Learning That Women's Fit Is Different
I've been making custom suits for men since 2017, and fitting men is usually pretty straightforward. Most men's bodies are very similar in proportion. The biggest differences are usually height, weight, and whether someone works out or not. If you take two men who are both 6 feet tall and around 200 pounds, chances are their measurements are going to be very close. There might be some small differences, but overall, they are usually pretty similar.
Fitting women is not like that at all.
When I started FD Bespoke in the summer of 2023, I decided to start fitting women and I honestly thought, "How hard could it be?" How ignorant I was. It's way harder than fitting men. Even though I had a lot to learn, I'm glad I asked myself that, because it pushed me to start.
I had seen the charts before with the different body types for women. The triangles, the apples, the pears. But for some reason, I didn't really take it seriously. I quickly learned that if you take two women who are both 5'7 and 150 pounds, their measurements can be completely different. Where they carry weight, the shape of their shoulders, hips, chest, arms, all of it varies so much more than it does for men.
That is why fitting women is much harder. Women's bodies vary so much more than men's do.
It is also why women's clothing sizes are so frustrating. I have heard from so many women that sizing from 0 to 20 just does not work, especially for suits. It makes it hard to get a matching jacket and pants that both fit well.
A lot of this comes down to how the industry works. Most sizing systems are built for businesses, not for customers. Brands want to limit inventory, so they create standard sizes and hope people can make them work. Women are left trying to squeeze into those sizes or search for a brand that fits their body type.
From the beginning, we wanted Mea to do this differently.
Searching for the Right Way to Measure
I truly believe that for every person, there is a perfect suit size.
Based on your body and your shape, there are ideal measurements that a tailor could use to cut fabric and make you a suit that fits you perfectly. That exists for everyone.
So, the important question is how do you actually find those numbers in a simple and reliable way?
That is what we wanted to solve at Mea.