Big fashion moments are usually reserved for celebrities. Zendaya in the Mugler robot. Lady Gaga’s meat dress. Britney and Justin’s double denim. These days, Big Fashion Moments have become big business. A viral public appearance is an opportunity to create headlines, drive engagement, and generate cash. Even for us mere mortals, social media has made us the star of our own lives, performing looks from the comfort of our homes to delight and divide our audiences.
Whether on the red carpet or on TikTok, a true Big Fashion Moment is born from a unique kind of alchemy. It’s a look that feels definitively ‘now’, whilst also encapsulating layers of history and culture.* By the same formula, A Big Fashion Moment can also occur in our own non-celebrity lives. It’s a look that combines elements of our personal history into an authentic moment of self-expression; one that represents both past and present versions of you.
So what does a big suit have to do with all this? Well, a week ago I had my own Big Fashion Moment, courtesy of a very large suit. Just like any BFM, it was everything that went into the outfit that contributed to its overall effect. Given that Threads of Conversation is about the social and cultural stories we tell through style, I thought it would be fun to break down some of these ingredients:
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My dad
Daddy issues, what’s new. Actually, I’m lucky to have a great relationship with my dad, who’s always towered over my life in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Literally, because at 6’10” tall (208cm for my metric readers) he’s the OG to my BFG. Metaphorically, he also casts a long shadow thanks to his larger than life sense of fun, and his love of music and adventure.
As a child, I spent many hours in the back of the family car with my brothers, road tripping to remote holiday destinations whilst he drummed on the steering wheel to the tune of his favourite 70s and 80s hits. “What’s this one?” he’d shout over the music, hoping we’d remember the track. Often, he would play a game where he turned the volume down, giving us 20 seconds to keep singing the song before turning it up again to see if we were still in time.
One of dad’s most beloved bands was Talking Heads, the experimental rock group fronted by David Byrne (famous for his big suit). Always one to overplay his favourites, no journey was complete without Byrne’s bizarro vocals echoing into the back seat.
My corporate era
Fast forward 15-20 years, and I’m now an adult, making tentative inroads into corporate life. At 27, I’ve recently retired from one career (modelling) and am taking my first steps into a new one. After a year of freelancing, I’ve scored my first Proper Job, joining the team at Browns Fashion as Features Editor. This was the pre-pandemic, pre-WFH era, meaning I spent five days a week in the office.
Despite the relaxed dress code, I found my first few months far from it. It wasn’t the company’s fault - I loved my job and my team, but I felt hopelessly underqualified. Whilst my modelling experience had given me plenty of insight into the fashion industry, the machinations of an e-commerce business were totally new.
I’d never worked in an office before, and my role was very broad - alongside writing, editing and commissioning, I was also designing the homepage, working on the app, planning emails, and responding to various trade requests from the buying and merchandising teams. Even at 6’1” (thanks dad), I felt out of my depth.
Still, I knew I had one tool in my arsenal: fashion. With the right costume, I could escape my imposter syndrome and become someone new. And so it was that I entered my power suit era.
I visited my favourite consignment store, where I bought a secondhand Acne Studios blazer and some Chloé wool slacks. At a vintage shop, I found a Hugo Boss suit jacket on sale for six pounds, and I used my Browns staff discount to invest in some solid Ann Demeulemeester boots. I began dressing the part, and eventually I started feeling it, too.
Stop Making Sense
Sharp-shouldered and confident, after 3 years at Browns I moved to Selfridges, the British retailer known for their bright yellow bags and playful point of view. My title was Brand Editor, which meant I worked across all the key brand projects, coming up with ideas for copy, creative concepts and videos. My love of tailoring continued - by this stage I’d acquired a secondhand Miu Miu suit from their menswear line (shuttered in 2010) which I found at a charity sale and had tailored to fit.
In 2023, I worked on Selfridges’ inaugural magazine - Yellow Pages - covering some of the year’s key fashion and culture headlines. I was assigned several articles, including a story on Talking Heads’ legendary 1984 concert film, ‘Stop Making Sense’, which had been restored and re-released by A24.
The film was shot across 3 nights, and documents the band at the height of their glory, performing at Hollywood’s Pantages theatre. It was this concert where David Byrne debuted his now-iconic ‘big suit’, swapping his grey ensemble for a ridiculously oversized version halfway through the show.
