Playboy's Fall & Winter Fashion Forecast

T here was time not too long ago when it was considered fashionable to regard the man in the Brooks Brothers gray flannel suir as a cookie-sheet prototype of the young executive and his anonymous attire. In a sartorial sense, at least, this regimental image may have contained more than a grain of truth back in 1955, when Sloan Wilson's pet sobriquet first became a national catchphrase. With the increasing impact of British and Continental styling over the intervening years, however, this archconservative Ivy League silhouette has matured and metammorphosed into an internationally accented admixture of divergent fashions for every pastime and predilection—each distinctively, but each bearing the unmistakable "Made in U.S.A." stamp from head to toe.

Exemplifying the eclecticism of the new fall and winter sartorial season, suitwear will be stepping out in styles more varied and venturesome that at any time since the apogee of Elizbethan England, when the multiplicity of make modes of dress was equaled only by the number of the Quenn's fashion-conscious courtiers. The classic Ivy profile, predictably, will continue to reign in the realm of traditional urban wear, but a host of insurgent outlines has arisen to challenge its perennial supremacy. Besting (text continued on page 93) the three-button front in a demonstration of onedownmanship, the offbeat two-button suit (Doubling Up, March 1962)—a presidentially inspired revival of the Forties' favorite coat style—will be endowing fashionable Frontiersmen with a long-lapel look well suited for the striped shirts that promise to prevail this year. Divesting jackets of still another closure, the trimly tailored one-button suit (PlayBoy, September 1962)—a singular innovation from the Continent—will be bidding for avant-garde attention. And the renaissance in dressy double-breasted suits (prophesied by Playboy last October) will be cresting in clean-lined models updated with less overlap, narrow lapels, straight jacket bottoms and slightly tapered waist. Sumptuous wool-mohairs, worsteds, whipcords and coverts earn our endorsement for town wear in subtle chalk, pencil, pin and self stripes augmented by low-key plaids, small checks (especially black-and-white blends in one-button suits) and midget herringbones (some with superimposed striped motifs). Chromatically speaking, olives are out; blacks and blues (from deep Baltic to black-navy) emphatically and unimpeachably in; and charcoals will be returning to favor as the redoubtable man in the gray flannel suit—in a reversion to prototype—stages a major comeback in one-, two- and three-button models.

Vested interests will hold sway in suits for casual wear as the upsurgent three-piece Ivy style joins forces with the hacking-influenced English country suit in outfits teaming solid and (text continued on page 189)Fashion Forecast (continued from page 93) muted-pattern suits with matching and contrasting waistcoats—some reversibles (plain and patterned), others in sweaterlike double-knit jersey with silk backs. Natural-shoulder styles will dominate both Ivy and English models, but a few of the new country squire suits will include detailing for the unreconstructed anglophile: hacking pockets, lap seams, tapered waistlines, full jacket bottoms, wider lapels and veddy British collar tabs; and coordinated trousers may sport deep cuffs, extra-wide belt loops and quarter-top pockets. We prefer these suits with the hunting-lodge heartiness of a beefy tweed, hopsack, suede of Shetland in earthy shades of brown ranging from warm heather to black coffee.

The same studied informality will set the understated tone in sports jackets as classic Ivy styles acquire a landed gentry look with the incorporation of such British-inspired detailing as suede elbow patches, inverted front and back pleats, leather or metal buttons, belted backs and military-type pointed pocket flaps. Nappy tweeds, alpacas, Shetlands, cheviots and hopsacks—along with a smattering of smooth heeksuedes and cashmeres—remain the top-drawer choice in muted stripes, checks, plaids and herringbones of deep blue, brown, gray, olive and multicolor mixtures. In milder latitudes, lightweight Dacron-wools and worsteds will be the favored fabrics in the same subtle shades and patterns. Except in the Deep South and Far West, where white rules as the year-round favorite in formal wear, the dinner-jacket drill dictates unimpeachable black—tastefully contemporized with peaked lapels, satin facing and trim, and elegantly enlivened with figured vests of lush fabrics as a venture-some alternative to the traditional black cummerbund. At the other end of the social spectrum, blazers will be playing a significant supporting role in both single-breasted styles (some with Continental one-button fronts) and double-breasted yachting versions updated with side vents, trim lapels and rococo linings. A few trailblazers will be racking up farout fashion mileage with bold burgundy red and black in pin-stripe and compound-color combinations; but most models, mirroring the muted mood of suits and sports coats, will be making their presence quietly felt in solid blacks, grays and classic navy.

