Women in Menswear - Edition 3 – Division Road, Inc.

Journal

Women in Menswear - Edition 3

Virginia, USA

Cultivating the Space

Over the past season or two, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of female clients at Division Road, many of whom are as passionate about the rarity, quality, construction, and environmental impacts of our goods as our core male collector clientele. We have years of collective experience in womenswear and designer luxury goods, which has taught us that fabrics, weight, cuts, and overall womenswear design are fundamentally different. We apply that knowledge to our growing experience in determining which categories, brands, and makers at Division Road are most applicable to these clients.

A woman wearing a men’s cut-and-sized button-down or cardigan and adopting menswear-designated haberdashery like ties or suspenders is intriguing. Although we think there is real value in menswear references that fit properly and are fundamentally sound from form to figure. As tailoring in womenswear and overall quality have become increasingly inferior, we can select and suggest from our menswear pieces based on our knowledge of materials and cuts that have become revelations to our female clients.

For men, we’re strong advocates of finding a trusted tailor and making simple adjustments to length, sleeves, or recutting an item to a specific form. This applies even more to women, and the door to customization is wide open. For this edition, we created a tailor-made short from our TWCxDR 005 Relaxed Tapered 2 Year wash collaboration, with a full cut, wash, and dry, resulting in a proper fray. To replicate the raw-hem look currently common in womenswear, we hem-cut a pair of Samurai Japanese Cotton Kinari Regular Straights to achieve an authentic and awesome result. Finally, we customized the East Harbour Indigo Stone Washed Chambray Kodiak Work Shirt with a cropped front that hits right at the belt line and a longer tail with a split side seam, both of which are easy adjustments for a tailor to make.

There are some no-fail categories in our mix for women, such as knitwear cut similarly to men’s and made from a material with natural elasticity. Additionally, there are brands and pieces we should mention that fit and size well for women. Taiga Takahashi T.T has become an immediate draw for our female clients looking for an effortless, relaxed silhouette that is equally tailored, with a material and form translation that is clean and clearly luxurious. ts(s), for similar reasons, along with a focus on genderless styling, continues to hit the mark for directional, tailored-fit pieces. Gitman Vintage shirting remains the tried-and-true for button-downs that work well off the rack, with easy alterations from sleeve to body recuts for some, making them the go-to women’s collared shirt choice for office, day, and night. Our Dehen 1920 collaboration jackets using Division Road sourced cloths remain an attraction, as the fit, quality, and updated classic styling are timeless regardless of gender. De Bonne Facture and Fortela overcoats also translate amazingly well to the female form and to big-coat outerwear fashions.

Denim and trouser fits can be difficult to manage for women's wear. This is compounded when looking for something outside their market’s standard non-natural-fiber world, like 100% cotton denim. However, we’re commonly able to size and fit most frames well. The Japan Blue J301 Straight is amazing for a more fitted leg, and the J501 Loose works splendidly for a more directional wide. Momotaro’s new #200 Standard Tapered fit has been a great success for women, along with almost any of the Samurai Relaxed Tapered and Regular Straight cuts. We’ve even been fitting women with Studio D’Artisan unsanforized shrink-to-fits, which allows for the most bespoke denim fit long-term. Almost any bottom from T.T, MotivMFG, and Fortela is a surefire option for most figures. The idea that, for menswear to be applicable for women, one must prefer the roomy, oversized, or frumpy look is erroneous. In short, for all of you women who wish to add some high-quality, rare goods to your wardrobe, we look forward to serving you.

For this edition, we wanted to focus on the cultured hobbyist. Our goods are equally at home tending a garden as they are settling into a well-worn chair with a good book, free from the pull of a social media feed. These quieter pursuits — from nature to study — reflect our community and environment, and our aim to provide pieces that bring greater depth, quality, and care to everyday life. Whether a plant, book, jacket, or pair of boots, we believe the things we choose to live with and our connection to them truly matter.

The Market at Grelen & Grelen Nursery

One of our favorite partners, Grelen is renowned for its awe-inspiring location and niche formula, which have made it one of the largest in-ground, visitable nurseries nationwide. One of the unique, entrepreneurial, family-owned and run businesses we connected with in our early days in Virginia, Grelen has been an amazing resource and collaborator with Division Road at The Fields. Over the past 30 years, it has become an impressive go-to destination for full-grown trees in our region, including many of our favorite specimen plantings at The Fields. The Market at Grelen is one of our choice weekend destinations for lunch at the café, walking miles of trails featuring tree plantings, and grabbing hard-to-find or rarely discovered lifestyle-oriented gifts and accessories.

2nd Act Books

Located in the historic downtown mall, 2nd Act Books is one of six independent bookstores in Charlottesville, making our town one of the nation’s most densely populated per capita reading communities. As second-hand goods have become a recent trend, we wholeheartedly support the shift toward scaled consumption and sustainability. Our downtown is chock-full of vintage, antique, curated thrift, and bookstores that give goods a renewed life. 2nd Act is a cozy shop that presents a broad selection of carefully used books, where you can explore your next soul-searching, entertaining, or informative read. Common in CVille, the shop is closely linked to the community, with the founding inventory and many current additions donated freely.