“On a previous tour, I stayed on in Japan and saw quite a bit of their traditional theatre – Kabuki, Noh, Bunraku,” Byrne told me. “Sometimes, the actors would wear these oversize costumes that were almost flat – meant just to be seen from the front. When I said, ‘I’m wondering what to wear on the next tour,’ a designer friend said, ‘Well, everything is bigger in the theatre.’ He meant gestures and all the rest, but I took it literally and sketched a Kabuki-inspired western suit on a napkin…a big suit with a little head, hands and feet. It seemed intuitively right.”
My brother
Another outsized character in my family is my older brother. As a comedian, his entire career involves committing to the bit and making people laugh. Also a disciple of my dad’s Talking Heads fan club, he shares a hereditary love for both the band and the film.
In June this year, he hosted a club night called ‘Comedians’ DJ Battles’, a London follow-up to his Edinburgh Fringe series, where various comedy friends would take to the decks to have their music choices voted on by the crowd.
My brother’s own set was planned around a Talking Heads song, which meant that of course, he had to wear a big suit. He got in touch with costume designer Patrick Jack, who proceeded to turn childhood nostalgia into a custom-made construction modelled on Gail Blacker’s original design. The night was a huge success, and the Big Suit proved its timeless ability to delight and entertain.
Office sirens
A couple of months later, I had suits on the brain again. This time, it was related to the corporate trend I’d been noticing in fashion, which I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Then, I received an invitation to my friend’s birthday - the theme was suits and sunglasses. Despite owning a closet full of normal sized suits, I knew there could only be one. I messaged my brother to ask if I could borrow his prized possession, and he obligingly said yes.
Two days before the party, I went over to his house to collect it. He showed me how to put it on - the shirt was attached to the trousers, with suspenders underneath to allow the entire contraption to ‘bounce’ when imitating Byrne’s signature dance moves. The jacket contained two enormous shoulder pads, like internal armour to maintain the boxy silhouette.
The Big reveal
The day before the party, a few friends asked me what I was wearing. “It’s a big surprise,” I replied. For the dinner, most people wore tracksuits, sexy secretary outfits or smart tailored separates (two people accessorised with earpieces for important business calls.) I wore my big suit, complete with wraparound Oakley shades, and my Vibram FiveFingers for added effect.
The look was a huge hit - at dinner I had to sit comically alone at the head of the table, unable to squeeze in next to anyone thanks to my unwieldy torso. Later in the evening, I hosted a quiz, giving the suit another moment in the spotlight. I texted my brother some pictures, thanking him for his contribution. He responded excitedly, delighted to see his joke getting more time in the sun.
Eventually, I went to bed, stepping out of the enormous bouncing trousers and hanging the look back in its bizarre red velvet dust cover. As I went to sleep, all of my suit-related milestones floated through my mind; a nostalgic camera roll of places and people that culminated in my big debut. A look that fused fun, family and fashion - the perfect outfit, really.
*(For more examples, see Harper’s Bazaar’s recent story cataloguing ‘The 50 most iconic looks of all time’, where tastemakers like Dara and Lynette Nylander pick their favourite era-defining looks.)
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Threads of the week
Boots (COS) and shorts (adidas) bought on Depop to recreate the adjacent reference. Blazer is the Acne Studios one I mentioned above! White tee is from the same consignment store (sadly now closed) and is secondhand Alexander McQueen. Phone strap here.
Loose Threads
Tech journalist Taylor Lorenz is on Substack! She recently covered something I’ve been seeing on TikTok recently, these ‘Why I relocated to North Korea’ propaganda posts. Apparently it’s a marketing pipeline for a drug company selling NAD? Which is a supplement that’s been gaining popularity lately (Isamaya Ffrench is a fan, and Emily Sundberg mentioned this article in a recent post). Anyways, Taylor’s reporting is fascinating.
fka Twigs’ new video is an absolute fashion fest, with cameos from Mona Tougaard, Stefano Pilati, Mowalola and Sean McGirr’s McQueen hoof shoes - alongside Yves Tumor and a latex-clad Phoebe Waller Bridge.
Start your own Thread
What’s been your favourite Big Fashion Moment recently? Either your own, or someone else’s? Meet you in the comments to discuss.
Kelly Rowland must have read this post before hitting the campaign trail in Texas this week lol you have to see her look. Great minds!
Love the big suit and love David Byrne!