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Featured in the Toronto Star: Gotstyle now offers made-to-measure suits for women with curves

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made-to-measure suits for women

Photo by Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star

One Toronto shop is on a mission to stop women’s bodies from being compared to fruit.

Melissa Austria, the owner of GotStyle, saw a gap in the market: made-to-measure suiting for women whose curves do not fit neatly into off-the-rack seams and darts.

GotStyle began life as a fashion-forward men’s boutique on lower Bathurst St., a hip empire since expanded to include a second shop at the Distillery also with women’s offerings. But up until now, the custom stuff had been guy-only.

“We had so many requests for women’s made-to-measure that we decided we had to do something,” she says. “Men, are more straightforward to fit, as the suit pattern sizes go pretty predictably up and down the grading from a standard fit model,” says Austria.

“Women, of course, have curves to dress around. And we don’t want to be labeled an apple or a pear because of that. Or compared to the ‘ideal’ classic hourglass. Or the modern myth of ‘size zero,’ perpetuated by designer sizing.”

At the lower Bathurst St. flagship of the 11-year-old local business, made-to-measure manager Konstantine Malishevski has a chic little alcove, bathed in sunlight, to measure both men and women for his custom suiting.

After 28 years in the business, the Ukrainian-born and-trained fourth-generation master tailor turned his attention to the challenge Austria threw down, and puzzled out how to solve the problem of fitting women’s suits for curves. He developed a system of 30 measurements and created patterns for nine women’s body types that correspond to celebrity inspirations instead of fruit or geometric figures. “Women have busts, curves and butts,” Malishevski says, “which cannot be catered to by simply altering a menswear pattern.”

His inspirations “role models” range from Sophie Gregoire Trudeau to Céline Dion to Adele, Ellen Page to Serena Williams: the nine shapes are paired with celebrity icons admired for their individuality and diversity of style.

After all, fruit is meant for a display bowl, inert and fungible. The perils of objectification have long been at the beating heart of feminist theory, yet the Internet — as stacks of fashion magazines before it — insists on doling out cheerful advice as to how to hide the bits seen as less desirable. “How-to” dressing guides make some fruits seem better than others.

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Photo by Carlos Osorio / Toronto Star

Malishevski keeps a deconstructed men’s suit jacket on hand to show clients (and style writers) what is under the hood, so to speak: the hand-basted versus glued lapels, the shoulder padding, the rise of an armhole, the place a shirt cuff should fall when the arm is raised.

Breasts sit at entirely different places on every woman, says Malishevki. Most women, he says, aren’t wearing the right bra in the right size, and the process of measuring chest, bust and rib cage size is woefully misunderstood and poorly practiced. “Women have three different chest measurements, whereas men have only one. Each one affects the length and the lie of the lapel.”

Also, he says, “women stand differently from men.” Thus posture is something else a made-to-measure tailor can accommodate for, as well as the difference between the waist and the “natural waist,” which affects how the back of a jacket is fitted.

The GotStyle made-to-measure service fills a niche between the extreme luxury of a bespoke suit (approximately $2,000 to $3,000, created to a completely new customized pattern and all completed on-site by hand) and made-to-measure where a tailor adjusts existing patterns and some work may be done off-site. In the case of the women’s service, Malishevski has created his own new set of base patterns, with more shapes emerging as they come into his studio.

The made-to-measure price point of GotStyle hits a sweet spot of $1,300 for a woman’s two-piece suit. Top local options in bespoke that also serve female clientele include Trend Custom Tailors at Sherbourne St. and Gerrard St. E., which does custom couture (generally meaning dresses) for women since 1972 and it now does bespoke women’s suits starting at $2,500; Isaac Ely Bespoke in North York, which has a significant business in women’s suiting starting at $1,800; and Walter Beauchamp Tailors, now located in Holt Renfrew Men, which has always done tailored items for women, with two pieces starting at $2,000.

Malishevski’s new MTM female clients are effusive in their praise. Graphic designer Rachel Ott, 48, is having her first custom jacket made.

“I’m tall — six-foot-three — and I’m plus-sized, so shopping is really hard for me and I avoid it,” she says. Off-the-rack, she says, “The waist doesn’t land where my waist is. The placement of the shoulder is off. The buttons are in the wrong place. The little darts, supposed to be above or below the breast, are in all the wrong spots.”

