Weekly News Update
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– NPR illustrates the difference between a $99 suit and a $5K suit; meanwhile the NYT wonders what a $4K suit is really worth. They're both talking about men's suits, but I think there are lessons to be learned for all of us as well.
– Une femme d'un certain age and Lisa from Privilege both posted about what women over 30 should wear for an interview for non-suit industries.
– YouLookFab ponders the three wardrobe capsules that most women need.
– Lifehacker tells you how to give negative feedback, while Ask a Manager advises how to handle a boss who treats you like a personal assistant.
– Above the Law has an opinion piece from an anonymous BigLaw partner talking about how he pitches differently to female in-house counsel. Meanwhile, Forbes Woman wonders whether Sheryl Sandberg's forthcoming book will really be that helpful to career women.
– Savvy Sugar looks at ways to cure chronic procrastination. I know, I know: you'll read it later.
– The WSJ has some tips on using those frequent flyer miles.
Did we miss anything? Add 'em here, or send them to news@corporette.com. Thank you!
I heard the story about the tailor Peter Frew on NPR this morning, too. I wonder why there aren’t any tailors who specialize in bespoke suits for women. Plenty of women professionals can afford expensive suits, and arguably women need bespoke suits more than men do because of the greater variation in our body types. A tailor could probably build up a larger client base if s/he specialized in women’s suiting. I, for one, would kill to have a suit that actually fits in all three of my chest, waist and hips.
THIS.
Or, if not bespoke, then at least loads and loads of suiting options, and that’s it. Like a Men’s Warehouse, but for women.
I know some tailors who make bespoke suits for women, but their suits tend to be more conservative than what many women might like. Tailoring is about cut, and feel, style, and value, not the latest trend.
As someone else said, women’s bodies are different from men’s, they are much curvier and considered harder to fit. It would be more work. Men’s tailoring is a specialty.
Most women would probably prefer a dressmaking approach that uses structure. There re people out there who do such work, but they’re also expensive.
I think that tailors shy away from women’s clothing for the exact reason that women’s bodies vary so much more than men’s.
I’m not a tailor, so I’m only guessing, but asking a tailor to make suits that would look good on many different type of women would be like asking a lawyer to specialize in 1,000 practice areas. Not going to happen.
That is why I actually like it when certain brands cater to a certain type of woman. Sure, it is frustrating when a certain brand fits curvy women better and you are built like a stick (or vice versa), but I support brands that consistently carry styles and cuts that fit my body type and stay away from the ones that don’t. I wish more brands promoted themselves that way.
This was supposed to be in reply to Bluejay . ..
I mean, assuming the tailor has the skills to make bespoke suits, I don’t see why it would matter that women’s bodies vary so much. He’s making each suit unique and meant for an individual client anyway. Presumably a tailor’s male clientele could include body shapes from Peter Dinklage’s to Hulk Hogan’s.
Tailoring is a specialty. The kind of experience and intuitions you develop from measuring and cutting (designing) garments are more transferable when you’re working just with men.
A bespoke suit requires at least a couple of fittings, but I’ve read tailoring blogs in which many more are required because everyone has imbalances and body quirks.
Here’s a blog post in which a tailor explains the fitting challenges of a bespoke shirt. Now imagine doing all this for a suit, which is much more involved, and for a women if you don’t make women’s clothes:
http://www.rubenbakker.nl/analyzing-a-fitting-and-why-we-fit-garments-in-the-first-place/
You’re exactly right on both counts. Women’s bodies are different and the reason it’s best to go back to a line that fits you is because they basic patterns are cut for someone of your shape. There’s no way one company can fit everybody, there are too many variations, and even then most of us have to get alterations.
Also chiming in here on the lack of women’s tailoring…
It drives me UP THE WALL that as women, we get cheated on quality when we buy suits! As a man, if you buy a $1000+ suit, you can almost be certain that it’s fully horsehair canvassed. But as a woman, a $2000 Escada or Paul Stuart suit is still fused construction, which just doesn’t feel as substantial and definitely doesn’t last as long as full canvassing.
I’d love any suggestions, but so far the only brand I’ve seen that makes true quality canvassed suits for women is AKRIS…which is way, way out of 99% of people’s price ranges. (But I can still dream!)
Thank you Kat!
And, back the early 80s, there used to be a woman’s clothing store in NYC that specialized in suits, and lots of alterations thereto. I cannot remember what it was called. Name began with an S. Anyone? It’s since closed…
Alcott & Andrews was one in the late 1980s and 1990s. Saint Laurie also existed, and I believe it still does. At least in the past, it made “custom suits,” but not “bespoke suits.” With “bespoke,” they make a pattern from your measurements. With “custom,” they modify a standard pattern.
I am feeling more confused than ever about interview outfits. I’m 30 and am attempting a transition from academia (administrative side) to the corporate world. I have an interview at a big consulting firm next week. Skirt or pants suit? Bare legs or no? I was all set to roll with the skirt suit, based on the general Corporette guidelines, but now these blog posts have me second-guessing myself.
(And is 30 now considered over the hill? When do we hit “a certain age”?)
I used to work at one of the big consulting firms. Skirt suit is totally fine. Do pantyhose just to be safe. Also, be aware of the location you are interviewing at/for. Midwestern offices will be more conservative than LA for example. NY tends to be very “fashiony,” so higher chance of designer suits.
The NPR graphics illustrating the difference between made-to-measure and bespoke provide a good account of why there aren’t more tailoring businesses for women’s suits. Many men can be happily accommodated by made-to-measure (standard patterns tweaked for height, arm length etc) but it doesn’t provide enough customisation for the big variation in women’s shapes for a customer to feel she’s getting a significantly better fit than in ready-to-wear.
Bespoke dress-making is a separate challenge, I think. They do exist – I’ve been going to one for years in Asia and I do see them around in Europe, Italy in particular – but I’m pretty sure there are entirely sensible economic reasons why they don’t proliferate. Some combination of specialist skills being hard to locate and retain (unlike men’s tailoring, a woman’s dressmaker might be reasonably expected to deal with ‘soft’ fabrics, embroidery etc), women’s fashions being more cyclical than men’s, the heavy expense of maintaining up-to-date fabric choices and so on. Also, the waiting/ fitting is a lot to ask of a modern customer.
I didn’t understand the hostile comments on Above the Law in response to the anonymous partner’s post. I went there concerned I was going to be tripping over sexist stereotypes. Many of his observations resonated and I thought he captured some of the complexity of the situation, especially that women GCs are not necessarily the friend to women partners that you might expect.