Bright hues for men

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32977, 25 July 1972, Page 7

Bright hues for men

(N Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) ROME, July 24. The trend may be back to the classics for men’s couturier clothes as well as women’s, but not all designers are ready to dress men as drabs again. Designers at a showing of autumnwinter high fashions showed some of the brightest hues for men to wear in winter.

Valentini’s evening clothes came with an Oriental theme. Hand-painted stylised peach blossoms in pink decorated the bodice of a purple mandarin evening jacket, worn with plain black trousers. On another black dinner jacket with a mandarin collar. enormous yellow daisy petals were painted all over the front, like an outsized necklace. Tamest of all was an eggshell evening kimono jacket in raw silk with a broad sash belt of pale beige kid. It was w'offi over a dark brown silk shirt and brown broadcloth trousers.

The same strong colours appeared for sportswear, such as Valentini’s violet elongated bolero jacket with a slide-fastened front and two patch pockets. It was worn with a plum turtle-neck I jersey and plum trousers. A similar collarless jacket in rust was teamed with darker rust stovepipe trousers with cuffs. Their stripes came "> r > the diaeonal.

Brioni’s fanciful colour mixes called for mustard yellow with a sea-green plaid. Its trousers, jacket yoke, tab collar, and belt panel were all in yellow. Many of Brioni’s jackets had broad bands of contrasting pastel piping, like the jackets of Coco Chanel’s famed suits for women.

For autumn mornings when it is not raining, there was a blazer in orange sherbet and white vertical stripes, worn with white trousers. A pea jacket - and - trousers sportswear outfit came in a startling shade of sapphire suede.

Following the trend of white for winter menswear was an aqua, gold lame, and white Jacquard-patterned dinner jacket with a mandarin collar, worn with white panel trousers. MEN’S VEST BACK Alberto Wanver*s collection brought back the men’s vest in various forms, but always visible above the two-or three-button. or doublebreasted jacket. Some were knitted vests with scoopedout necklines, others were in classical fabrics with two points at the waistline like a bell boy’s jacket. In a series of Donegal-plaid sports separates, the vests were brown, but a handsome pale jade twill suit with peaked shoulders and patch pockets was worn with a white vest with gold buttons. The top coats shown at all the collections were kneelength and had fitted hourglass waists and broad shoulders cut straight and without a belt. Thr came in

gaberdine, boucle, mohair and plaid. There were plenty of new ideas at an accessories show earlier today. The Kimono is a leif motif of these Roman collections, and the accessories were presented by mannequins — male and female — wearing kimonos and metal face masks inspired by the No Theatre.

Women’s handbags continued to be roomy and have shoulder straps. They tended to be elongated. One shoulder bag meant to carry enough gear for a week-end in the country was the general shape of a golf bag — and not much smaller. ACCESSORIES

Among the accessory ideas were Lydianissi’s necklaces in flat silver dragon cut-outs, meant to be worn back to front; Gallieni’s umbrella whose pole was set off centre; and Michelle’s bottle-green or burgundy steamer truckshaped shoulder bags.

Most of the shoes had platform soles and stiletto heels, very good “for keeping your feet out of the mud in winter,” said the designer, Sergio Rossi. Some were shaped like the Dutch and Swedish wooden clogs which have swept Rome this summer, but had the heels enclosed for winter wear. Most fun of all were San Lorenzo’s ski bunnies dressed in one-piece ski suits of moufflon in emerald, fireengine red, egg yolk, or black. Inset leather patches marked the knees and the waistband. They were worn with match:np fnr helmets.