ABSTRACT
Recently, Kay, a friend in her late 30s, invited me to go shopping to assist with the purchase of a ‘corporate suit’. She was close to completing a university degree and was being interviewed for a professional position. In an attempt to persuade me to go shopping, Kay explained that as a five foot, two inch, ‘large’ woman she was concerned that her prospective employers might read her body as ‘out of control’. Kay felt that she had to have a ‘smarter’ suit than any men (or slimmer women) being interviewed for the position. We shopped for a suit and finally purchased a (very expensive) skirt and jacket with straight, long, ‘clean’ lines. It was cut from a dark (but not black), heavy (but not too heavy) fabric. Kay was delighted with the way that the suit transformed her ‘short’, soft, feminine looking body into a longer, firmer, more masculine looking, body. Kay retained some of the markers of femininity (skirt not trousers, sheer tights, light blouse) but adopted some of the markers of masculinity (formal, dark jacket, long, firm lines) in an attempt to ensure just the ‘right look’ for securing the position.
