By Laurie Koh

WEARING SHARP GRAY slacks and a black turtleneck, Cata Stewart smoothly worked her way through the lobby of Oakland's Washington Hotel. As a DJ spun hip-hop and pretty young women poured glasses of white wine, Stewart assisted dozens of women and trans folks perusing the Studded line of clothing from Chocolate Baby Designs (510-593-4254, www.chocolatebabydesigns.com). As one of the company's butch fashion models, she was part of a bevy of supporters there to help designer Aisha Pew, 25, and her wife and business partner, Breonna Cole, 27, with their endeavor to produce elegant, clean, damn-she-looks-good clothing for women who prefer a masculine cut. Butches, trannies, no-nonsense straight women ("Our undercover market," as Cole jokes) – there are a whole bunch of us who prefer an aesthetic that doesn't pinch our own ass.

I took a shine to a powder blue basic button-down shirt with navy trim, and Stewart escorted my girlfriend and me to try it on. Stewart later told me via e-mail how thrilled she was that Cole and Pew "chose to do something about the lack of fashion options for the individual that likes a masculine look, as opposed to others that are sympathetic to our struggle and point us in the direction of the men's section."

Gearing fashion toward this audience is apparently a new concept. Googling "butch clothes" turned up little except for shopping war stories at Butch-Femme.com. Suggestions there included ordering from retailers for diminutive men (expensive) or searching out assistance from gay male sales people at Bloomingdales. Obviously, as I overheard someone say as I was trying on clothes, "It's about fucking time."

I interviewed Studded's young African American entrepreneurs in their new home, where they were busy prepping for production on their spring line and filling a flood of orders.

"It's a negative image, the sloppy lesbian. It's all bad," Cole said. She exudes the suave aesthetic of their clothing line. Pew added, "If you think you look well on the outside, then it can just change your ability to have a conversation with somebody and strut yourself. The way that you're feeling is the way that you want to be seen."

Both entrepreneurs come to the clothing business from social policy careers (Cole was a Coro fellow, Pew a former Boalt Hall law student). Their first foray into fashion was the Snapsie – a baby outfit that comes with three snap-out front pieces for convenient spill removal. Producing it yielded trial-and-error manufacturing lessons and mishaps, including one prototype large enough to fit Pew. They finally found direction and the "mini MBA" they needed at the Women's Initiative for Self-Employment, a nonprofit that offers technical assistance and financing help to low-income women.

Meanwhile, Cole kept getting shit at work for not being able to find "corporate dress-wear." She also struggled to hunt down an outfit for her City Hall wedding to Pew. "I looked OK, but it was a shirt I ended up wearing, and not what I would have chosen to wear." Pew brainstormed the idea for Studded to ease her wife's aggravation.

Back in my dressing room, I adjusted the cuffs in the mirror, noting that the shoulders fit, the sleeves and shirttail ended at the right places, and the shirt's body was not oppressing me across the belly or hips, as men's shirts often do. It looked fantastic.

And the pants? Pew explained, "Women's pants curve out in the hips, but tuck under in the butt so that it accentuates a woman's behind," – in other words, they sexualize a gal's ass. In contrast, Studded's straight-legged pants – mostly black, beige, and other simple dress colors – have a "men's balance," with a bit more room around the hips and thighs. Modest pleats create room for hand-in-pocket struttin'.

Pew and Cole – who conduct all of their business via the Internet, private fittings, and events – put a lot of effort into making shopping for their clothing an experience where people feel catered to and taken care of (hence the event at the Washington Hotel). Cole added that the Studded shopping experience is "about simple little things like, what color should I wear with that?... the kind of personal attention to shopping that certainly this community has never felt."