MENSWEAR Dressing up is fashionable again

The return to elegance is on the rise as men adopt dapper duds.
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Relax, fellows.
And do it in style.
There's a lot of sartorial finery to choose from this fall and winter, the kind of dapper duds that look more dressed up but are comfortable and uncomplicated.
Suits return to the office in a continuation of the trend away from dressing down. They're incorporating more color, and narrower neckties are showing up.
"The trend toward dressing up is still going on," noted Joseph De Acetis, fashion director for Playboy magazine. "Suit sales are going up among all ages. The return to elegance is still on the rise."
The polished look spills over into everyday clothes, which at the same time retain a workmanlike feel, such as tooling on a shearling jacket or artistic details on jeans. Looks are well-suited for men who are naturally confident and intentional about their style statements.
Corduroy is big in jackets, shirts and pants. Earth tones are a mainstay, and there's a profusion of bright color in pants, thanks to Nautica and other labels. Brands such as 7 For All Mankind offer styles in winter white.
Chocolate brown and shades of gray are key colors, the latter shown a lot with lavender.
Friendly fabric
Denim, man's best fashion friend, continues to evolve. It's showing up in more pulled-together ensembles such as jean jackets or denim pants with a blazer, vest and T-shirt.
Argyle is back in new colors, most notably in V-neck sweaters and vests. Big, chunky cable-knit pullover sweaters in warm but not itchy wool blends come in bold prints, button vests dress down with jeans or up with a blazer, and zip-front sweaters become layering pieces with novelty tees, print shirts, belted overcoats and leather jackets.
Headwear shows unusual variety in shape, fabric and color, adding dash to looks casual or dressy. Fedoras, skullcaps, bucket and cowboy hats, bowlers, newsboys and Kangol-style lids are just some of the styles crafted by brands such as Dorfman-Pacific, Winslow & amp; Ellsworth, Orit Parente and Bailey of Hollywood.
Youthful appeal
Patricia Underwood, known for millinery masterpieces for women, launched a colorful line for guys this season that includes cossack fur hats, cashmere roll caps and sewn leather fedoras.
"The younger, trend-savvy male in particular is purchasing fashionable, even cutting-edge designs, and he's not afraid of color," said Casey Bush, director of the Headwear Information Bureau, a New York-based industry trade group.
Colorful velvet blazers, tailored leather motorcycle jackets, fur-trimmed overcoats, colorful jacket linings, interesting scarves and big leather weekend bags jazz up the menswear scene on into winter.
All of the options should allow any man to be in the driver's seat when it comes to pulling together a wardrobe for the season.
"Overall, it's about underlying confidence in your own personal, individual style," said De Acetis. "It's taking what's out there and adding your personal style to it and looking smart."