So she decided to splurge on a made-to-measure jacket she could dress up with a skirt or down with jeans, with a flirty little peplum. And she added in something fun, a customized lining with a skull pattern on it. “Professional on the outside, with this little hidden secret.”

They are currently at the muslin stage, as this piece is an intricate enough fit that Malishevski wanted to add in a mock-up stage to the process to get it just right. “I was nervous,” says Ott, “he takes so many measurements. And I had trouble really imagining the piece until the muslin try-on. And then there were even more little tweaks he wanted to make. I’m now really excited to see my piece. I have a fantasy that if I were really rich I’d never buy off-the-rack again.”

Another client landed in Malishevski’s hands for her wedding suit, after a series of less than satisfactory visits to menswear shops around town.

“I’m typically more comfortable in what society deems as male clothing,” says Jodi McGeown, who married her wife this past September in a custom pant, vest and shirt ensemble by Malishevski. “Even just the looks from people working and shopping in those other spots, it wasn’t a comfortable experience on so many levels, which was a great frustration.”

At GotStyle, “Konstantine was a delight to work with. He made it so easy, in that comfortable little space he has carved out. We expressed what we generally wanted in terms of colour and possible style. He began showing us different colours and patterns and words I’ve just learned.”

But the real revelation was in wearing something that fit so well, she says. “Something made exactly for me, it was surprising how well it felt and how good it looked.” Malishevski worked with the wedding colour scheme, right down to McGeown’s purple bow tie. “We are a pretty matchy couple,” she says. “The guys matched with me, and my wife’s wedding party, and it all flowed with the theme down to the parting gifts. Konstantine has a real skill in reading people.”

The main difference between men and women under his measuring tapes, says Malishevski, comes down to perception. “Men look in the mirror and they see the suit and how it fits. Women are looking at their own insecurities: does the skirt make my butt look fat, or does the jacket make my breasts look big. It’s a very different psychology, getting women to look at how a garment fits without layering in all those preconceived notions about who they are, and what it says about them.”

By putting the fruit back in the bowl, and instead focusing on proper fit, Austria and Malishevski are working to change women’s minds, one lapel at a time.

GotStyle’s celebrity body patterns for women’s

made-to-measure suiting

Céline Dion (5’7, 117 lbs.) — narrow, slender, boxy figure

Malishevski says he would “Tailor to give her a waist,” meaning a more pronounced shoulder that comes down narrow from the top of the jacket to the waist. He would “lower the button position to open up the chest, and make the jacket slightly short and flared at the seat.”

Serena Williams (5’9, 154 lbs.) — athletic, shapely, tall

For Williams, he would keep the shoulder natural (no pad), and focus on an ‘expressive waist,’ with a double or single-breasted jacket of standard length.

Sophie Trudeau (5’5”) — broad, curvy, soft

For Trudeau, “a double breasted jacket would be best, with regular shoulder (with padding). Malishevski would lengthen the jacket by 3 inches to cover the seat.

Mindy Kaling (5’5”, 165 lbs.) — curvy, soft, short, natural shoulder

Malishevsi suggests a one-button jacket in a shorter cut to create a shorter torso and more open chest in the jacket. He would drop the button lower.

Michelle Obama (5’11”, 170 lbs.) — tall, curvy, toned

For the former First Lady, Malishevski would prescribe a more pronounced, “expressive” shoulder (achieved with more padding), and a two-button jacket of a longer length to create more torso area. He would finish with a large cutaway at the front of the jacket.

Melissa McCarthy (5’2”, 245 lbs.) — short, shapely, full-figured

The American funny lady would get a regular-length jacket, but Malishevski would lower the button position and finish with a soft shoulder (which means a small amount of padding). To avoid boxiness, he would also add a wide cutaway at the front.

Ellen Page (5’1”, 106 lbs.) — thin, petite, narrow figure

For the Canadian actress’s shape, Malishevski would offer a double-breasted jacket with wide peaks to make the shoulders appear bigger. The jacket would be regular length, with a very tailored “pinched” waist.

Adele (5’9”, 181 lbs.) — short torso, tall, large frame

The British chanteuse, notes Malishevski, does not generally wear a jacket, but he suggests someone with her curves try a three-quarter length, double-breasted jacket that lands lower than the hips. The shoulder would be left normal, but the buttonhole dropped for a longer chest opening to elongate the torso.

