Back to Campus

classic revivals and new directions for the academic year

Sharply Sectional styles in campus wear -- once as unmistakable a clue to the identity of enrollees from the various collegiate regions as a Georgia drawl or a Texas twang -- have been subtly subdued by the dominance of the classic Ivy silhouette from Columbia to UCLA. In the true varsity spirit of individualism, however, the nation's five major college quarters continue to exercise their independent sartorial prerogatives with taste and imagination, but with discreet distinctions observable only to the educated eye. Hence Playboy's definitive regional rundown of style requirements. To the uninitiated freshman, it offers a time- and face-saving shortcut to fashion favor on any campus in the country; to the seasoned upperclassman, an indispensable gauge for updating his existing wardrobe with timely and appropriate additions and replacements.

Before focusing in on our fashion profiles of each campus region, style-conscious collegians would be well advised to brief themselves on a few of the aborning Ivy-inspired trends which promise to make a splash on a nationwide scale. Along with ubiquitous olive, navy blue will be setting the understated color tone in suits and slacks, headgear and outerwear, with low-key grays and browns in their accustomed complementary roles, plus a bright accent of tans and whites for warmer climes. Disporting itself in all these shades, the resurgent three-piece suit, a sartorial fixture of the Thirties, has quickly become an impeccably correct campus uniform -- with jacket, trousers and matching vest available in winter- and summerweight solids, stripes, muted plaids and midget herringbones. From a strictly material viewpoint, alpaca, cheviots and Shetlands will be coming on strong north of the Mason-Dixon in sweaters and outdoor-coat linings. In suit, slack and sports-coat fabrics, worsteds, flannel, wool blends, even cashmere and mohair will prevail, with featherweight cottons, seersuckers, whipcords, synthetic blends and especially upsurgent poplins, gabardines and hopsackings lightening the way at Southern, Southwestern and Southern California schools. Topping off the campus wardrobe in every college quarter -- for the man with a head for hatwear -- will be a nationwide line of smart university hats with welt edge, center crease, narrow brim and tapered crown in rich brown or olive felt (black only at seemly Stanford); a heady assortment of tweeds, corduroys and tyrolean velours for jauntier predilections; and a shape-holding, collapsible rain hat storable in the coat pocket.

Exact wardrobes will vary with individual taste, and with the requirements specified for each college area, but most men will find the following quantities and categories more than adequate for their campus clothing needs: four natural-shoulder, three-button vested suits; three conservatively patterned, classically cut sports jackets; six pairs of coordinated dress and casual slacks; twelve dress shirts (with locally specified patterns and collar styles); six or eight pullover and button-front sport shirts in long- and short-sleeved models; three or four sweaters (cardigan, crew-, V- and turtlenecks in various weights); one neutral-toned fly-front raincoat of Dacron or poplin blend (with zip-in lining for cooler climes); two casual outdoor campus coats (duffer, loden, stadium-type, or golf jacket in waist- and three-quarter-length), lined with alpaca or shearling for cool-weather wear; six pairs of shoes (cordovans, loafers, tennis shoes, dress shoes, plus desert-style boots for cold climates or lightweight suedes for the casual West Coast scene); one set of classic black evening clothes (with white dinner jacket for warm-weather campuses); as few or as many neckties (rep stripes, madders, challis, foulards, solids, black knits) as desired; an adequate stock of handkerchiefs, underwear and socks; a hat or two -- plus rain hat -- for those who like them; plus a sufficient supply of such localized and specialized attire as swimsuits, walk shorts, knee socks, tennis and golfing gear. For more specific pointers on the latest word in regional campus wear, simply scan our concise compendium of sartorial prerequisites for every college region, herewith:

