• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Menswear on Women

Claghorn

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
12,892
Reaction score
31,918
Given the arrival of @Kylerton , as well as the interesting sartorial implications of menswear on women, it seemed time for a thread dedicated to such.

I've not thought much about this, so I'm just spitballing here, but some things I'd like to hear thoughts about (especially from those who have design, retail, and/or tailoring experience):

Pant rise
At first, I thought there would be less of a need. Kylerton has like a 2 inch rise on hers. But perhaps a more traditional rise is more forgiving on wider hips? Diane Keaton seems to prefer a more traditional rise.

Lapels
Narrower lapels for narrower shoulders. Wider lapels for a more masculine look/compensate for breasts? I guess it depends on what the dresser is going for. But bowing would seem to be an issue unless cut properly.

Jacket length
I noticed on one of her pictures that Kylerton's friends (who need to register) have a proper length whereas Kylerton's jackets are way too short (at least, for my relatively conservative tastes).

And I'm tired. Someone do a better job of getting this thread rolling. Here are a bunch of pictures of Diane Keaton.



Good (by modern red carpet standards).



Not good.



Subverting CM rather than working within it.
 
Last edited:

Claghorn

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Spamminator Moderator
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
12,892
Reaction score
31,918


monkstraps, no less.



I dislike everything but the tie, which is still too skinny
 

AJL

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
5,662
Reaction score
4,846

I dislike everything but the tie, which is still too skinny
She looks a little like early Bowie there (chronologically would be reversed I suppose). [ATTACHMENT=9078]bowie.jpg (8k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT]
 

Cleav

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Moderator
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
10,644
Reaction score
25,195
1000


Annie Lennox with her tailor Edward Sexton

Here for womens bespoke as well as da mens

http://www.edwardsexton.co.uk

1000


Cate

1000



1000


Marlene


1000


The inimitable Twiggy
 

Academic2

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
2,946
Reaction score
4,276
What counts as “menswear” is not fixed, of course, and important cultural changes often have consequences for both the gender and class associations of apparel.

The American blue jean, for example, began life as a distinctly working-class male item of work clothing, where the work was manual in nature—by the 50s in the northeastern US they were associated with construction work in particular. The political upheaval of the 60s found politicized middle class college students consciously adopting jeans as a way of publicly transgressing that class boundary, making a political statement of solidarity (things were slightly different in the UK, but that’s another story). By the late 70s the political association was increasingly a thing of the past, and the class distinction had eroded to the point where jeans had become leisure wear for everyone, regardless of class, and ultimately regardless of gender.

Cheers,

Ac
 

ShawnBC

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
1,741
Reaction score
921
How could we start a thread about women in #menswear without bringing up Sarah Ann Murray and Esther Quek of The Rake?













I agree some might find them a little costume-y but I find these two women very attractive in their attires!
 

Kylerton

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
47
Reaction score
136
Given the arrival of @Kylerton , as well as the interesting sartorial implications of menswear on women, it seemed time for a thread dedicated to such.

Pant rise
At first, I thought there would be less of a need. Kylerton has like a 2 inch rise on hers. But perhaps a more traditional rise is more forgiving on wider hips? Diane Keaton seems to prefer a more traditional rise.

Lapels
Narrower lapels for narrower shoulders. Wider lapels for a more masculine look/compensate for breasts? I guess it depends on what the dresser is going for. But bowing would seem to be an issue unless cut properly.

Jacket length
I noticed on one of her pictures that Kylerton's friends (who need to register) have a proper length whereas Kylerton's jackets are way too short (at least, for my relatively conservative tastes).

Pant Rise is an interesting subject when it comes to men's tailoring for women. A lot of our clients cannot purchase men's pants and have them tailored to fit because of the huge pant rise in men's pants. on average, women are shorter and therefore a 9-10 inch rise makes it look like they have an (for lack of a better word) penis pouch. Our clients tend towards a 7.5 - 8.5 inch rise. I prefer a 7.5 inch rise, given that the pants in my OP have WAY too short a rise as @Claghorn noticed (it's a 7inch and it cups VERY uncomfortably). Again, it depends on the proportions of the individual.

Agreed with you on lapels -- narrower lapels for narrower shoulders -- i generally give clients a 2.5 - 3.25 inch lapel depending on their point to point measurement.

As for Jacket length, I've been on a Thom Browne kick lately, hence the way too short jacket. My jacket lengths vary from 23 - 25" (24" seems to be my favorite) and I am 5'3 tall. I generally give clients the proper length, especially when they are trying to cover up larger cabooses.

I think CM is amazing and I love it, it is literally my life. I am trying to educate my clients more and teach them the ways, but there's always only so much I can do with female body types! Sometimes we have to make up our own rules when it comes to menswear on women, as Diane Keaton, Cate Blanchett, and so many other women have done since the dawn of time.