Kim Kardashian (5’2”, 124 lbs.) — short, voluptuous, narrow waist

Kardashian-West has what Malishevski considers the most challenging body type to tailor. Her aggressive curvature means a large difference between chest, waist and set. Thus he says, the jacket needs to be tailored to go in at the waist, and then out: the whole bottom of the jacket needs to be a separate piece to play with the curves.


See the full article on the Toronto Star website // Visit Gotstyle Custom for more information

Finding Your Groomsmen Suits Ain’t Easy

Although our suits start at $495 and average around the $800 mark. Asking your groomsmen to drop $800 suit for your wedding day is (honestly) dreaded by most of your friends.

As a groom, you want to make everyone happy, keep costs low but still have a great looking bunch of groomsmen. To remedy this we developed the grads and grooms suit program.

In this package, there are 17 fabrics to choose from (eight sampled below).

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Gotstyle Grads & Grooms Swatch Book

mens suits

Gotstyle Grads and Grooms 4 Colours

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Gotstyle Grads and Grooms 4 Colours


About The Suit

A single-breasted, slim fitting suit sized from 34 to 44T with a 7inch drop. (Suits have a drop” this is the difference between the jacket size and your pant size).

It is a two buttoned jacket with a notch lapel, two vents, and slanted pockets. 

Key benefits: Stretch fabrication armhole that provides extra movement across the arms and chest. 

What Fabric Swatches And Colours Are Available?

There are 17 colour options available to order. A product swatch book is available for you to decide on colour and fabric.

Featuring:

  • Eight solid colours (navy, true blue, light blue, mid grey, light grey, burgundy, black, pink)
  • Two birds-eye fabrics (blue, blue)
  • Four windowpane fabrics (blue/white, navy/blue, burgundy/white,grey/white).
  • Tonal Floral (blue/black, black/black)
  • Texture grey

How Does The G&G Groomsmen Suits Program Work? 

You’re welcome to come in with your group or send them in one by one. Your grooms will try on our sample jackets to determine size. Then, we take your deposit ($100) and the suits arrive between the next  5-7 business days. 

What If I Need Alterations?

Alterations can be done in house by our tailors and are included in the price.

How Much Does It Cost?

We’ve competitively priced these suits at $395.00. A bit more than a rental but the suit is yours to keep!

Find out more about this Grads & Grooms program or for help planning your wedding or graduation outfit send us a message on Live Chat.


Are you a Groom looking for something special? Custom suiting is now available for men and women.

 

Black Friday 2016

November 22, 2016

Our legendary suit sale is back for Black Friday 2016

On Friday, November 25th all suits will be 40% off the regular price. This sale price will only last for 24 hours. The weekend we’ll continue with the sale below.

Store hours: Distillery 10-9 and Bathurst 10-8


Buy a suit, tuxedo or wool overcoat a regular price and get a second of equal or lesser value for 50% off.  Complete the look; choose a dress shirt, tie and pocket square for 30% off. 

The sale will go all weekend long but don’t wait the popular sizes and styles always go first!

BRANDS
Tiger Of Sweden • Eidos Napoli • Hardy Amies • Strellson
LAB by Pal Zileri • Baldessarini • GOTSTYLE Italia • Without Prejudice
Duchamp London • Van Gils • SAND Copenhagen

Suit Sizes
36S up to 52L

The Deal: Overcoat & Suit

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Details:

Olliver Grey – Windowpane Check Suit $1095
Sand – Fine Boucle Overcoat $795 $397.50

COMPLETE THE LOOK
Gotstyle – Solid Dress Shirt $165 $115.50
Seaward & Stern – Tie $150 $105
A. Christensen – Pocket Square $45 $31.50

ORIGINAL PRICE $2250
FINAL PRICE $1744.50
TOTAL SAVINGS $505.50

The Deal: Overcoat & Suit

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Details:

Hardy Amies – Check DB Overcoat $1495
NYFS – Tight Checks Peak Lapel Super 130s Wool Suit $989 $494.50

COMPLETE THE LOOK
Sand – Mini Dots Shirt $225 $157.50
Seaward & Stern – Tie $150 $105
A. Christensen – Pocket Square $45 $31.50