The Northeast: Here in the homeland of the Ivy League, conservative traditions have long endured and prospered with the quietly civilized gentility of a sartorial bloodline relatively unmingled with the radical strains of such nouvelles vagues as the Continental profile. Indebted to Ivy inspiration for the increasingly classic styling of their own fashion silhouettes, however, all of the non-Ivy Leagues -- traditional outposts of comfortably casual, audaciously innovative fashion tastes -- have begun at last to imbue their Northeastern model, in turn, with a lively new look of engaging informality. Assimilating this refreshing influence without abandoning its fundamental tenets of elegant simplicity and tasteful understatement, the Northeastern college wardrobe will be fashionably casual, decorously venturesome from tyroleans to desert boots. A promising dark horse contender last year in the Harvard-Princeton-Yale-Dartmouth circuit, the British-originated three-piece suit has become a runaway favorite from Penn to Amherst. In midweight tweeds. Shetlands and corduroys, these casual country-squire suits -- trimly tailored for collegiate physiques with natural shoulders, three-button front, flap pockets and belt-loop trousers -- will be thronging Northeastern campuses in navy blue, oxford gray and olive solid tones, midget herringbones and small glen plaids. Sports jackets will be making their social rounds in the same quiet combination of rugged fabrics, conventional cuts, subdued shades and subtle patterns, along with a modest revival of low-key stripes. At beer party or bull session, the brass-buttoned navy blazer will be considered de rigueur; likewise, the classic black dinner jacket (with shawl collar or semipeaked lapel) at prom or formal. Coordinated dress slacks in dark gray and olive worsted flannel, twills and whipcords should be supplemented with several pairs of sturdy chino pants in standard tan and newly favored black -- a basic for knockabout and classroom wear. In the dress-shirt wardrobe: white, blue and subtly striped broadcloths, primarily barrel-cuffed in either snap-tab or buttondown collar models, according to preference. The news in neckwear is a renaissance of regimental stripes, quietly complemented by a versatile wardrobe of understated reps, challis, madders, foulards and classic black knits. Your sport-shirt supply should include a selection of pullover and coat-type styles with buttondown and medium-spread collars in a variety of muted stripes and small plaids -- including two or three solid-toned, short-sleeved knit polo shirts for early autumn and Indian-summer wear. A rugged ski look will set the pace in sweaters: cardigans, crews and standard V-necks in a wide assortment of solids, stripes and Alpine designs of bulky-knit camel's wool, shaggy Shetland and sleek cashmere ranging from classic black and white to brilliant blues, crimsons and canary yellows. For topcoat wear, knowledgeable Northeasterners give the nod to standard semifitted fly-front models in gabardine or cheviot for dress occasions; and to the three-quarter-length British tweed warmer and the camel's-hair polo coat for informal social needs. A hale and hearty masculine mood prevails in the realm of outerwear for the active or spectator sportsman: our pick is the parka with drawstring hood and bottom, plus a hip-length duffer, loden or jaunty stadium coat with a warm but weightless lining of shearling or alpaca. For heavy dates on chilly nights, you'll be comfortably correct in a black woolen Chesterfield with matching velvet collar. As a final Northeastern note, you'll be able to step lively -- with both feet on firm fashion ground -- in the following footgear: plain-toed cordovan bluchers, black or brown hand-stitched loafers, tennis shoes, desert boots, brown-grained wingtips, and a pair of formal black slip-ons.

