WHY would women beg for classic-style education from menswear websites? If you as a woman care about haute couture clothing, fine tailoring, and luxurious shoes and accessories, you’ll find these subjects are addressed in menswear media, but grossly neglected by womenswear media!
And so, we as women are left with no other choice except to educate ourselves on the finer points of tailoring and shoe-craftsmanship through sources dedicated to menswear.
For years now, women who read Parisian Gentleman and watch Sartorial Talks (which targets classic menswear) have asked: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO INCLUDE US?
Common sense says that if women are demanding information, then it’s stupid to eliminate them from the tailoring and shoe making discussion. After all, women make up half of the purchasing-population, right?
So why on earth would so many multi-media formats outright refuse to include women in the classic style conversation?
Let’s start by breaking down seven reasons menswear media may steer away from the inclusion of women:
1- It’s likely that less women, compared to men, care about tailored clothing and shoe making.
2- Women’s shapes can be difficult to work with when crafting high-level clothing, so fewer artisans are willing to work with women.
3- Women’s style preferences vary wildly, while men’s style preferences are more consistent and easier to address.
4- Women often prefer fast-fashion over slower crafting.
5- The amount of women who like classic style could be too small to bother with.
6- A diminutive group of men may judge women harshly for wearing suits instead of dresses (even if women in tailored clothes are well-integrated in society).
7- Many women prefer online or retail shopping in boutiques, and department stores and don’t relate to or understand the elegant-dressing culture.
The small set of men who want to kick women out of the artisanship-discussion may find it perfectly acceptable for women to wear blue jeans, simply because they’ve become accustomed to seeing women in jeans. But women should ignore this subset of men; at any rate, many more men adore seeing women in tailored clothing. I have heard so many guys reference a woman in a suit by saying “she shows the guys how to do it right”.
Watch the news, and you’ll see more anchor women wearing tailored garments than dresses. Look at any woman-of-fame and you’ll likely find images of her wearing a suit. Women politicians now favor traditional tailoring over dresses. And, top professionals are steering away from dresses and more towards suiting.
The choice of women to wear tailored clothes and classic shoes is not a degradation of womanhood, but rather a way to experience tailoring and shoe craftsmanship—and eliminate problems like trying to work with one’s legs stuck together in a dress or skirt or keeping up with the guys when walking long distances in high heels.
The conclusion is that many women love the storied traditions of tailoring and shoe crafting, prefer classic style and timeless designs, and are enamored with the idea of owning sustainable clothing which can outlive them and be passed on to someone else.
And yes, plenty of these same women enjoy dresses and heels, too.
It’s time for media across-the-board to stop the nonsense-belief that content on classic style should be reserved for men.
Suits and tailored clothing are trending so strongly for women, that the phenomenon could eventually surpass the revival of the tailored-man. Contrast men and women’s attitudes about suiting: Some men unfamiliar with the tailoring culture, can feel overdressed and even paranoid to wear a suit, while women usually admire a man wearing well-tailored clothes. Flip the proposition and we find many men greatly appreciate an elegant, free-wielding, intelligent, badass woman who embraces the tailoring culture.
The coronavirus pandemic may propel the popularity of tailoring among women—caused by things like sweatpants-fatigue, the ease which classic style offers in managing a wardrobe, improved in appearance when wearing tailored or semi-tailored clothing, and the environmental sustainability of buying less but buying better (clothes which will last and can be passed on).
Women who embrace tailoring are stylish and serious at the same time—and are able to get work done without distracting wardrobe issues getting in the way.
In Season 2 of Madmen, you may recall the famous line spoken by Joan Holloway to Peggy, who was struggling to climb the corporate ladder, “If you want to be taken seriously, quit dressing like a little girl”!
As the fervor grows for more content among men who wear classic clothes (despite global dress-down pressure), we can no longer ignore the number of women who have written to ask for content on how they may enter the world of tailoring and shoe making.
Stay tuned for many articles, recommendations and resources to follow!
