Girls in Suits

When you think of woman in a suit, what comes to mind? A sexy kitten with a tie and no shirt? An ill-fitting grey number with ID badge and shabby attache'? KD Lang in that chair? A drag king. A fashion spread of Weimar Gernamy? Urban genderqueers with mohawks? A suburban dyke with a big tie and shoulder pads? A straight waif? An androgynous lesbian with no T&A?

Lauren's wearing a suit at the wedding. There are so many fears and expectations, so much excitment and anticipation. What a powerful symbol the suit is! What it means to the average by-stander, the tailor, what it means to her are all such drastically different things. When our guests see Lauren for the first time on our wedding day, who will feel uncomfortable, who will be amazed? Who will be proud, who will be dumbstruck? Who will stare, who will look away? Who will be envious? Who will feel pity? Who will be indifferent?

Finally, last weekend, we stopped all the wondering and talking and took an ACTION step. Lauren put down a deposit at Dash's. First of all, walking into a bastion of dudliness like a suit shop is a little intimidating for two girls. The guy that helped us, though, was most probably gay and the service was excellent. He said congratulations like 3 times. He showed us fabric samples in a little book and would gingerly highlight with his pointer and middle finger the subtle colors and patterns of particular swatches. It was perfect.

Lauren chose a cream swatch with beige, brown, and subtle fuschia stripes through it. She is getting a suit custom made by Lubiam. It's all, like, Italian, and silk and expensive. Going straight for top-shelf duds take a lot of worry out of the whole process, I mean, how can someone look bad in a custom-made Italian suit?

Like every person who has ever gotten married, Lauren wants to walk into a room of well-wishers who are beaming with pride and excitement, in part because she just looks so damn good. After the subject of where we are getting married, questions about what Lauren will wear are the most common. Both questions are typical of the tiny culture clash that happens when gay people tell straight people they are getting married, but the suit question is filled with so much taboo and tension. Mostly, Lauren wants to feel beautiful at our wedding and make her parents happy -- at the same time.

People on both sides of the family have been coming to terms with the suit issue over the past few months with jokes, thoughtful suggestions and even a conspiracy theory. My mother wonders if maybe Lauren wouldnt look nice with some lipstick and mascara. We fend off suggestions that she wear a women's suit by pointing out the sheer arms on Ellen's wedding get-up. In the most loving way, Lauren's sisters wondered if I am hatching an evil plot to turn Lauren into a man because I am actually straight. This week, though, Lauren's dad sent her the sweetest, most beautiful note of encouragement. We put it up on the tackboard behind our desk.
Now, all I have to do is convince Lauren's sisters to wear suits, too. I think pictures of the three sisters in suits would be awesome.

(Little do they know the evil plot is all about them!)