Tailor It For Her

Still reeling from the Met Gala? Ana Beatriz Reitz sure is. This week, she writes for STAR⟡MAIL on the timely topic of women’s suiting.

And if you didn’t make it to the Met Gala, check the end of this email for invitations to two very exciting events in New York this week and next!

In honor of the fantastic tailored looks from Monday’s Met Gala, enjoy this piece from Ana Beatriz Reitz on women’s suiting.

Ana Beatriz Reitz is a Brazilian fashion freelance writer who covers anything fashion-related. As a Latin American fashionista, she values a diverse and inclusive fashion landscape and aims to make a difference in the complex yet beautiful industry that surrounds her. 

She has a weekly newsletter called For Fashion’s Sake, where she explores fashion scandals, collections, and the current state of the industry —  with that touch of humor we all love.

Tailor It For Her: Women in Suits 

Ana Beatriz Reitz

As much as a dress does wonders on the red carpet and every other occasion, there’s nothing quite like a suit. Underneath the tailored, carefully crafted piece, there’s a whole level of coolness, defiance, and sophistication that a dress or a skirt can’t really replicate. Case in point: It’s 1990, and a charismatic Julia Roberts poses with her Golden Globe award for best supporting actress for ‘‘Steel Magnolias’’  in a historical gray menswear Armani suit. ‘‘I could not have known that it was going to become this, like, statement outfit,’’ the Pretty Woman actress told British Vogue. A statement it was. And now, it's hard to think of a time when a woman in the public eye didn't have a significant impact in fashion and culture by breaking the mold and challenging traditional gender roles. 

Since its debut in 1666, during the reign of King Charles II of England, the suit has shown great potential. While it was initially worn only by men at court, King Charles II's adoption of the French idea of dressing his court men in waistcoats, pants, and ties would later evolve into the modern men's suit. It wasn't until the 1870s that the costume was first worn by a woman. When the actress Sarah Bernhardt scandalized Paris by wearing ‘‘boy's clothes,’’ which stood for a tailored suit, history was being made. By 1900, European women were already wearing a type of suit, with tailored jackets and long skirts, for activities such as equitation and walking. Then, in 1914, Coco Chanel designed her first suit, a fur-trimmed jacket with a matching ankle-length skirt, forever etched in fashion history. 

The skirt-suit mood persisted until the ‘60s, albeit in a few isolated cases — think of actress Marlene Dietrich wearing a tuxedo and top hat in Josef von Sternberg's Morocco in 1930,  French designer Marcel Rochas’ first wide-shouldered suits in 1932, or the 1940s Pachucas, female members of a Mexican-American subculture who wanted to convey that women weren't just wives and mothers, but also strong beings. It was only in 1966, with the introduction of Le Smoking, a formal women's tuxedo by designer Yves Saint Laurent, that things started to change. 

By 1970, women were already wearing suits casually, like actress Charlotte Rampling, singer Cher, and models like Twiggy in editorials. Some even took the plunge and got married in them —  yes, we're talking about Bianca Pérez-Mora Macías, who married Mick Jagger in an all-white skirt-suit. During the power dressing of the '80s, suits became a strong trend among corporate women, while designers such as Saint Laurent, Donna Karan and Armani incorporated the design into several of their collections. 

In the '90s, they were everywhere — from the gorgeous wardrobes of supermodels to the sleek collections of designers. While women's suits began to fade in the 2000s and 2010s, they were never completely gone. Celebrities like Chloë Sevigny, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, and Alexa Chung were true devotees of the garment, frequently donning it on red carpets, at press events, or in their daily lives. Even Sex and the City's favorite gal Samantha Jones was often seen rocking a power suit in the boldest, most daring ways — think of the hot pink one she wore in the first Sex and the City movie. In recent years, the phenomenon of the women's suit has returned to the carpet and the runway. Pretty much paved by actress Zendaya and beauty mogul Rihanna, the suit has also found its way to celebrities such as Ayo Edebiri, Elle Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Lady Gaga, and Nicole Kidman. And now, under the 2025 Met Gala theme ‘‘Tailored for You,’’ a nod to the exhibition ‘‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,’’ they were seen from actress Sarah Snook to supermodel Imaan Hamman. Ahead, check some of the best women-wearing-pants-suits in the event. 

We’re partnering with Echoz Magazine and Audrey Neyer of Art in the Park to throw a collage craft night next Saturday, May 17th, at dear friend books in Brooklyn. RSVP here

An Invitation to Fragments in Our Home – l’appartement 49c 

May 10 - 24, 2025 Opening Saturday, May 10, 3 - 8 PM

Dining Event in Collaboration with Studio Bumi,

Saturday, May 17, 7:30 - 10:30 PM

Featuring Ariana Mamnoon, Jialei Cici Liu, Kieren Jeane, Jisu Han Jung, Finley Doyle, Amanda Raquel, Dorval, Linda LaBella, Keerim Kim, Ianthe Jackson, Aude Verbrugge, Jonathan Grado, Sophie, Pickering, India Sax, and Xingjian Ding

Fragments in Our Home examines domestic space as a living collage—woven from transient experiences, personal rituals, and the physical objects that shape our sense of place. The exhibition explores how "home" manifests as an assemblage of fragments: tangible items, fleeting moments, and overlooked details that, through their juxtaposition and arrangement, collectively create meaning.

This exhibition examines home not as a fixed structure but as a constantly fluctuating material and emotional landscape. The places we live with hold shifting memories, shaping—and reshaping—our sense of home.

This exhibition spans painting, assemblage, film, domestic objects, collage, sculpture, and textile. It highlights how these physical and non-physical remnants anchor our experiences while simultaneously transforming with time and distance. There is a dialogue between material fragments and habitation's transient dimension. This discourse reveals the profound impact quiet and seemingly mundane objects, experiences, memories and spaces have in shaping our understanding of belonging in an increasingly mobile world.

Where does home begin, and where does it end? Is it rooted in place, held in objects, or shaped by memory? It is all of these at once, constantly shifting as we move through life. The works on view extend this conversation, inviting you to consider how home continues to take shape in the fragments we gather along the way. –Weng Yee Mooi, 2025