The South: In a sartorial declaration of independence, the Southland has become a stronghold of classically casual styling. In no other campus quarter does the student body dress with quite the same flair for blending soft-spoken tradition with outspoken innovation, impeccable correctness with unstudied informality. As above the Mason-Dixon, the prevailing profile will be conservative -- natural shoulders, three-button front, flap pockets, notched lapels -- but mellowed with a warm Southern accent of individuality. From Florida State to William and Mary, Dixie college men will be playing it close to the vest with Southern versions of the English-inspired three-piece country suit: in midweight worsteds, flannels and tweeds for cooler climes, and in featherweight seersuckers, poplins, gabardines, whipcords and Dacron-cottons for the balmier environs of Deep South schools. The dinner jacket drill dictates black for the fall term, white for the spring at cold-weather colleges near the Mason-Dixon; white year round in the Southeastern border states; and impeccable midnight blue from fall to spring at tony Tulane, that elegantly independent sartorial outpost in the heart of Louisiana. Navy, gray, black and olive will be setting the autumnal tone in sports coats as well as suits. Blazers will be big in deep solid shades; conventionally cut jackets in muted madras and batik patterns, and in these specialized variations at three state universities: lightweight tweeds at South Carolina. Orion-wool stripes at Georgia and olive plaids at Kentucky. Casual corduroys and chinos will rank with dress flannels and worsted gabardines in trouser preference; soft tans, grays and olives will predominate, but a modest revival of white ducks is expected to add an accent of immaculate tradition to the Southern slack--and--walk-short wardrobe. In the dress-shirt department, buttondowns are decreed, tabs taboo except at nonconformable Miami and the University of Kentucky -- in white, pale blue, (continued on page 150) Back to Campus (continued from page 100) light yellow and subtly striped oxford cloth (white only, however, at tradition-bound Tulane). Tradition reigns also in neckwear, with no perceptible revival of regimental stripes, as in the Northeast, to challenge the continuing pre-eminence of the classic rep. In a supporting role, the standard selection of challis, madders, foulards and black knits is complemented in warmer climes by a bright palette of summery batiks, madras and citrus-toned shantungs. Conventional coat-type buttondowns in quiet plaids, checks and stripes will dominate the sport-shirt scene -- some short-sleeved for Deep South comfort -- with the trim knit pullover in subdued solid tones (especially upsurgent navy) as a strong second choice. Climates at most Southern schools are too benign for bulky outerwear; but for casual needs, a small selection of sweaters in varying weights, weaves and styles -- crews, cardigans, and V-necks in alpaca, Shetland, lamb's wool, camel's hair or sturdy synthetic blends of conservative shade and pattern -- will serve to warm the Washington and Lee man at a frosty gridiron gathering, the Clemson upperclassman on unseasonably chilly early-autumn strolls across campus, even the Rollins undergrad after a splash in the Florida surf. (Fit out with a pair of quick-drying swimsuits, by the way -- one brief, one boxer -- if you're bound for such sunny shores.) In the area of dresswear, no overcoat will be necessary; one or two lightweight topcoats -- a semifitted cheviot Chesterfield, herringbone tweed, split raglan or balcollar gabardine, with the zip-in lining an advisable option for cooler climes -- will be comfortably correct on any campus. For inclement occasions, and for all-weather wear at the Southernmost schools, where even a topcoat is dispensable, a single Dacron-poplin tan balmacaan raincoat should prove more than adequate weatherwise and otherwise. Informal outerwear, a major item in the Ivy League wardrobe, holds little interest for Southern students -- except in the chillier environs of the near-North, where a light Dacron-cotton golf jacket, fleece-lined poplin surcoat, hip-length heeksuede stadium coat or loden will be eminently welcome during the winter months. Shoegear fashions will follow in Northeastern footsteps with cordovan bluchers, black or brown loafers, tennis shoes, wingtips and formal slip-ons supplemented by plain-toed, grained-leather brogues instead of the warm boots prescribed for the nippier North. Exception: pack a pair of sturdy chukka boots if you're headed for the University of Kentucky.

The Midwest: The outline is essentially Ivy, and the emphasis, as might be expected here in the nation's icy winter heartland, is on hefty fabrics offering warm but weightless insulation from the elements. A major fashion trend at Eastern universities, the three-piece casual suit promises to become a practical necessity as well as a smart style on wintry Midwestern campuses. In solid tones, small glen plaids and midget herringbones of navy, gray and olive tweeds, corduroys and Shetlands, it combines the tasteful conservatism of its British model with the twofold protection of a jacket and waistcoat. The vestless Ivy suit remains classically correct, though cutaway-fronted Continental models find an isolated outpost of acceptance in subdued plaid patterns at Iowa State. The Midwestern look in sports coats is a subtle blend of tradition and innovation: heavy tweeds and Shetlands in low-keyed plaids and herringbones, full-weight cashmere in manly tans, sumptuous heeksuedes in warm weights and rich earth tones; and a burst of blue blazers from Nebraska to Antioch -- in black and olive at the University of Wisconsin. Formal-wear protocol dictates black on all campuses -- either with shawl collar or semipeaked grosgrain lapels, according to taste. The compleat trouser ward-robe should include heavyweight worsted flannels in olive and oxford gray, cords ranging from black to buff, woolen mixtures in charcoal brown and muted plaids and -- again at Iowa State -- a selection of chinos and corduroys in tan, black and olive for classroom and coffee-break wear. In white, blue, pale yellow and striped oxford cloth, buttondown and tab-style collars will run nearly neck and neck in dress-shirt preference; and coat-style sport shirts in buttondown stripes, plaids and solids can be expected to outpull pullovers for casual wear. (Note: the checked dress shirt and the spread-collar sport shirt are both big at unorthodox Iowa State.) A black knit tie is indispensable to the dress wardrobe, along with the rep stripes, challis and foulards considered standard college neckwear throughout the country. Midwestern winter outerwear -- especially in the frosty plains states and Great Lakes region -- is the warmest in the country, and with ample reason. The heaviest woolen overcoat, preferably a semifitted black Chesterfield with matching velvet collar, is right -- and amply warm -- for outdoor dress in these snowswept parts. For early fall and late spring wear, a trio of zip-lined topcoats is advised: a tan or olive Dacron-cotton fly-front raincoat; a full-length, fly-front cheviot (or the split raglan model, as worn by the B.M.O.C.s at the University of Wisconsin) for dress needs; and a three-quarter-length tweed warmer or tailored camel's-hair polo coat for informal occasions. The casual outerwear wardrobe ideally includes three additional coats: a lightweight poplin golf jacket for between-season chills, plus two heavyweights -- a three-quarter-length and a full-length parka, duffle or stadium coat in wool, tweed, suede or corduroy with opulent alpaca or shearling lining. The sweater wardrobe, similarly, should be larger than for more clement climes: perhaps half a dozen in varied styles -- cardigans, ski types, and plain-shoulder pullovers with crew neck or V-front -- of Shetland, alpaca, lamb's wool and camel's hair, ranging from lightweights for early-season undercoat wear to midweights for late-season outerwear to bulky-knit heavyweights for midwinter ski trips and cross-campus constitutionals. Midwestern college men will be putting their best foot forward in the same shoes specified for Northeastern campuses: cordovan bluchers, hand-stitched loafers, tennis shoes, desert boots, wingtips and formal slip-ons.

