What Suiting Details do Women Value? If Any.
It started with a conversation about mens tailoring and segued into the difference between what women and men value in their clothing, and I was shook.
I had always approached mens’ and womens’ tailoring with an equal lens, understanding that fundamentally, both sexes would appreciate the details of internal parts that encompass a finished suit. A lot of components are unseen to the naked eye, such as the canvas, chest pieces, fusing, and stitching details that create structure within the suit jacket or blazer. It was suggested that women do not care for these details and it got me thinking. As someone who happens to care about these details, it didn’t occur to me that others might not. Men often make a show of knowing details about their suits, such as the button material (horn), surgeon’s cuff (functioning vs non functioning buttons), wool composition or linen weight, the interior components (full canvas, half canvas, or fused), etc. It’s a source of pride when purchasing a suit, that they know exactly what they want and they can use the lingo to obtain it.
Many mass produced suits (for both women and men) are fused nowadays, reducing the amount of unseen labor that goes into the construction of a suit jacket or blazer. Therefore reducing the overall cost and streamlining the production process in order to facilitate mass manufacturing. What I find is that often, the fusing used on mass manufactured suit jackets is inappropriate for the self (or main fabric), meaning that the fabric will pucker, the glue wears away quickly after a launder, or it is too stiff/too soft.
I’m curious to know whether this inference is true, and if women do not really care about these details. Do you know what your suits are made of? or research their details prior to purchase?