[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/tailored-suits-for-masculine-women-and-trans-men-are-on-the-rise\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/tailored-suits-for-masculine-women-and-trans-men-are-on-the-rise\/","headline":"LGBTQ+ fashion: tailored suits for masculine women and trans men are on the rise","name":"LGBTQ+ fashion: tailored suits for masculine women and trans men are on the rise","description":"LGBTQ+ Fashion","datePublished":"2014-07-28","dateModified":"2021-06-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/kpalladino\/#Person","name":"Kirsten Palladino","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/kpalladino\/","identifier":2,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76421eab241dc39d43a493849d7bc676e4b1c60c6b1167f727466599b6882eca?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/76421eab241dc39d43a493849d7bc676e4b1c60c6b1167f727466599b6882eca?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bindle-keep-kelly-intro.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bindle-keep-kelly-intro.jpg","height":210,"width":328},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/tailored-suits-for-masculine-women-and-trans-men-are-on-the-rise\/","about":["Fashion","Tuxes + Suits"],"wordCount":1569,"keywords":["Bindle & Keep","cisgender","gender identity","genderqueer","genderqueer fashion","LGBT fashion","LGBTQ fashion","masculine","Rachel Tutera","suits","trans men","transgender"],"articleBody":"Companies that offer custom-made clothing for transgender and gender non-conforming people are coming to the forefrontSince our inception, we’ve had a keen eye on companies that offer gender-neutral clothing for people who don’t fit neatly into one cisgendered box. We’ve spotlighted forward-thinking clothing makers such as Bindle & Keep, Fourteen Stories (now defunct), Marimacho, The Original Tomboy, The Butch Clothing Company and Duchess Clothier, all brands that are working toward opening up expectations for what attire can look like and who can wear what, and, perhaps more importantly, who can wear what well.Filmmaker and actor Kelly Sebastian in a 3-piece suit from Bindle & KeepAs a visual appreciator of butch lesbians, trans men and androgynous people leaning toward the masculine side, I’ve seen a myriad of styles, some as rich and glorious as a fanning peacock, and others who look like they got dressed in their dad\u2019s closet, not having access to important resources for making the clothes work for their bodies and the people insides those bodies. It\u2019s a deep well of feelings and history up for discussion, and one I am surprised and glad to see showcased on PBS NewsHour, which highlighted Rachel Tutera’s work at Bindle & Keep.Actor Kelly Sebastian getting fitted for her suit with Rachel Tutera of Bindle & Keep RELATED: DRESS CODE: A WOMAN’S GUIDE TO CUSTOM SUITS“Companies that offer custom-made clothing for transgender and gender non-conforming people are coming to the forefront, as more diverse models gain visibility in the fashion industry\u2013and redefine the parameters of gender identity,” Ivette Feliciano reports.This video is no longer available but the transcript is below.RACHEL TUTERA: My gender identity is really based in both my experiences as a woman and also it\u2019s just deeply rooted in the fact that I\u2019m masculine\u2026IVETTE FELICIANO: Rachel Tutera says it wasn\u2019t until she started wearing boy\u2019s clothes as a pre-teen, that she started to feel like the most authentic version of herself. Yet the 29-year-old says shopping for clothes in the men\u2019s department left her feeling insecure and self-conscious. Nothing ever fit her proportions. So she was resigned to thinking that\u2019s just the way it was.RACHEL TUTERA: I got used to wearing clothes that hid me. I thought I would just end up being someone who would prefer to be overlooked, or not worth sort of a second glance.RACHEL TUTERA: \u201cTypically you show a little bit of cuff \u2026\u201dIVETTE FELICIANO: After years of frustration shopping off the rack, Tutera decided to purchase her first tailored men\u2019s suit\u2026and she says the way she felt when she tried it on changed her life.RACHEL TUTERA: Having something custom-made for my body basically reintroduced me to my body and I have felt, like, incredibly visible in a way that\u2019s not just causing people to take a second look at me, but I think people see me in a way that may actually be aligned with how I see myself. And that has been the most, like, powerful, mind-blowing thing.IVETTE FELICIANO: The experience made Tutera want to pass that feeling on to others. So she approached the New York based made-to-order-men\u2019s suit company, \u201cBindle & Keep\u201d convincing the owner that he was overlooking an under-served market\u2026Not only masculine women, but also transgender men and other gender non-conforming people who want well-fitting, men\u2019s suits. She soon became the company\u2019s LGBTQ liaison, serving hundreds of people all over the country who sometimes spend up to 1,500 dollars for their custom made suit.RACHEL TUTERA: This is not just a need that is being recognized in progressive cities.IVETTE FELICIANO: Has it been emotional for any of your clients?RACHEL TUTERA: Yes it has been emotional for sure. Shopping or wearing clothes seems like a really mundane thing. But actually it\u2019s, like, incredibly meaningful and incredibly powerful and it can really, like, make or break an identity.ANN PELLEGRINI: There are so many different ways to be gender nonconforming. And there\u2019s an explosion of new vocabularies to talk about