The trim new line of trousers for tie-and-jacket wear will be neatly pleatless, Continentally cuffless and conventionally tailored with belt loops and vertical side pockets. Casual slacks will be striding on the scene mainly with extension waist-bands and quarter-cut pocket treatments. Offbeat and orthodox styles alike will be worn in the same subdued patterns (solids, stripes, checks, plaids) and shades (gray, black, brown, olive) that promise to predominate in suit and jacket wear; and in crease-holding weaves of flannel, hopsack, whipcord, sharkskin and reversetwist worsteds that warm but don't weigh.

Belts for dress and sportswear will be a cinch to win favor in a strapping assortment of ruggedly masculine models. Classic black and brown in pigskin and cowhide will remain the stylish sine qua non of the wardrobe, but such swarthy leathers as boar and elephant hide are expected to become fair game in safari shades of natural gray and brown—rough-and-ready for coordination with the earthy pigmentation of the new slacks and sports coats. Even more sportive inclinations can be indulged with elasticized nylon and hopsacking belts in varicolored stripes, solids, madras, batiks, paisleys, madders and blanket plaids. Leather-and-fabric models—most notably stretch hemps with harness-leather fronts—will be notching up a fashion coup in combination with the new country suits. Fancy monograms and Chinese-puzzle fastenings, happily, will be scrapped as belts buckle down with impeccably unadorned designs in brass, gold and silver.

Breaking boldly with conservative tradition, business shirts will be less decorous and more decorative than at any time since the esthetically abandoned Twenties. With bodies tapered two to four inches for a trimmer fit, oxford and broadcloth models in regulation coat styles and pullovers with half-button fronts—convertibly cuffed and equally acceptable with buttondown and snaptab collars—will be trooping the colors in solid tones and renascent regimental stripes. Cobalts, cocoas, saffrons, cinnamons and even iconoclastic scarlet will be showing up both as rich grounds with white hairlines and as pinstriped patterns on fields of white. Another audacious old-timer, the patterned business shirt with plain white spread collar, will be reappearing in an assortment of plaids, checks and barber stripes, along with a turnabout variation on the same theme: white shirt with colored collar. Most effective in combinations of gray-white and black-white, this resurgent style will be worn to best advantage with gray flannel suits and solid-toned ties.

For general city wear, stripes will be eclipsing solids in ties as well as in shirts. As a colorful counterpoint for the cool hues of the new suits, slacks and jackets, outspoken reps and regimentals in two-tone blends of blue and brown, buff and olive, and crimson with black or green—some square-ended for neater knots and looks—will be adorning the necks of the knowledgeable in wider dimensions (2-2 1/2 inches) than the ultraslims of recent vintage. Understated polka-dots, underknits and classic motifs, meanwhile, will remain de rigueur for more formal functions. A small but no less essential accessory on such occasions, cuff links can often make the difference not only between propriety and pretension, but, more subtly, between mere correctness and true distinction in dress. Wrought of gold or silver, the key links for this season will be classically unembellished in shape and pattern: simple designs for unimpeachable wear with Ivy suits and jackets; set with small semiprecious stones such as onyx, jade and hematite to complement Continental garb.

The sport-shirt scene promises to be a compatible marriage of tradition and trailblazing. Conventional spread-collar button fronts will prevail over pullovers in bold circus stripes, dark solids, batiks, foulard prints and muted madras plaids ranging from warm ochers to cool azures in lightweight hopsack, chambray, denim and broadcloth; and in burly weaves of corduroy, sueded cotton, burlap, hopsack oxford, cotton gabardine and basket-woven wools with a hefty outdoor look. Long-sleeved knit pullovers will be making themselves comfortably felt in forthright solid tones and regimental stripes. But the big news in topwear is the unexpected emergence of the lowly sweat shirt as an eminently presentable stand-in for the sturdy sweater. Restyled in mid- and fullweight wool mixtures with such outerwear detailing as crew necks, contrasting-colored piping, drawstring hoods and raglan sleeves—and with such whimsical silk-screen motifs as the busts of Beethoven, Bach, Brahms for three-B buffs—these erstwhile athletic warmers are making a sizable social splash in college classrooms and gridiron grandstands alike.

Upbeat classics and offbeat departures will be weaving a wild and wooly yarn in sweaterwear. Standard pullovers (in crew-, boat-, V- and resurgent turtlenecks) will be overthrown as the ruling fashion by a lightweight brigade of bright new cardigans. Traditional V-necks with six or seven buttons will be joined by low-buttoned golfing models of hip-length alpaca or chain-link knit in block-panel patterns running from shoulder to waistband; by novel double-knit jersey jacket-sweaters cut like a sports coat; by conservative styles with saddle shoulders and suede elbow patches; and by military-academy-type tailored ski sweaters with piped zipper fronts and trim West Point collars. Shaggy shetlands, alpacas and double-knit Orion-wools will dominate the slopes in a polychrome assortment of ski-worthy argyles, abstracts, stripes and Scandinavians—most handsomely in burnt oranges, fire-engine red and combinations of black and white.

