Gender Neutral Suits: Custom Clothing for Nonbinary People
In addition to proudly serving both our male and female communities, we believe it is essential to clearly distinguish ourselves by providing exceptional services to androgynous and gender non-conforming individuals as well. At Watson Ellis, one of our foremost priorities is to offer premium, tailor-made custom suiting options to absolutely everyone, explicitly including our gender-nonconforming communities. This commitment is not about filling some trendy niche or simply being politically correct. Rather, it stems from our genuine dedication to building an equal opportunity company and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels completely valued, embraced, and welcome without exception.
What does Non-Binary Clothing mean to you?
When it comes to thinking about custom tailoring as a gender-nonconforming person, it's important to keep in mind that at Watson Ellis we can truly match the fit of your suit to your body image preferences. This is a conversation with the client during our consultation meeting about what elements of a custom tailored suit make it gender neutral. We have to keep in mind that tailoring is historically a masculine way of dressing, so we are already tipping the scale in one direction. The question is where/how do we want to incorporate feminine and/or masculine design elements into the suit? For instance, we sometimes have to accommodate for busts, and we can conceal your curves (if you wish) without making you look like a box! Alternatively here are certain tricks we can do to accentuate the hips and bust. And maybe we want a blend of both, a more traditionally feminine pant style or maybe a skirt, paired with a more oversized jacket without bust darts to create a more boxy effect. We’ve got all kinds of ideas for you, but you will need to come talk to us in person to find out what those are!
(Pictured: all suits we have actually made ourselves at Watson Ellis)Of course, these body shape generalizations are exactly that - generalizations arrived at after years of experience fitting men’s and women’s bodies. In reality, we know that every body is beautifully unique, which is why we have to assess your fit in person to let you know what we can do for you!
In terms of design for gender-nonconforming people, it's also important to note that from the ground up we have built Watson Ellis as a androgynous company. We love androgynous clothing in general - that is, clothes that don't fit neatly into either polarized gender categories. In terms of our style and fabric guides, we don't separate the fabrics / buttons / trim into what is more feminine or masculine. By design, everything we have works for both sexes. In our view that's how it should be - no more fashion rigidity, and much more fashion fluidity.
So if you're a gender-nonconforming person in the market for a custom suit, tuxedo, shirts or winter coat, please consider Watson Ellis. We love to think (and will stand by it) that we not only make the best custom wear in NYC, but the best androgynous custom wear as well. What you will find at Watson Ellis, as a gender-nonconforming person, is a welcoming, judgment-free (unless we're talking style judgments, that is) environment where your style choices and creativity in custom design are enabled to flourish. Please consider scheduling an obligation-free call to chat with Melissa, our designer and founder, and better familiarize yourself with our process.