Is there a Trunk Club for butches?

July 6, 2019 2:50 PM

I recently got a new job (yay!) and the dress code is business tending more to formal (ties, not suits). I feel like I might need a stylist to help get me started, but I'm not sure if there's a service out there willing or capable of dressing a plus-sized butch woman. Please tell me this exists!

My previous work environment was completely casual and I only dress up a couple of times a year. I have a small selection of dress shirts from Old Navy and thrift stores that worked enough to get me in the door, but I really feel like I need some help to expand my wardrobe. I am definitely aware of Autostraddle's Find Your Fit, but I don't know what to do besides copying the outfits -- I am not great at style. A friend suggested that I try Trunk Club or something similar, but I don't want a stylist to put me in a bunch of women's clothes, even if they aren't super femme. I want men's pants with giant men's pockets and dress shirts that I can wear ties with. To make things more complicated, I'm about a 16/18 women's or a size 40 in men's.

Has anyone on the butch/transmasc spectrum had any positive experiences with these services or any specific stylists? I'm primarily looking online because I live in a small city near St. Louis, MO and I doubt there are any in-person options. I know that probably I'll need to get some stuff tailored and I'm resigned to that, but it has to look good enough to get tailored to start with.

posted by possibilityleft to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

Best answer: Bindle & Keep are based in NYC, but maybe they know of tailors nearer to you and would be worth reaching out to for advice?
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:57 PM on July 6, 2019

Best answer: I have talked to larger transmasculine people who have successfully used Stitch Fix's men's offering.
posted by hoyland at 4:10 PM on July 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I haven't tried it yet, but I have been told by queer friends that Stitch Fix does a great job if you just tell them straight out "I'm gay and I want to look gay in the following specific way."
posted by waffleriot at 4:11 PM on July 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Nicole Cliffe apparently has a stylist at Trunk Club who has "has worked w me to make amazing outfits for fat friends, genderqueer friends, and disabled friends, he is a GIFT"; see link for referral link.
posted by damayanti at 4:34 PM on July 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Trunk Club might work. I recently tried it out and, thinking I was talking to a robot, told it its questions was giving me anxiety about my gender and wearing women's clothes. A nice human turned out to be on the other end and they were receptive to my anxiety and found me some clothes I loved that weren't too... whatever it is that was making me feel like I was doing female wrong. (I'm cis female and not butch but also don't feel emotionally comfortable in most clothing designed for women.) Some of the ads and social media stuff I've gotten from them have seemed to be open to multiple ideas of how people should dress.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:38 PM on July 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Tell Trunk Club what you want and they should meet it. You can also preview your trunk before it is sent so if you hate something, they wouldn't send it.
posted by notjustthefish at 6:15 PM on July 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: http://www.bindleandkeep.com/the-experience-back-up/ do BEAUTIFUL made-to-measure suits and shirts for butch women.

Gender free world also do some nice button-up shirts for people of all genders.

They sell the same clothing, with different cuts, to men/women/nonbinary people, and their sizing language is nicely nongendered.
posted by Murderbot at 1:43 AM on July 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: My wife has been having a fantastic experience with Buckle Select. They do trend more casual, but she's been getting some very nice button downs and shoes. When she set up her profile, she just selected "men" at the beginning of her style quiz and they've never blinked; if they've even noticed that her government name is very femme, it's never come up.
posted by joycehealy at 9:43 AM on July 7, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks for all the recommendations! I tried and really liked Stitch Fix -- who knew shirts came in short lengths -- and plan to try a couple more of these now that I feel more confident that a styling service can help me out.
posted by possibilityleft at 4:40 PM on August 19, 2019 [1 favorite]