Here's a few photos:

Julie Andrews -- killing it like a boss


Ellen DeGeneres -- because duh.


The adorable Emma Watson


Plenty more photos to come, but I'm running out the door. Most importantly, I think point to point measurements, sleeve length, and lapel width are great starting points -- if those are incorrect the whole outfit looks unbalanced.
 

Academic2

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
2,946
Reaction score
4,276
The evolution of English equestrian attire beginning in the latter half of the 19th century saw a degree of convergence between men’s and women’s riding apparel. It's almost identical from the waist up; from the waist down the woman’s version would have a skirt or skirt-like addition to keep the legs covered. E.g. (discussion of attire begins around 2:04),



These days, what’s worn by women in dressage isn’t stylistically different than what’s worn by men—the design’s the same, it’s just tailored differently

Women interested in adapting the look of men’s formal wear might begin by looking at riding apparel where this has already been done— it's stylistically unisex, differing only in the cut.

https://www.dressageextensions.com/Search.asp?cat=02_04

Cheers,

Ac
 
Last edited:

Roycru

Distinguished Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
2,906
Reaction score
41,003
What about the other way round, like Alastair Sim as Miss Millicent Fritton, Headmistress of St. Trinian's?

 

sugarbutch

Bearded Prick
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
24,567
Reaction score
35,547

Pant Rise is an interesting subject when it comes to men's tailoring for women. A lot of our clients cannot purchase men's pants and have them tailored to fit because of the huge pant rise in men's pants. on average, women are shorter and therefore a 9-10 inch rise makes it look like they have an (for lack of a better word) penis pouch. Our clients tend towards a 7.5 - 8.5 inch rise. I prefer a 7.5 inch rise, given that the pants in my OP have WAY too short a rise as @Claghorn
 noticed (it's a 7inch and it cups VERY uncomfortably). Again, it depends on the proportions of the individual. 


The "penis pouch" is almost certainly the result of adapting a men's cut rather than excessive rise. You can find lots of women's pants which sit at the natural waist with a cleanly fitting crotch.

I would think that one of the greater challenges from a business perspective would be the need for a large number of patterns to account for the huge variance in women's shapes in the hips and chest. How does your company address this?
 

jrd617

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
15,291
Reaction score
2,660
This was my intiial reaction to ShawnBCs images: (now spoilered at claghorns request


Then I thought about why I dislike most of these images. The women are "peacocking" too much with loud colors, loud patterns, and exagerrated non anatomically correct sihlouettes. Tacky. Looks like the a costume. If the J. Crew #menswear **** looks ridiculous on a man, then shouldn't it also look tacky on a woman? (See the images of Diane Keaton and everthing shawnBC posted)
 
Last edited:

jrd617

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jul 15, 2009
Messages
15,291
Reaction score
2,660
I saw some British movie called closed circuit a few months ago

Rebecca Hall looked good

No tackiness required

 
Last edited:

Isolation

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2013
Messages
1,995
Reaction score
2,558
For women who want to build up their shoulders (less t tends to result in muscle and shoulders) and get a better silhouette I'd presume peak lapels would be pretty good, and similarly double breasted, but I haven't seen it too much to say. That said peak lapel is a bit more formal showy, and I think suits are ostentatious enough as they are in the contemporary world, if you're going to dress in a suit as a woman, you're making a statement so I don't see any problem in this as long as you do it well. I am curious about the effect of three button suits on somewhat smaller bodies though. I can find arguments for it being good for both tall and short people.

I think a lot of the OTR women's suits have some pretty ugly trendy/modern stylings that are really bad (like overly large or narrow lapels, lapels with contrast colored borders, etc etc). Like most women's suits have tiny or no breast pockets, side pockets, 1 button almost as if to emphasize the breasts, and built to not fit well. Even the jackets that are a bit wide you can tell that they are shaped for the breasts to almost spill out, and the fabric is expected to pull into an X, as opposed to a properly fitted jacket. There are obvious problems with suits and breasts since the body shape varies so much, but this is something else altogether, like they feel it's important to emphasize this is a woman's suit and it's always worse quality.

Photos, hmm. I remember seeing a photo of Emma Watson in a glen plaid 3 piece somewhere, thought it looked very good on her. I think for looking examples it's important to show women that are celebrities wearing CM because it's very different, these people are always making fashion statements to some extent and are judged and perceived in a very different basis. Much better to see well dressed female lawyers/bankers or professionals of some sort, in some places dressing properly in a context that isn't celebrity photographers, and see how it works, but of course there are very few examples of this.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 45 40.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 44 39.6%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 5 4.5%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 18 16.2%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 25 22.5%

Forum statistics

Threads
504,456
Messages
10,574,016
Members
223,712
Latest member
somaleafcbd4
Top