March 28, 2024 The Newspaper Serving LGBT Los Angeles

L.A.-based Sharpe Suiting Offers Gender-Neutral Apparel

If you’re a queer, non-binary, or gender-neutral person who’s ever had to enter a formal environment, you’ll most likely be familiar with this struggle: You want to appear professional and respectful, and you want to be taken seriously.

But you also don’t want to have to compromise your identity and sense of well-being just for the sake of some clothes. And you certainly don’t want to have to feel like you’re in “work drag” or even “wedding drag” all the time. For those of us who already feel like we’ve spent a good deal of our lives wearing clothes that simply didn’t fit who we were, having to go back into that headspace can be triggering.

So why aren’t there more companies that cater to those of us who want to step out in style without putting on drag? A few years ago, a big deal was made out of Rae Tutera’s Bindle & Keep, a bespoke tailoring company based out of New York City specializing in gender-neutral styles and meeting an unexpectedly high demand. The West Coast equivalent of Tutera’s business model is L.A.’s own Sharpe Suiting, an outfit (pardon the pun) created and run by Leon Wu, whose approach to suiting is nothing short of revolutionary.

Since opening in 2013, Sharpe has collected “4000+ body metrics from over 250 clients, both women and men” and has “developed a revolutionary new gender-neutral sizing standard,” as Sharpe told Autostraddle. Not only does Sharpe believe that fashion has a lot to do with a person’s identity, he feels that clothing doesn’t essentially need to be broken down into the traditional binary of male and female. Instead, Sharpe uses his own system of measurement that’s fine-tuned and highly customizable to reflect the customer’s personality and taste, not their gender.

“For hundreds of years,” Sharpe Suiting’s website explains, “tailors around the world have used Anthropometrics, the study of human measurement, to design clothing for men and women, clearly delineating the two. At Sharpe, we developed Andropometrics — our patented way of measuring the body to create a more masculine or feminine silhouette, reflecting your style and identity. Based directly on real measurements from our many clients, we know how to suit you.”

Andropometrics is about personal style and body movement. It also puts the control into the hands of the customer rather than working from an arbitrary gender standard.

“Bridging the gap between menswear and womenswear is going to have a large social impact in that it defines the acceptance of queer identities, as well as advancing gender equality in the larger straight community,” Wu told the Huffington Post. His point is already being proven daily in the news with talk of gender discrimination and harassment exposing the huge inequalities in the American workplace.

The importance of fashion seems to grow stronger in our culture every day. We’re already told from a young age that “clothes make the man.” But what if the man, or woman, or non-binary individual, had a bit more control over what they wanted their clothes to say?

Related Posts

Full Frontal Disco Returns To Akbar

August 5, 2021

August 5, 2021

Full Frontal Disco will return to the Silver Lake neighborhood gay bar Akbar. Resuming Saturday August 7th and continuing every...

LA Gay Leather Bar Eagle Asking For Help

February 14, 2021

February 14, 2021

Popular Silver Lake leather bar Eagle LA  has turned to the popular fundraising site GoFundMe to help with financial strain...

Faultline Gay Bar Closes, Looks For New Location

February 4, 2021

February 4, 2021

After 26 years at their Silver Lake location The Faultline leather bar has closed and is looking for a new...

Saving Silver Lake Bar Akbar

January 6, 2021

January 6, 2021

Struggling to survive amid the Corona-virus pandemic, iconic LGBTQI+ hangout Akbar took to a fundraising page to ask for help....

Queer Owned Cuties Coffee Shop Closes

August 23, 2020

August 23, 2020

Cuties, Los Angeles’ only queer focused coffee shop, has closed permanently due to the stresses of COVID-19.  The East Hollywood...

COLUMN: “The L Word: Generation Q” is a Pandering Mess

December 11, 2019

December 11, 2019

It’s strange to look back across a period of ten years and realize how much you’ve changed. Things that felt...

“The L Word: Gen. Q” Can’t Come Soon Enough!

December 6, 2019

December 6, 2019

We are ready for you, “The L Word: Generation Q!”  A decade after the original series ended, “The L Word”...

“The L Word” Gang Moves to Silverlake?!

February 26, 2019

February 26, 2019

And 9 other exclusive reveals about the reboot season of “The L Word” Fans of “The L Word” rejoiced last...

GAY L.A. COLUMN: Meet You On the Other Side

December 19, 2018

December 19, 2018

Remembering L.A.’s last great piano bar. Earlier this month, the New York Times ran a profile of Steve Ross, one...

10 of the Best Trans Resources in L.A. County

October 29, 2018

October 29, 2018

With the recent news that the Trump administration plans to define us out of existence, compiled with the revelation of...

The Radicalized foundation of PRIDE for the LGBTQ+ Community

October 12, 2018

October 12, 2018

Considered a more radical LGBTQ+ activist group, Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE), was founded in 1966 and paved...

Los Angeles, Get Ready for Lamda LitFest!

September 28, 2018

September 28, 2018

The second annual Lambda LitFest Los Angeles is just around the corner! Designed to celebrate contemporary voices honoring and expanding...

Omar Rivero Seeks Democratic Answer to Fox News

October 23, 2017

October 23, 2017 2

Omar Rivero wants to use the same tactics as Fox News to break down the Trump administration.