Bermudas To Boom Soon?

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30892, 27 October 1965, Page 7

Bermudas To Boom Soon?

The next important change In men's fashions in New Zealand was likely to be a swing to Bermuda shorts, predicted Mr G. F. Vance, of Wellington, on his return from an extended 24,000 mile world tour.

Mr Vance, a well-known menswear retailer, was impressed by the number of men he saw wearing Bermuda shorts in the United States.

“Not just young men, either,” said Mr Vance. “I saw men my age wearing colourful Bermuda shorts and Madras sports jackets. I’d like to wear them myself. We’re far too conservative here, but we’re getting closer and closer to those people, and I’m sure Bermuda shorts will be a popular thing here before long.”

After looking at men’s clothing throughout the world, Mr Vance had no trouble in concluding that Italians were the fashion

leaders. “It's a country of small boutiques,” he said, “They know nothing of the larger shops that we have here. Shops are small, and specialse in particular lines of clothing.

He saw similar boutiques in Carmody street, London, where the chain of “kinky” shops sell “mod” fashion clothes to eager customers from morning to night.

“They stock extremes of fashion that you wouldn’t see on the Continent or in America,” said Mr Vance, “and the assistants are as strange as the clothes. They have bare feet, no ties, and hair down to their shoulder.”

Mr Vance returned with the' confident belief that New Zealand manufacturers and retailers were doing a good job by any standards. He was struck especially by the contrast in service to the customer.

“Service given in New Zealand shops is far better than anything I saw in the big cities of the world, like London or New York,” he said. “It’s pitiable to see the service there. If you ask if they have a particular thing and they haven’t they just say ‘No.’ They make no alternative suggestions.”

"WINDOW SHOPPER"

Looks At Men's Fashions