Men won't kiss their khakis good-bye, but watch for hipper duds

BY SUSAN CHANDLER
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO - (KRT) - The Slackers had their day. Now it's the Return of the Suits.

A new generation of males is discovering the suit and tie and the boost to self-esteem that comes with a classic style of dressing, men's fashion experts and retailers say. This isn't your father's suit or the Italian suit or the power suit of the 1980s. Hip young men are going for an edgier "Rat Pack" look - the debonair, rakish look of a young Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin.

"Young men are buying the slim fit, slender cut suits," said Bunky Cushing, a sales consultant at a high-end Michigan Avenue retailer. "They want a hipper, more sophisticated suit, something they can put their iPod in. It's a retro Kennedy look."

Maybe it's not surprising that kids who grew up in the aftermath of the dot-com bust of the late 1990s might not revel in wearing jeans, T-shirts and athletic shoes when they head off to a party or their first job. That's what they've been wearing their whole lives.

This demographic cohort is used to being scheduled by their parents. They've had it drummed into them that getting into a top-notch college is everything. And they've been programmed to believe that having an edge over the competition is the key to success. What better way to stand out than to be a sharp dresser?

The trendsetters among the younger crowd aren't only wearing suits to the office. They're wearing them on their own time, when they're going out on dates or hanging out at nightclubs and bars.

"Suits have really become the new sportswear," said John Jones, co-owner of George Greene, an upscale menswear store on Chicago's Oak Street. "The first ones to go back to the suit were older guys, but now it has moved down to the young guys who are wearing it in a casual way."

Jones could be describing Fernando Beteta, the 29-year-old general manager at NoMi, the chic restaurant in the Chicago Park Hyatt hotel.

A native of Guatemala, Beteta had the importance of formal dressing drummed into him in Italy and Switzerland where he was educated. As a member of Chicago's image-conscious hospitality industry, he wears a suit and tie to work every day.

After work, when he heads off to the Bar at the Peninsula or La Passage or Rockit Bar & Grill, he keeps his suit jacket on and dresses the look down with jeans and an open-collar shirt.

"When you wear a suit, even when you're not wearing a tie, it gives you a better feeling," said Beteta, who was shopping at a Hugo Boss store.

Beteta owns six suits and has at least 60 ties in his wardrobe. Last week, he was trying on shoes, looking for a pair of black, pointy-toed shoes to add to his collection. "They're just so black and shiny, you want to polish them," he said.

It may be the arrogance of youth, but many young guys can't remember the days when suits were the male uniform, and they believe they are doing something completely original by dressing up.

"When you ask them about it, they will tell you they discovered the suit," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with the NPD Group, which tracks sales of tailored apparel. "They never wore a suit before, they never owned a suit and some of them never saw their father wear a suit."

The return of the suit has cruised below the fashion radar screen for the past year and half, men's retailers say. After many false predictions of a comeback, only brave prognosticators were willing to declare the suit was really back - this time for sure.

But the numbers back them up. For the 12 months that ended June/July, sales of men's tailored clothing were up 9.6 percent from the previous year, according to NPD. In 2004, sales zoomed ahead 23.7 percent.

Even J. Crew, the casual clothing catalog known for its corduroy pants and crewneck sweaters, has jumped on the dressing-up trend. Its August catalog devotes the first 17 pages to pin-striped suits, navy blazers and dress shirts designed to be paired with old-school striped ties and wingtip shoes.

English silk bow ties in unusual colors such as green and pink retail for $35.

"Guys have been missing looking clean and classic but still fun," said Todd Snyder, vice president of men's design for J. Crew. "It's been denim and jeans for so long now, they're ready for the next thing. Men have not really known what to wear."

Suits and jackets are back at the high end of fashion as well.

Retailers from Barneys New York to Saks Fifth Avenue to Neiman Marcus are making big bets that velvet blazers will prove popular with male customers this fall. Designed to be worn with jeans and an open-collar shirt, it's the nightclub version of the Rat Pack look, fashion experts say.

The push for suits is coming from two directions. High-end designers are showing them on the runways, and men's fashion magazines such as GQ and Esquire have been showcasing the suit-jacket-with-jeans look for a while now.

Urban culture is playing a role as well. Some hip-hop and rap artists such as Jay-Z have adopted the suit as a uniform, dropping the baggy pants and oversize T-shirts. Kanye West wore a white suit, white shirt and white tie to accept his Grammy award.

Urban apparel brands including Sean John, Fubu and Phat Farm started dressing up their lines last year, adding blazers, suits and silk dress shirts.

The September cover of Vibe magazine features actor/comedian Jamie Foxx wearing a brocade jacket over an unbuttoned dress shirt and jeans. In an article on fashion, one model wears a Dior Homme pinstripe suit by Hedi Slimane with a striped shirt and bow tie from Givenchy; another sports a Gucci velvet blazer and button-down shirt by Sebastian Meunier.

After almost two decades of khakis and chinos, it would be foolish to declare that Casual Fridays are history. And menswear experts acknowledge that guys who have worn athletic shoes to the office for years are unlikely converts.

"Business casual is here to stay. People like not having to wear a tie when it's really hot or being able to wear a sweater when it's freezing," said Bo Daniels, a 44-year-old investment banker with Loop Capital Markets in Chicago. "It's hard for people to give up certain luxuries. If it goes, it will go kicking and screaming."

Still, Daniels sees young men in his office dressing up more, especially when they are calling on clients, and he likes it.

"I don't think there's any direct sort of pressure to wear it, but it's kind of an old-fashioned staple that when you're pursuing new business, it's a courtesy, it's respect, it's expected," Daniels said.

Nobody needs to convince Joel Splan about the benefits of dressing up.

The 29-year-old manager of clinical information at Northwestern Memorial Hospital staked out the suit and pocket square as his distinguishing mark years ago.

He owns almost 20 suits and somewhere around 45 pocket squares that he mixes and matches with nine pairs of Ferragamo shoes. When he goes out, Splan skips the tie but keeps the suit jacket and dons a pair of Prada wingtips that he wears without socks.

"I could never wear just a pair of khakis and a button-down shirt," he said. "I feel more comfortable in a suit. I've always enjoyed it. Dressing up has never been anything I avoided."

Splan doesn't just do it for himself: "My girlfriend really likes it."