Claire Shaeffer

Couture vs. RTW

"Petal" gown, Charles James designs 1951.  Phoenix Art Museum

“Petal” gown, Charles James designs 1951.
Phoenix Art Museum

Couture (kuˈtʊər; Fr. kuˈtür)

RTW ready to wear (ready to be purchased and worn)

The typical Nigerian woman loves to dress up and has an unpredictable tailor or two on speed dial for her custom-made garments worn for special occasions. Seems couture-ish in my opinion.

Literally translated, couture simply means “sewing” and haute couture means “sewing at a high level”. A mild definition of couture would be “the art and practice of dressmaking and designing custom-made clothing”.  The much more robust definition contains the technicalities of what really qualifies as couture, some of which are:

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