noun

• 1The design and manufacture of fashionable clothes to a client's specific requirements and measurements.

  See also haute couture

  ‘designer ready-to-wear has taken over from couture as the focus of interest’

  More example sentences

  • ‘London couture houses’
  • ‘Instead, they focus on designing true couture clothing for their clients who have very active social lives, but also hold important professional day jobs and are fashion-forward in their thinking.’
  • ‘It also didn't hurt that his couture leanings elevated the designs to new heights of cool and desirability.’
  • ‘His collection brought a mythic feel to his couture creations.’
  • ‘Also, it is tied to outdated models of brand-loyalty and presumes a familiarity with the work of couture houses.’
  • ‘Today, so we are led to believe, we can create our own fashion statements by buying across the spectrum from charity shops to couture houses.’
  • ‘Knit, leather, denim and couture creations were paraded down the runway by the leggy models in the form of gowns, pantsuits and ensembles that displayed an array of splashy colors.’
  • ‘Importantly, a variety of women sustained couture culture, not only as consumers but also as secondary designers, reinterpreting styles for their own bodies and lives.’
  • ‘I guess, I just find it strange still that people would starve themselves to fit into some impossible couture creation.’
  • ‘For the bold and the beautiful of Los Angeles, architectural collections now rival couture wardrobes.’
  • ‘It is amazing how the simple button, tassel and Ottoman quilting was raised to the altar of couture art.’
  • ‘For almost four decades, seamstresses in this sprawling sweatshop churned out what was once the height of haut couture.’
  • ‘‘They want an oasis of calm that is private and intimate,’ says the man who charges £1, 000 for a private couture cut in his central London home.’
  • ‘The first one is the couture label, which translates some forms of traditional Indian techniques like batik, tie and dye, and vegetable dye prints into contemporary silhouettes.’
  • ‘A survey of the couture collections and a peek at some of the spring ranges heading for high streets stores confirms that there will be a strong set of key looks for spring and summer.’
  • ‘Sliding open the room's closet, she pulled out a plastic-wrapped couture masterpiece.’
  • ‘She became a couture model in the 1950s before quitting to study archaeology at London University.’
  • ‘If you have a taste for the couture side of sewing, try a Hong Kong finish on all raw edges.’
  • ‘Many tops were corset-like, or had a exterior bra on them perhaps the sign of smart, feminine couture?’
  • ‘For those unfamiliar with the finer points of couture, silk jersey is not a shiny pullover.’
  • ‘But the splendour of the details reflected the skill of the seamstresses who spend hundreds of hours on each made-to-measure couture creation.’

  1. 1.1Fashionable made-to-measure clothes.
     ‘they were dressed in size eight printed-silk couture’
     More example sentences

     • ‘That was the postwar fashion structure; couture was actually for older women who could afford to buy it, and a lot of it was too risqué for them - all that flesh in your face.’
     • ‘This site is based on the concept of ‘tribes’ - groups with a shared, central interest, from couture clothing to cigars.’
     • ‘Social change was documented through the fashion pages, and '50s couture gave way to mini skirts and trouser suits, which in turn gave way to kaftans and kimonos.’
     • ‘The French were all dripping in their finest couture, but Paris fashion was pretty dull in those days, to be honest.’
     • ‘The reality is that any fashion, whether it is the latest couture gown or hair accessory like a scrunchie can work in the appropriate circumstances.’
     • ‘They made an odd pair - he in his suits and ties and she in her twenty-something Old Navy couture, long skirts to cover her white skinny legs.’
     • ‘His clothes are neither ready-to-wear nor couture - they are startling constructions which can frighten people.’
     • ‘Hence my production has taken the form of everything from gallery installations to computer programs to couture dresses to CDs and books, all using the same language.’
     • ‘They were working in fashion and decided at the same time that the key element missing was the sexy underwear to go with couture.’
     • ‘Sandra's not your typical glamour girl in couture dresses.’
     • ‘The selection of textiles range from a fragment of printed cotton purchased at a flea market to Parisian couture gowns, African wall hangings and Turkish robes.’
     • ‘They move among us, half-noticed and nameless, dressed in the discount off-the-rack couture of the South Asian sweatshops.’
     • ‘I wish I had, but no, I get dressed in five minutes in whatever couture is lying around my bedroom - like today, even though I look stunning.’
     • ‘He is a beau, a French Mr Darcy, dressed in the latest designer couture and with his hair worn in the disordered chic of the style à la Titus.’
     • ‘Prices for the couture run around $70 for shirts and up to $625 for leather jackets.’
     • ‘We like any woman who can slip into a couture gown and kick her foot higher than her head.’
     • ‘With a couture frock costing as much as a term's student loan, high fashion is a minority pursuit.’
     Synonyms

     clothes, the clothes industry, clothes design, couture