Just Suit Yourself

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31016, 23 March 1966, Page 14

Just Suit Yourself

Next time you riffle through a rack of suits or sports coats, and simply cannot make up your mind, take time to consider whether the garment will suit you. Trying it on is the acid test, of course, but you can save yourself (and the salesman) a lot of time if you remember the following rules:

If you are stout you will be wise to avoid boldpatterned suits and sports coats. Choose, instead, solid colours or small-weave effects. Wear medium or dark colours. Lighter colours will make you appear heavier than you are. Stay away from heavy fabrics like husky tweeds. They increase bulk. And remember—suits should fit comfortably, never tightly.

If you are thin patterns in suits or sports coats will give you a hefty look. Specially good are plaids and' checks, but avoid vertical stripes.

You can wear a suit with straight hanging lines, but a coat with just a trace of shoulder padding and waist suppression will make you appear broader.

There are plenty of people, of course, who would have you dress with much more abandon—like Mr Anthony Hawker, Chairman of the British Clothing Manufacturers’ Council. Attacking the average man for sticking to “drab, lifeless colours” Mr Hawker says men should look more like peacocks.