A Guide: Suits for Masculine Presenting Women

I’m often asked ‘Where can masculine presenting women shop for clothing or suits’. How I wish there was a simple answer to this question, but let’s face it, clothing designers don’t exactly have masculine presenting women in mind when they are making their collections. 

So… to answer your question as best as I know how I’m going to have to break this down in several posts. That way, I’m able to target specific brands for specific style needs. Since I love suiting, today, I’m going to share where masculine presenting women can shop for suits!

‘Off-The-Rack’ Suits for Masculine Presenting Women

When it comes to suiting, most masculine presenting women that I talk to shop off-the-rack. Their number one reason is affordability. I totally get it because at one point, I primarily shopped off-the-rack for that very reason. However, there are many challenges that I stumbled upon when I was ‘shopping off-the-rack’. 

The main challenge is that off-the-rack “womenswear” is oftentimes too feminine, even when it’s a “boyfriend” fit and “menswear” is more-often cut too large for our frames.

There are two key things to keep in mind when shopping off-the-rack:

1. The idea is to purchase suits (and clothing) that are long lasting vs. cheap or lesser quality and poorly made. Try and make sure to select items that are made with true quality fabrics versus simply buying too much. Quality over quantity always makes better sense!!

2. Find a local tailor that you feel comfortable going to for adjustments and alterations because trust me, you’ll need them!

Here are some recommendations for queer-owned off-the-rack suiting options:

I also have some options for mainstream off-the-rack suiting, but like I mentioned before, oftentimes, the women’s suits are too feminine and the menswear suits are cut too large. What has worked for me in the past is to buy a women’s blazer and mens trouser, which I’ll take to get altered.

Here are some recommendations for affordable mainstream off-the-rack suiting:

Custom Suits for Masculine Presenting Women

I’ve shopped an array of brands from fast fashion to luxury but it’s still pretty rare when I find pieces that compliment my style and look flattering, which is why I prefer to wear tailor-made or custom clothing. Plus, another huge benefit to custom clothing is that it’s longer lasting, and overtime, more cost effective.

Here are my recommendations for queer-owned and LGBTQ+ friendly custom clothier companies:

She’s a Gent Reminder

Remember, real style is never right or wrong, it’s a matter of being yourself on purpose.

Custom SuitsOff-the-rack suits