The Southwest: Without losing its individual sartorial stamp, this erstwhile stronghold of ultracasual insularity has acquired a decorous new profile of Ivy inspiration second in stylish propriety only to that of the South. A major movement elsewhere in the nation, the threepiece suit will be no less central to the style trends of this campus fashion center. In the year-round summer heat of Brigham Young and Arizona State, and even in the unpredictable climes of Rice and Baylor -- where a sudden Texas "norther" can plunge the mercury by 40 degrees in an hour or less -- vested suits will be showing up in weights and weaves well suited to the season. For cool hotweather wear, they'll be available in airy seersuckers, hopsackings and wash-and-wear synthetics; for moderate but more changeable temperatures, in medium-weight mohair blends, Orlon-wool blends and casual corduroys in muted shades of navy, black, gray and olive. In a countertrend to the national fashion, the contrasting waistcoat will figure prominently in the fall and winter campus silhouette, with the familiar plaid, striped, madras and batik designs complemented by an audacious new line of brocadelike "Bat Masterson" vests for the venturesome. Ivy-oriented sports coats -- in navy, gray and olive solids and subtle herring bones of midweight flannel and worsted and in porous-weave poplins, gabardines, whipcords and softly striped cottons for balmier climates -- will prevail from Oklahoma to New Mexico; these will be offset by the offbeat double-breasted navy blazer and the muted plaid sports coat that dominate the jacket scene at Rice and the University of Houston. Dinner jackets find most use at seasonal balls and proms; on such gilt-edge occasions, dresswear dicta decree black for fall and winter, white for spring, throughout the Southwest. With unstudied informality, but with admirable neatness, tan chinos are worn interchangeably with wheat-colored jeans to both seminar and social. In the breezy social atmosphere of Rice and Oklahoma, walk shorts will be ubiquitously in evidence. If you're destined for either campus, we advise packing five or six pairs in subdued solid shades and madras patterns of lightweight poplin and cotton-synthetic mixtures. On the dress-shirt front, buttondowns and tabs share the esteem of the style-wise in standard white, pale blue and subtle stripings. Coat-type sport shirts will be making the buttondown scene in lowkey paisleys, batiks and hopsackings; and short-sleeved pullovers can be expected to come on strong in solid tones of cotton-Banlon knit mixtures. Ties of tastefully restrained challis, reps, foulards and the perennial black knit will be encircling the necks of the knowledgeable from Tulsa to Tucson. In a variety of weights and weaves to fit unpredictable weather, aware sweater-wearers will don V-neck pullovers of bulky-knit alpaca and worsted yarns in citrus-knit alpaca and worsted yarns in citrus-hued crews and boat necks of lush lamb's wool and shaggy Shetland. As in the South, overcoats are largely unnecessary. A three-quarter-length Dacron-cotton raincoat in oyster white or tan, plus a single dress topcoat with zipin lining -- flyfront herringbone, split raglan, lightweight tweed balmacaan (especially at the University of Texas), or worsted gabardine bal -- should gear the undergrad for any inclemency. A couple of cool-weather casual coats should wrap up his outerwear requirements: a lightweight plaid poplin car coat, hip-length golf jacket or laminated knit windbreaker, plus a heavyweight heeksuede stadium coat or hooded parka with blizzardproof lining of alpaca or shearling. Anent footgear: Southwestern scholars will be taking great social strides in the same footwear prescribed for the Southland's fast-stepping student body.

