There is a "Look" that you will see on campuses across the country this fall that is the mark of the intelligently-dressed undergraduate. The look does not require a lot of loot (though it is a rich look); what it requires is that the basic items of your wardrobe – slacks, sports jackets, suits and outercoats – be chosen with a careful eye to details of cut and fabric. Take outercoats. Call them what you will: stadium coats, car coats, suburban coats, or just plain coats. The contemporary look in these campus classics requires a length from 38 to 40 inches. Horseblanket plaids are galloping into fall – as linings in both coats and jackets, as shells for pullovers, as the other side in reversible jackets and coats. Also, what started as a strictly inside story of outerwear is now coming out strongly in front – as fur-like shawl collars and hood linings in synthetic piles. Some of the pile fabrics are breaking into patterns – district checks, Argyle plaids and glens are just a few.
There are two views to the outerwear picture: one, a more dressed-up look featuring classic British military tradition; the other, a more rugged look that shuns gimmicks or frills of any sort. Hoods are a natural for the latter, as are the more rough-hewn fabrics and liners including shearlings, corduroys and wool tweeds. In most of the coats, the shawl collar is the odds-on favorite, either in bulky knit or fur-like piles.
Rainwear is more dressed-up than ever, with Continental detailings making their mark: shorter lengths, boldly stitched yokes, flapped pockets, deep side vents. Iridescents and patterns are both first rate. Very new and right is Orlonwool rainwear and hopsack weaves. A great choice for a truly classic look is a reversible gray wool and oyster white cotton raincoat, appropriate for almost any color combination and the perfect solution for avoiding clashes with patterns and colors of the new country suits. The comfortable tweedy look of the sports jacket has been used to develop this country suit, which comes in a wide range of fabrics – Shetlands, whipcords, hopsackings, cheviots and corduroys. Colors are compound and generally muted in tone. Patterns are classic: herringbones, district checks, glens and over-plaids. The vest is either matching or a solid co-ordinated or contrasting color – but it is always there. The British influence has been strong in these suits – you'll spot it in the slight indentation at the waist of the jacket, the longer length of the jacket, as well as the inclusion of a center vent, three buttons and flapped hacking pockets.
In the sportswear department, the look is away from the very casual toward a more dressed-up, though always comfortable, appearance. Colors dwell on the homespuns – bronze, olive, mustard, gold, taupe, rust and beige – all of them forming the base of (concluded on page 109) Campus Classics (continued from page 69) multicolor weaves. The weight of sports jackets runs from a feather-light 8 ounces in a worsted wool synthetic blend to the standard 10-12-ounce wool Shetlands on up to the very important revival of beefy 15-16-ounce English and Scots tweeds.
In slacks, the conservative way of thinking still holds strongly forth. Continental slacks are big but have been simplified to leave off extreme fashion details.
The traditional, plain-front flannel trouser is popular and the new look in patterning is a subtle one – tone-on-tone window-pane plaids are favored, along with small patterns in subtly contrasting colors. Stripes are in the picture but are used in moderation. Traditional blacks, oxford grays, blues and browns are back with us, as well as the country colors – mixtures of earthy taupe with olive and bronze accents. Polished cottons and narrow cord slacks – alas – along with dirty white bucks or tennis sneakers, will be seen, we're sure, as long as Thank God It's Friday clubs continue to flourish, and they show no signs of abating whatever.
