Casual Fridays are changing the way men dress seven days a week.
According to the fifth annual Fashion Futures survey from the National Association of Men's Sportswear Buyers, dress-down Fridays, popular at many businesses, have already made a major impact. The NAMSB survey, based on interviews of several hundred retailers as well as college faculty members from across the country, suggests predictable trends for 1995.Jack Herschlag, NAMSB's executive director, says when companies first relaxed dress codes on Fridays, many men started wearing scruffy, beat-up clothes.
"But after a while, men didn't like to see themselves that way, especially if they were headed for a social gathering right after work. So the focus shifted to comfort, practicality and - surprisingly - fashion."
Surprising is right. Herschlag says men began pulling items from various parts of their wardrobe to create a variety of outfits that were dressy, casual or active. The result is an increase in individuality.
The survey found that virtually every respondent named the sport coat, which dresses up with a shirt and tie and dresses down with a turtleneck or sport shirt, as a strong fashion trend in 1995. A man can use a sport coat to build a brisk ensemble or as a thrown-on in a jeans and T-shirt outfit.
Equally powerful in popularity is the three-button, single-breasted suit. "The survey indicates it's the suit of the '90s," says Herschlag. Besides the extra button, the suit differs from more familiar two-button models in that the "gorge" - the exposed area of the chest between lapels - is narrowed, creating a slimmer silhouette and putting more focus on the face.
This is a marked contrast to the 1980s power look of full-chested, two button suits - and is even more dramatic compared with the big-silhouette of double-breasted styles. Still, both styles continue to enjoy broad popularity among American men.
One way to tell is to look at television, especially David Letterman, who now has the most popular late night show, with his almost exclusive wardrobe of classy, double-breasted suits. Letterman's tailor-made suits have a vent on each side, a style not often found in men's clothing stores.
So don't try to go out and buy one like his.
TV anchors are also often sporting double-breasted suits. Just take a look at local anchors Bruce Lindsay, Dick Nourse, Phil Reisen and Terry Wood - or network anchors Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather.
Lawyers are known to prefer the double-breasted look in recent years - especially O.J. Simpson's defense attorneys, referred to sardonically by the prosecution as "the dream team," who seem to own nothing else but full double breasted styles.
According to Robert Bowen at Mr. Mac's, more and more men are buying at least one double-breasted suit for their otherwise single-breasted wardrobe. So it seems doubtful that the three-button suit will take over the entire market instantly - but the trend toward the three-button suit symbolizes the move toward individuality in dress.
Fashionable men will button the top button, for emphasis, but forward fashion men will button only the top button, for fun.
Another strong trend for 1995 is the retro, offbeat look of the 1950s. Already, next year's European and American spring collections show touches such as wide-collar sportshirts with rolled up sleeves, boxy zipper jackets and shirt-jackets.
The wide belt has been in for so long it's hard to believe it is about to replaced, but get ready. The skinny belt is the thing for '95. Some designers are featuring belts so long and thin that they can be buckled or knotted or both. Sometimes, the skinny belt looks good with a novelty tie.
Finally, vests, a trendy part of women's styles for the last two years, made a brief attempt at popularity for men last year. For '95, they're definitely IN. They're also useful to the Casual Friday look by serving as a bridge between dressy and relaxed.
Some men are topping off the vested look with a soft fedora.
Initially, retailers and designers worried that Casual Fridays would loosen dress codes so much that they would produce sartorially dysfunctional men. Instead, men are expanding their wardrobes and looking sharper - both at work and at home.