The West Coast: Perhaps to no other campuses could the collegian set out with water skis over one shoulder, snow skis over the other, a golf bag in tow and a tennis racket strapped to his skindiving gear, in the hope of using them all within easy reach of his chosen school. Yet such are the manifold blandishments of our Pacific Coast -- from the cool shores of the Northwest to the balmy beaches of Southern California; such also are among the reasons that coastal campus wear has acquired its unique image, somehow with compatible coexistence, both as an outpost of classic Ivy League conservatism and as a fountainhead of innovative indoor-outdoor fashion. From Seattle to San Diego, the traditional three-button Ivy profile continues to set the suitwear pace in sotto voce tones of Bostonian propriety. It was at UCLA and Fresno State, however, that the much-touted three-piece suit was first revived and updated as a departure from campus-wear conventions. In tastefully understated navy, charcoal and olive solids and herringbones, both this resurgent suit style and standard vestless models will be abounding north and south: in midweight flannels at Stanford, in sleek sharkskins and mohair-silk-wools at USC and UCLA. Blazers will be cutting a stylish figure on all campuses in sedate shades of navy and olive; but conventionally cut jackets in lightweight versions of earth-toned tweeds and muted plaids of denim and Dacron-cotton will continue to maintain a substantial lead in sports-coat preference. Formal-wear etiquette indicates the white dinner jacket for Southern California, black from San Francisco northward. Low-key browns and olives, predictably, will predominate in the new line of lean slacks, mostly in midweight flannels and Dacron-wools. White oxfords, tailored with tab collars and french cuffs (barrel buttondowns are out), will all but monopolize the dress-shirt scene. Sport shirts -- mostly short-sleeved, button-front models in subdued batiks, hopsackings and mosaic patterns -- will be a major category in the informal West Coast wardrobe, particularly on California campuses: we therefore advise packing proportionately more of them than for other college scenes. Restrained rep stripes and black knit, as elsewhere, will prevail in neckwear, quietly complemented by a discerning assortment of challis and foulards in slightly unconventional two-and-a-quarter-inch widths. The need for full-fledged outerwear is negligible in the benign clime of Southern California schools, but even amidst the palm trees and tropic flowers of San Diego and Santa Barbara, a light sweater for chilly autumn evenings will be comfortably functional. Bulky-knit cardigans are favored in bantamweight synthetics, sumptuous cashmeres and supersoft alpacas, available in warmer weaves for the cooler reaches of the Northwest. Here, an additional poplin car coat, hiplength suede stadium coat or laminated knit golf jacket are recommended as midwinter warmers for casual wear. (Note: bold-striped surcoats are the inside word on outerwear at Fresno State.) In any campus climate, the three-quarter-length raglan-shoulder raincoat in Dacron-cotton will serve well both as wetwear and dress topcoat. With a surf season lasting all year round on Southern California shores, and from April top October in Washington and Oregon, coastal campus fashions gravitate naturally to the beach. Poplin and cotton-blend walk shorts will be strutting their stuff at the surfside as well as on campus in tints and patterns ranging from understated to uninhibited. Three or four pairs are par for the California course, two or three in the Northwest. Two pairs of quick-drying bathing trunks -- one brief, one boxer type -- should keep you comfortably in the social swim. As a final footnote for our regional fashion run-down, we recommend the same smart footgear indicated for the Northeastern wardrobe -- with the sole substitution of a lightweight suede casual shoe for cold-weather boots -- to put you on a solid footing in any college company.