- covert couture
- n.High-quality, custom-made fashions designed to look like off-the-rack clothing.Example Citation:A regular bespoke suit can cost about $5,000, already out of the range of most of us. But with every minor mogul and hip-hop artist sporting designer suits and haute branded merchandise, such items are losing the cachet of exclusivity.Or as author James B. Twitchell suggests in his new book, Living It Up: Our Love Affair with Luxury (Columbia University Press): "The one characteristic of modern luxe is its profound oxymoronic nature: If everyone can have it, is it still luxury?"So the obsessive luxe-seekers are drawn to the covert couture of a gentlemanly tailored suit. Just about no one will be able to tell immediately that they have spent someone's annual take-home pay on the ensemble. Only the smug look on their face may give it away.— Tralee Pearce, "Introducing the trophy suit," The Globe and Mail, February 1, 2003Earliest Citation:It's simple. First, choose an off-the-rack handbag or pair of shoes. Then have the manufacturer make you a customized version of it (for an outlandish amount of money). The finished item may not look so very different from the store-bought version, but it's secretly special. This is covert couture — personalized luxe that does not scream a designer's name.— Lynn Hirschberg, "Covert Couture," The New York Times, December 15, 2002Related Words: Category:
New words. 2013.