Just before MJ Zayas and Donald John Krams exchanged vows at the Loft by Bridgeview, an event space in Island Park, New York, on September 24, 2022, Mr. Krams broke down in tears at the sight of his soon-to-be spouse. For the first time.
“Green was absolutely necessary. It’s my favorite color,” Mx said. Zayas uses the pronoun they. “Warning this ensemble and seeing my husband cry about how beautiful I looked was the most positive and unforgettable moment of my life.”
MX. Zayas, 32, a grants coordinator for a non-profit provider of services for people with developmental disabilities in Plainview, New York, near where the couple lives, wore a tailored emerald green jacket and matching high-waisted pleated skirt. They were decked out in combat boots and deliberately large, exaggerated black ribbons draped around their necks. This is a stark but complementary contrast to the suits Krams rented from Men's Wearhouse. (Mr. Krams, 34, is an operations employee at luxury coat company Moncler.)
MX. Zayas' outfit was created by Shao Yang, owner of Tailory New York, a clothing company that specializes in tailored, inclusive, and gender-neutral options.
Over the past few years, industry experts have seen a small but noticeable increase in gender-neutral wedding attire. This was a departure from the feminine and masculine clothing that defined bridal fashion. This is especially true among designers who are part of the LGBTQ community and allies who feel this way. Responsible for providing inclusive clothing. These garments are often custom-made and may include three-piece suits, jumpsuits, dresses and blazers. More traditional silhouettes may feature dramatic, personalized touches or surprising colors.
A 2022 report from Klarna, a Swedish fintech company that provides online financial services, found that 36% of U.S. consumers have purchased fashion regardless of gender identity. Gen Z consumers are the biggest adopters of gender-fluid fashion, the report said. “About 58% of shoppers in this age group have purchased a fashion item outside of their gender identity.” (Millennials lagged behind at 40%, while Gen X contributed 22%).
“Having people have a choice about what they want to wear to their weddings will finally allow people to have different ways of identifying and expressing themselves,” said Lei Bretón, 46, an Indianapolis-based transgender formal wear designer and owner of House of “I started to reflect,” he said. Bretón offers wedding attire for transgender, queer, gay, non-binary, and plus-size customers.
“Wedding dresses are their own language,” said Jackson Wiederhoeft, 30, a New York-based designer and owner of Wiederhoeft, which specializes in colorful and androgynous clothing. “You can say things you can’t say with words through your body and clothes. Its power is incredible. It’s a statement for yourself and everyone else in the room.”
MX. Wiederhoeft, who uses it, said she wants everyone to be able to wear gender-affirming clothing and see themselves and their bodies in unexpected ways. This is a lofty goal, given the industry's ongoing challenge to become more inclusive.
“In the fashion field, we are seeing genderlessness or unspecified gender in custom designs from people who have the financial resources to decide if now is the right time to test things out,” said Helena Darwin, a sociologist in the field of fashion. said. She is a gender and author of “Redoing Gender: How Nonbinary Genders Contribute to Social Change.” “That doesn’t mean we’re seeing that across the fashion or wedding industry,” she said.
To change course, Dr. Darwin suggested that other clothing manufacturers should “determine whether it makes financial sense to make genderless clothing and whether there is enough demand to invest resources in supply.”
She added that the wedding industry may be one of the last to adopt gender-neutral products. “Because this particular type of fashion runs the risk of sparking resentment when it deviates from the gender binary.” She argued that the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman is still widespread. “So people have strong feelings about clothing and how it should reflect that,” she said.
One of the biggest obstacles to standardizing gender-specific attire is the sizing of traditional bridal collections. MX. Bretón, who uses it, said most transgender and non-binary bodies do not fit into a typical suit or dress. Therefore, “it’s very important to have someone who understands your particular body and can make you feel comfortable and fully presentable.” said.
MX. Bretón, a self-taught Colombian-born designer who has created custom looks for 30 clients in 2023, often begins designs with clients a year before their wedding date. The product includes a three-piece stretch wool suit. Prices range from $3,500 to $4,000 depending on fabric and include custom shirts. The dress was intentionally made using a spiral steel armature, which they said provides more mobility and a defined fit. A pale pink “Jellyfish Liberace” jumpsuit with a silk cape inspired by the “Little Mermaid” treasure trove is priced at $4,500.
“Textiles have no gender. That’s what gender we wear.” Mx. Breton said. “As a transgender designer, it’s important to give people more power to wear whatever they want.”
MX. Wiederhoeft agreed.
