Global : Two-Button Suit For Men Making A Comeback

Surprisingly, some of the most eyebrow-raising fashion news for spring is on the menswear front.It is, in a nutshell, the fact that the two-button suit for men is back.

Jack Herschlag, executive director of the National Association of Men's Sportswear Buyers, a professional association of menswear retailers, claims that the man who "never wears a suit" will be rethinking his position in 2003.

That's information Herschlag gleaned from the association's 13th annual Fashion Futures 2003 survey. "Menswear retailers, fashion editors and educators expect to see suits on more men, and more of those suits will be the two-button model," Herschlag said in a telephone conversation from his New York office.

That may come as more than a little shock to Bernard Wine-burg of Bernard's, a menswear store in Cortland, N.Y.

In responding to the survey Wineburg wrote, "We live in an area that is still wearing two-button clothing. Fashion is fine in larger urban areas, but Middle America is looking for a traditional suit."
Wineburg would likely be pleased to know that Middle America is not the fashion backwater he thinks it is.

The association survey, which forecasts menswear trends for the year, points to a return to conservative dress-up, including suits and especially the two-button suit. While traditionalists favor the familiar full-cut model in classic stripes and solids, the "fashionistas" advocate more shaped models and high-tech fabrics and lots of black.

"The traditional model of the two-button suit has more chest and shoulder appeal and is more comfortable," Herschlag says. "It's part of the fashion world's reality show."

Herschlag also says that "Economic problems and the threat of war seem to be having a sobering effect on American men, and life in the business world has become more serious. Influences like this encourage them to reach for symbols of strength and durability, and of course one of those symbols is the suit."

In addition to the return of the two-button suit, the several hundred retailers and fashion editors participating in the Fashion Futures survey predict:

-Return of the dressy dress shirt. It makes sense that if suits are back, so are dress shirts. But this time they have more pattern and fabric interest.

-The "Italian" tie. A few years ago men favored neckties with bold designs. Then they turned to diagonal stripes, and for 2003 they are expected to move on to rich, complex patterns, some of them in silk. It's another component of the dressed-up look.

-Decorated denim. Young people are expected to welcome the novelty of all-American denim as it is trimmed and treated in many new ways - bleached, streaked, patched, striped, wrinkled, lustrous, stretch and decorated with emblems, hardware and tassels. The Fashion Futures survey projects decorated denim as a major trend for 2003.

-Retro-striped knits. These knits are just like the polo shirt your father wore, with big stripes down the middle, or across the chest, or around the edges. It's retro because it goes back to the 1950s, '40s, even the '30s.

-The shirt-jacket. It's just a simple, unadorned, lightweight zipper jacket with a shirt collar, so simple you might not realize that it's new and very much in fashion. It's form-fitting and waist-length with no knit trim or decoration.

-Lightweight sweaters. Men claim there's nothing like the feel of a feather-light cotton sweater with the feel of a T-shirt right against the skin. They've been asking for lightweight sweaters for years. According to the Fashion Futures Survey, this is a case of supply catching up with demand.

-Complex patterns. There's always a place in a man's wardrobe for colorful patterns, especially in surfwear and sport shirts. Each year, the patterns become more intricate, more complex, more detailed. And 2003 will be no exception, according to the Fashion Futures survey, which sees a lot of miniature floral patterns and the increased popularity of Asian prints.