Who would have thought suits could be sexy?

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34127, 13 April 1976, Page 18

Who would have thought suits could be sexy?

A new masculine confidence in sex and the civilised appeal of the male body is now rapidly transforming the appearance of the traditional rather baggy suit for men around the world. Older men are not expected to change their suit habits, but young men, aged 25 to 35, have already done so in many countries. They are making the suit business a growth market for a subtly new kind of product. Body consciousness first broke into measwear in a big way under hippie influence in the 1960'5, but it was concentrated in the sloppy end of the market. “You wore your cheap cotton shirt open to the navel, with jeans cut to show the movement of every muscle in your buttocks,”’ says one British style expert. “Pants weren’t tight enough for King’s Road in London until you Could tell the religion of the wearer at ten paces. Today, the sensuousness is still there and still important,. but young people are moving up-market.” The older suit is, of course, still around in New Zealand in quite large volume. The body doesn’t fit very well, the shoulders do not have much shape. The lapels are narrow and not very well-defined. This older suit is likely to have a single back-vent, which tends to leave the

back of the sulf crushed easily when you sit down, and gaping a bit when you stand up again. The seat of the pants usually has plenty of room,, and the legs' taper slightly to about 20in, giving a hipheavy look that does nothing for elegance though it is convenient and comfortable for older men. s It is, in effect, exactly what drove a •’whole generation of younger males into denim, corduroy and knitwear a few years back — almost anything to escape resembling their dowdy and undistinguished elders: The new young-look suit which attracts thte sales in Europe is quite a different animal. It is shaped to the body and — by traditional baggy standards — is quite narrow across both the back and the chest. The effect is to show up the slim virility of a young man’s figure in. silhouettes which make no concession whatever to the paunchiness and obesity that- announce middle age in many men.' • The lapels, only a little wider than usual, snow up more in this closer-fitted look, forcing the cuttey to pay a new attention to their shape, which is often emphasised by topstitching. Suit fabrics for the older man have often had a mass-market look, as if the individuality had somehow been averaged out of them to avoid any risk of offence. As a result they can be muddy and tedious. The new young-look fabrics come in greater variety, from plain but subtlecoloured flannel through

muted checks to discreet vertical effects which emphasise the slimness of cut. What they have ’in common is quality, character and a look of real individuality which helps a young man to present his , personal , face td the world With casual but noticeable elegance; As a result, pure new wool around the world is the fibre which has been making most running in' the styles which have appeal to the man under 35. In New Zealand, quite rapid progress towards the young look in suits is being identified for the first time this winter by a new “Wool Style” label. The nine top brand-name manufacturers in the country have joined textile styling experts of the New Zealand Wool Board to launch this label as a demonstration that the country

is now moving ahead fast in suit styling for theybunger man. When it comes to suit trousers, however, New,. Zealand still prefers to take an approach which is quite different from the European look. *• The young-style pants in the Northern hemisphere continue the emphasis on the body in two ways: they are tailored into a band round the narrowest part of the waist, and they use' straight legs. New Zealanders still generally prefer trousers which sit lower down and wider, on the hip bones, along with legs which are quite tight on the thigh then flare to about 22in. The European young-look trouser is generally, selfsupporting at the waist or looped only for narrow belts. Here trousers are often looped for medium to wide belts.