“Today is the day to say who I am, who I want to be, and who I am in the context of this relationship.” Mx said. Wiederhoeft, who described the industry as a slow-moving enterprise where not all visions and voices are represented. “Bridal boutiques don’t cover anything interesting. They don't want to take risks. Not everyone is in this moment. “There is still fear,” he said.
Last year Mx. Wiederhoeft opened her fashion week show with non-binary model Richie Shazam. Richie Shazam strutted down the runway in a $7,000 modern Victorian-style white wedding dress with long sequin-covered sleeves that created a shimmering disco ball effect. A large black embroidered ribbon decorated the front.
“A lot of people aren’t used to seeing queer images. There is still a lot of persuasiveness, but gender is included in the conversation,” says Mx. Wiederhoeft added that “visibility” is one way to normalize these outfits and help them become more accepted.
Curtis Cassell, 35, worked as a waiter at the Ivy Room at Tree Studios, an event space in Chicago, from 2014 to 2017, where he designed costumes on the side and wore casual weddings at weddings. I saw two fashion options. White dress.
He said, “I wanted to create a gender-fluid wedding wear line that doesn’t fit into the world of weddings and falls into menswear or womenswear, but rather fills the aisle in between.”
Ms. Cassel, who is originally from Ohio and moved to Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood in 2018, said she enjoyed balancing feminine drama with masculine pieces, including trains, beadwork and hoop skirts. In 2020, he founded Queera, a gender-inclusive formalwear company in New York. His first collection has been released. It was a year of beaches and a nod to Romeo and Juliet. “Think of a dramatic, historic, big look, like an old-school Met Gala,” he said.
His 2024 collection is a deconstructed analysis of the tuxedo. “The mix-and-match gender expression of shirts, suits, and tuxedos exploded into gowns and blazers.” “It’s just a matter of time,” said Cassell, who designs six to eight wedding outfits a year for clients while waiting tables. “We need to have body type-specific clothing that represents everyone’s identity and expression, especially on wedding days.”
Marteal Mayer, 34, owner and designer of Loulette Bride, a boutique bridal store in Greenpoint, offers the type of shopping Ms. Cassell recommends. Her sustainable, natural materials are made into gender-neutral clothing in a variety of sizes, “and they're all in one collection so they don't have to be assigned to a specific section,” Mayer said.
Loulette Bride focuses on textured materials such as French silk jacquard and lace. Prices range from $500 for a top to $4,500 for a gown. The shirt has a cotton bobbinet lining, creating a breathable mesh for added flexibility to suit a variety of body types. There are dozens of clothing items that people can mix and match, including dresses, pants, jumpsuits, skirts, and capes.
For her spring 2022 shoot, she photographed two male friends wearing dresses.
“It’s important that everyone is represented in a safe environment where everyone feels seen and understood,” Mayer said. She said, “A size 0 doesn’t allow you to showcase a slim, straight female body. It’s hard to see her as herself.”
Yang, 44, owner of Tailory New York, was creating custom menswear in a predominantly male environment, and her frustration with the lack of options for women and a gender-fluid community inspired her to start the inclusive line. . In 2014.
“I was part of a boys’ club, and when I said I was expanding my services to other types of organizations, no one wanted to work with me because they didn’t see the need,” she said.
Her bridal line consists of a variety of custom options. Three-piece tailored suits, jumpsuits, dresses and beaded blazers all “strike the perfect balance between the feminine and the masculine,” Ms. Yang said. Here's her jumpsuit: Items that combine dresses and suits are her most popular items.
“It confirms someone’s identity,” she said. “Most of our customers are mobile and don’t fit into the traditional wedding category.”
Each year, Ms. Yang dresses more than 300 people for weddings and special events. Her jumpsuit is made from Italian stretch satin and starts at $2,950. Her handmade beading or embellishments can cost an additional $1,500 to $5,000. Fees include custom design, fitting and alterations. “Making wedding dresses for everyone is a revolution,” she said. “It encourages everyone to live as themselves, and to be safe, vulnerable, and seen by others while doing so.”
Still, some people believe that non-gendered clothing “can pose a huge risk to wedding fashion,” Dr Darwin said. “Especially when you mix and match different symbols to create your own hybrids and realities.”
But people love Mx. Zayas says having gender-neutral options is life-affirming.
“I wanted to express myself. I wanted to break the rules.” Mx. Zayas said. “I don’t know what I would wear if these options weren’t available. “There should be no rules when it comes to clothes, especially on the most important day of your life.”