been paying more attention to what this brand is up to since she joined their team. One of my very androgynous exes always shopped for her suits at Club Monaco and I can see why. For about $150 per piece, you can put together a very dapper ensemble with a classic, modern cut that won’t go out of style.

 

Mid-Tier — $300 to $500

Other good bets in the mid-tier range are Ben Sherman and Zara. I have a feeling a lot of us fall under this category. Where can we go to get a nicely cut suit that isn’t going to cost us one month’s rent? Well, if you are lucky enough to live in a town (or country) that has an H&M, I’d start there. This retail chain does an amazing job of bringing the hottest styles from the runway to those of us who need to keep some of our cash flow for other things.

DIY Style — Less than$100

Okay folks, here is the bottom line: until more fashion labels start designing suits for the variety of female-bodied people out there — who want to dress in a suit that can make them look anywhere on the spectrum from super masculine to andro-chic — we need to fend for ourselves. My suggestion: go to your local thrift stores and find a suit that you love the cut and fabric/color of. Make sure it’s not too small for you in the chest, hip and butt areas. Take that suit to a local tailor and they will re-shape it to fit your body like a glove. Spend $15 on the suit at the thrift store, spend another $75-$100 getting it sculpted to your body.

Tailoring suits is an art form. I want to find out if there are any women out there specifically making suits for our diverse spectrum of aesthetics/styles within the general women’s community? If you are out there, give me a holler. I’d love to let our readers know about you! Also, special thanks to the fabulous Women In Suits site that helped me greatly with my research. I definitely want to explore this topic more deeply in the future.


Parisa Parnian is the creator of queer fashion label RIGGED OUT/FITTERS