Suddenly, This Summer

From left to right, and right for a Sunday brunch in the city, the olive imported silk pongee miniature glen plaid suit boasts a three-button natural-shoulder jacket with lap seam trim, flap pockets and center vent; trousers are slim with plain front, by Cricketeer, $70. The brown and black wool and mohair miniature-check suit features a threebutton jacket with flap pockets and center vent, by J & F, $55. Chalk-striped black wool worsted and mohair suit with shawlcollared natural-shoulder jacket features short, cutaway, hidden-button fly front, hacking welt pockets and short side vents, lined in antique blue, by Andrew Pallack, $95. Black cord-striped wool worsted and mohair suit sports one-pleat trousers and a two-button jacket with semi-peak lapels, hacking welt pockets, short cutaway front and center vent, by Don Richards, $55.

Summertime, and the livin' is not only easy, but breezy to boot. What you need is a closet correctly loaded for the annual change-over to lightweight suits, dress shirts and silken neckties.

Though post-equinoxial styles have undergone no radical revolution (the gentleman chooses Continental and/or Ivy), the voice of the fashionable turtle heard in the land this summer bespeaks distinctive new tones and shadings – dark ones.

Don't get us wrong: you'll still spot light-colored cords and ice-cream suits, but their popularity with the urban executive is melting. That array of babyblue and dove-gray striped suitings is still worn with enthusiasm by some undergraduate types, but is being replaced among the knowing by town suits showing an increased emphasis on dark, rich shadings and burnished tones heretofore (concluded on page 109) Suddenly, This Summer (continued from page 75) associated mainly with the gentleman's autumn-winter wardrobe.

The oft-heard wheeze went like so: dark clothes were just too hot for summer, and that used to be pretty close to the truth. But with the development of lightweight blends and synthetics, even the blackest fabrics can be worn in crisp comfort during the doggiest days of the summer. And their combination of coolness and formal elegance makes them ideal for the important business lunch, a cocktail date or Sunday brunch.

The news about this new and darker breed of suits is not only that they are lightweight, crease resistant and cool, with predominant shades in brown, black, olive and gray, but also that they afford a wide choice of muted and narrow plaids, district checks, hound's-tooth checks, stripings and overplaids. The smaller and neater the pattern, the more suitable the suit will be for city streets. The big bold pattern look should be saved for your country weekends.

As patterned suits move on the scene, there's a tendency to think of solids in shirtings as the only safe complement. But the sophisticated shopper will more likely choose shirts in striped cotton batiste, oxford, dotted white madras, hairline stripe Dacron and cotton, or cotton broadcloth in tiny checks. White and blue are ever-popular selections, but the new stone gray, bamboo, olive, sand, putty, lime and citron will blend beautifully with either contrasting ground colors or coordinating secondary colors.

Collar styles should be chosen to accord with the cut of the suit. The buttondown shirt is a natural for naturalshoulder Ivy clothes, but it's an awkward adjunct to a Continental wardrobe. The round collar and the tab work effectively with any suit, while the small-and medium-spread collars are excellent where the elegant look is sought.

The short-sleeve shirt for more casual urban daytime wear is an established favorite and can double as a comfortably sporty shirt when the tie is removed.

An interesting innovation is a combination shirt having a body and sleeve of cotton mesh and a front panel and collar of cotton broadcloth. It looks luxurious under a jacket, but is marvelously cool against the body.

Best news in the shoe department is that the classic models in diamond wingtips, oxfords and loafers are all available in lightweight leathers. But the seamless calf plain-toe slip-on will still be much in evidence on summer pavements, often with small buckle or center straps for ornamentation.