it.IVETTE FELICIANO: Ann Pellegrini is the Director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality at New York University.ANN PELLEGRINI: Many gender non-conforming people don\u2019t experience themselves as having been born into the wrong body. But they might find themselves deeply uncomfortable with the kinds of straightjackets of gender. The ways in which, you know, you\u2019re supposed to sort of present, again, this very narrow notion of femininity if you have a female body, a very narrow notion of masculinity if you have a male body.IVETTE FELICIANO: She says recently there\u2019s been an explosion of gender non-conforming people in mainstream media, challenging conventional gender roles.KATIE COURIC: This is the first time an openly transgender person has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine\u2026Why now do you think, Laverne?LAVERNE COX: Because of the internet and because of social media trans people we are voices now, and we are letting our voice be heard.JANET MOCK: I think that we are born and we\u2019re assigned a sex at birth. That is a matter none of us have control over. But we do have control over our destinies and over our identities \u2014 and we should be respected.IVETTE FELICIANO: Professor Ann Pellegrini believes that the growing visibility of gender-non-conforming people and the legalization of same-sex marriage in 19 states, has forced the fashion world to acknowledge the presence and buying power of the LGBTQ community.ANN PELLEGRINI: The really short answer would be capitalism. At the end of the day it\u2019s about seeing that there\u2019s a market.RACHEL TUTERA: I\u2019ve met a lot of people who say things like they\u2019ve been putting off getting married for ten years because they couldn\u2019t fathom what they would wear.IVETTE FELICIANO: Pew Research estimates that there have been more than 70,000 same-sex marriages since 2004, when Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize them.CRYSTAL GONZALEZ-ALE: So it\u2019s our first full collection where we did shirts blazers pants, bathing suits, we did it all\u2026IVETTE FELICIANO: And that has meant new clients for start-up companies like Marimacho, a Brooklyn-based clothing line that designs classic menswear for the \u201cunconventionally masculine.\u201dCRYSTAL GONZALEZ-ALE: I think there\u2019s a stereotype of masculine women existing outside of fashion. It\u2013 it\u2013 sort of\u2013 takes them as, you know, perpetual teenagers that are always gonna be awkward and dressed in ill-fitting clothing.IVETTE FELICIANO: Owners Ivette and Crystal Gonzalez-Ale, who are married, say investors laughed at their business idea at entrepreneurial mixers back in 2010. Yet the overwhelming support from their LGBTQ community allowed them to fund their project entirely without investors.IVETTE GONZALEZ-ALE: From the moment we put up our website\u2013 folks have been pouring in emails about how important it is for them to have\u2013 clothing that\u2019s appropriate for their gender.IVETTE FELICIANO: And now many mainstream labels are following suit. In 2012, Ford Models chose female Olympic swimmer and New York artist, Casey Legler, as its newest menswear model. In the same year, Yves Saint Laurent chose a female model as the face of its Spring\/Summer menswear collection. And just this year, luxury retailer Barneys New York featured 17 transgender models in its spring campaign.ANN PELLEGRINI: None of these designers would be sort of trying to produce clothes that would appeal to masculine women if they didn\u2019t think there were people who could walk in with a wallet and pull out a credit card.IVETTE FELICIANO: Though mainstream designers are starting to cater to the needs of the LGBTQ community, some shoppers say that sort of acceptance hasn\u2019t trickled down to their stores.IVETTE GONZALEZ-ALE: Most of our customers have tried department stores where the dressing rooms are typically gendered and that is a really violent experience\u2013to be removed from a dressing room or to be told that you don\u2019t belong there because of your perceived gender.IVETTE FELICIANO: What was surprising to you when just trying to shop at a store\u2013and going into a fitting room?RACHEL TUTERA: There\u2019s a weird tendency in people to panic when they can\u2019t tell if you\u2019re a man or a woman, or how you or how you may identify.IVETTE FELICIANO: Rachel Tutera says discrimination and judgment directed at people like her is often inevitable. That\u2019s why two years ago she started a fashion blog called \u201cThe Handsome Butch\u201d. The site hopes to empower readers with a simple message, which is that they too have \u201cthe right to be handsome.\u201dRACHEL TUTERA: It was almost like a meditation I had for myself when I was first shopping. It was, \u201cI have the right to be here\u201d. I think I just had to say over and over to myself, \u201cyou have the right to be handsome. You have the right to be handsome\u2013\u201d until it actually felt like a right instead of, like\u2013 like, a meditation I was trying to convince myself was true.IVETTE FELICIANO: Tutera\u2019s work will be featured in an upcoming documentary produced by Lena Dunham of the hit HBO series \u201cGirls\u201d. She says the one thing she won\u2019t be tailoring in the coming months is her message."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"LGBTQ+ fashion: tailored suits for masculine women and trans men are on the rise","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/tailored-suits-for-masculine-women-and-trans-men-are-on-the-rise\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]