The Journal — Women's Tailoring

The coat is the garment that most exposes the consequences of poor fit — because it is worn over everything else, because it is the first thing visible, and because it is the thing a person arrives in. A coat that fits badly announces its inadequacy immediately, regardless of what is underneath it.

The idea of "power dressing" in the 1980s was an approximation — women's clothing designed to signal authority by borrowing the visual language of men's suits. Broad padded shoulders, boxy silhouettes, the explicit statement that here is a woman dressed like authority is supposed to look. It worked, in its moment, but it was an approximation.

Ready-to-wear suits are designed for a body that most women don't have. The shoulders are cut for a standardized width. The waist suppression assumes a specific proportion between chest and hip. The sleeve length accounts for an average arm, which fits almost no one. The result is a suit that requires significant alteration before it fits acceptably, and even then, the alterations are adjustments to a pattern that was never yours.

The wedding suit for women is not new. The history of brides in tailored clothing runs through the 20th century in parallel with the history of the white gown — in quieter photographs, in smaller ceremonies, in the weddings of women who had decided that a gown was not what they wanted to be married in. What is new is that the wedding suit has become mainstream — a recognized and celebrated option rather than an unconventional one.