Got the blues? Good. The best-laid plans of the more erudite men this Spring call for prodigious proportions of blue in general – and to be absolutely precise: navy blue. That haze seen around the drawing board (or the men's bar) where the tastemakers gather is not strictly atmospheric; rather, it's a minor Spring miracle wrought by those forward-thinking lads who one fine day simultaneously decide that now is the time for navy. Even the Madison Avenues have turned a deep blue, and gray flannel is relegated strictly to Gregory Peck.
OK, blue's not new. As everybody knows, it probably started when the early Britons painted themselves blue for big nights on the rocks at Stonehenge. Then the navy caught on to the shade, and, somewhat later, Robert Bench-ley pulled a switcheroo with the wry comment that he thought a suit of lint to pick up blue serge would be just the thing. But that erstwhile oblique critique is not necessarily a corollary to wearing navy blue today.
Naturally, the softer finishes still possess an undeniable affinity for flying white specks (including stray platinum hairs that might alight), but a bit of quick brush work easily disperses the culprits. Most of the new fabrics, however, maintain their dark elegance with only a casual flick or two. Actually, the advantages of wearing navy blue far outweigh the extra upkeep problems, for nothing makes a guy look so immediately well-dressed. Furthermore, the sun never sets on navy blue: it's right early or late, at board meeting or supper club.
Still another advantage of joining the navy is the really wide variety of weaves, styles and weights available: unfinished worsteds, flannels, sharkskins, tropicals, gabardines and silks are only a part of the story. New blends of cotton or wool with dacron take to sensible tailoring, shrug off wrinkles and come up ship-shape after continued bouts with a Bendix. The model you'll want most is the single-breasted, three-buttoned, natural-shouldered affair, but the double-breasted jackets look neat and new, too. There's absolutely none of that unlamented "sharp" stamp left in the d.b. Gone are the mile-wide, deep-notched lapels and the wraparound fullness of cut that gave the wearer the gangland appearance of an early George Raft. The newer double-breasted stock is cut along the same lines as its single brethren: straight, easy fit; narrow, high-notched lapels; a wraparound of only a few inches, with four buttons recommended in place of the dated six.
Three approved drafts of the blue idea, each eminently suitable for an early morning conference or a late-hour tete-a-tete complete with blue moon: left, a nubbly imported silk single-breasted tailored by the House of Worsted-Tex, about $90
Three approved drafts of the blue idea, each eminently suitable for an early morning conference or a late-hour tete-a-tete complete with blue moon: left, a nubbly imported silk single-breasted tailored by the House of Worsted-Tex, about $90 – center, a well-bred dacron and cotton double-breasted in a trim-cut model that holds its press, by Gordon of Philadelphia, about $50 – right, a crisp wool sharkskin three-button job, by Chester Laurie, about $70.