ORIGINAL PRICE $2904
FINAL PRICE $2284.50
TOTAL SAVINGS $619.50

The Deal: Overcoat & Suit

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Details:

Baldessarini – Alpaca Coat $2995
Baldessarini – Wool Flannel Stripe Suit $1295 $649

COMPLETE THE LOOK
Gotstyle – Micro Print Dress Shirt $165 $115.50
Oliver Grey – Tie $98 $68.60
A. Christensen – Pocket Square $45 $31.50

ORIGINAL PRICE $4598
FINAL PRICE $3859.60
TOTAL SAVINGS $738.40

The Deal: Suit & Suit

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LEFT: Lab – Micro Houndstooth Super 130s Suit $995 

COMPLETE THE LOOK
A. Christensen – Pocket Square $45 $31.50
Sand – Denim Floral Print Shirt $250 $175
Hardy Amies – Tie $145 $101.50

RIGHT: Without Prejudice – Birdseye Notch Lapel Suit $995$497.50

COMPLETE THE LOOK
Jin Quin – Silk Puff $15 $10.50
Oliver Grey – Tie $98 $68.60
Circle of Gentlemen – Caledon Houndstooth Check Dress Shirt $255 $178.50

ORIGINAL PRICE $2798
FINAL PRICE $2058.10
TOTAL SAVINGS $739.90

The Deal: Overcoat & Tuxedo

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Hardy Amies – Double Breasted Overcoat $1100
NYFS – Zigzag Tuxedo Jacket $725 $362.50

COMPLETE THE LOOK
Stenstroms – Slimline Tuxedo Shirt $265 $185.50
Dion – TYS Silk Bowtie $110 $77
Jin Quin – Silk Puff $15 $10.50

ORIGINAL PRICE $2215
FINAL PRICE $1755.50
TOTAL SAVINGS $484.50

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Gotstyle’s 10 Year Anniversary’s Best Dressed

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary last summer at the Audi downtown dealership in Toronto. It was also in celebration and debut of the first issue of Gotstyle Man. The party featured a live band and a collection of influential guest at the fashion show; this fashionable event filled the room with many well-dressed men.

There were many dapper and unique looks, everyone came in their best dressed, but there are some who stood out from the rest. We love a good tuxedo, suit and colour combination. Click through our gallery to see if you made the list. Don’t forget to get your tickets for our upcoming Gotstyle Man Issue #3 Party. Proceeds go to support the local charity, The Remix Project.

 

 

 

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Tuxedos are great. They’re elegant and you can’t go wrong wearing one. But don’t get bored of the same old, same old. If you’re a regular tux wearer or need something new and different, look to DALLA suits and tuxedos.

DALLA is a Canadian brand founded by Designer Hussein Shiraz and he’s changing the way men think about fashion. He pushes the mould of modern evening wear and provides a label that exudes class, luxury, and elegance. Specializing in tailored fits and the finest European sourced materials and craftsmanship, DALLA is a flawless blend of classic and contemporary design.

Make a statement like our own Canadian superstar The Weeknd. He wore a DALLA suit for Diddy’s 2015 NYE bash.

New DALLA Suits & Tuxedos

Summer Suits

May 31, 2016

Summer suits are characterized by their lightweight fabrics or bold patterns and bright colours.

Seasonally speaking, this is your chance to break away from the dark winter tweeds, heavy wools, and flannels into something with a little more personality. We like to say that if you’re wearing a suit every day you need at least five in your wardrobe. This prevents your suits from literally, busting at the seams and other general wear and tear.

  1. Charcoal Grey
  2. Classic Solid Navy Suit
  3. Blue Pattern (Windowpane or Check)
  4. Lighter Weight Grey Solid Suit or Heavier Weight Darker Grey Charcoal
  5. Charcoal Grey Pattern (pinstripe or windowpane)

Once you’ve got those down, and summer suit season hits, you can add in at least one bright AF suit to assert your style dominance.

Disclaimer: If your summer suit is bold it has to fit properly.
No worries, when you shop with a Gotstyle Stylist, all full priced suits include basic alterations.

Here are some of our newest Summer Suits to keep you high style and low in heat.

New Suit Arrivals

 

With over 20 different suit brands we’re sure to have one to fit you. Drop in at one of our two locations to find a suit that fits your body type.

Want more suiting style tips? Check out our YouTube style channel for more advice on dressing better to do better.