Doubletalk: that's the inside word on outerwear. In a welcome revival of the Thirties' classic suit style, topcoats will be circulating socially with an exclusive coaterie of double-breasted models: velvet-collared Chesterfields, camel's-hair polo coats, jaunty belted versions with deep top-to-bottom back pleats, and casual split raglans with the proverbial belt in the back. Single-breasteds will be making the alfresco scene with tweedy British warmers in smart three-quarter lengths, and perennially popular balmacaans in both full-cut and slimmed-down fly-front interpretations. Light, medium and full-weight cheviots, hopsackings, wool blends and gabardine twill will be the stuff these coats are made of—chiefly in soft straw shades quietly complemented by a solid-color palette of olives, charcoals, chocolates and graybrowns. Casual outerwear will be making the sea-and-ski scene in a wide-open range of ruggedly functional styles: stanch stadium, car and surcoats in hip- and three-quarter lengths, variously accoutered with drop shoulders, shawl collars and pockets in patch, flap, slash and zipper treatments; hip-length Navy pea coats with double-breasted fronts, brass buttons, single vents, flapped side pockets and slash breast pockets; revived convoy-type warmers with rope-and-horn closures, welted yokes and visible stitching; and versatile reversibles in golf-jacket and parka lengths, usually with low-key solid tones on one side and bold plaids or checks on the other. In tastefully subdued natural browns, dove gray, tan, olive, black and navy, they'll be venturing out in extra-warm, super-light loden cloths, nylons, wool-Orlons, mackinaw-look wools, beefy corduroys, suedes, shearlings, and even such exotica as caribou hide.

Wetwear will be braving the elements in autumnal plaids, stripes and solid tones of navy, black, brown and olive (some in iridescent tints), as well as classic tan, buff and putty—mostly in models with brightly patterned zip-in linings of wool-Orion or laminates (some trimmed in suede or leather) for maximizing comfort in any clime. In weather-proofed wools and tweeds, sleek garbardines and durable featherweight cotton mixtures, this fall's foul-weather friends will include tailored double-breasted coats in abbreviated knee lengths; and fly-front models—both traditional and modified with such details as back pleats, Continental yokes and button-off back belts. And in a long-awaited comeback, the familiar private-eye trench coat—complete with double-breasted front, belted waist, flaring lapels, gun flaps and shoulder straps—will be in again.

The new show of handwear will be functionally customized for town and country. Business and evening styles will be handsomely on hand in black, chestnut and natural tones of hand-sewn calf-, pig- and lambskin; and in natural shades of gray and brown-gray suede and doeskin trimmed with special stitching and self-braid. Gloves for casual wear will be glad-handing outdoor guys in teal-toned and navy stretch knits, some with leather palms and wrist straps; and in action-keyed ski styles of soft but sturdy leather with elastic wristbands, rugged stitching and sewn-in leather knuckle reinforcements. Inside tip: a fresh new look in linings is aborning as furlike synthetic shearlings show up in mocha and capeskin gloves; luxurious lightweight silks and nylons in calf- and pigskin models; and a snug knit inner glove to be worn hand-in-glove with regulation leathers.

Shoewear will be stepping lively in standard loafers, laced plain-toes, modified wing tips and classic brogues—retaining the Continental influence of past seasons with trim shapes, supple leathers, hand-stitched detailing and cushioned insoles. With renewed interest in rich earth tones for slacks and suiting, mochas, cocoas and bittersweet chocolates (in lightweight cordovans, calfskins, suedes and pebbled pigskins) should pull close to front-running black as the shoe-in favorite. Fashionable foot-note: look for a boom in boots as a footloose coordinate for informal attire. Getting a boot out of the higher cuffline in slacks, venturesome males will be kicking up their heels in ultracomfortable gauchos, deserts and chukkas of muted gray, brown and olive suede; and in boot-look plain-toes of cordovan or pigskin in brown and black models equally appropriate for informal urban or suburban wear.

Topping off our rundown of upcoming fashions, headgear will be high and handsome but far from wide. Ultranarrow brims, high crowns, pinch fronts and tapered bodies will be setting a suave style in dresswear with charcoal shades of gray, olive and brown felt. Active and armchair sportsmen will be flipping last year's lids for the new crop of nubby tweed sports-car caps; stretch-knit ski hats in unflinching solids, stripes and earthy compound colors; rakish Russian styles with fur trim and linings; and jaunty Tyroleans in rich camel tones, olives, blacks and grays or smooth- and shaggy-textured velour with braided leather and pheasant-feather bands—all apt cappers for our semi-annual forecast of the last and latest word in fashion for guys with the gift of garb.