| It's always great to mix trendy pieces with more | | | | five-inch lapels!) were sold. |
| classic looks to give you the perfect look that | | | | Unlike many looks with roots in the past, this one |
| always looks up-to-date. Color is big for men this | | | | is a study in jarring contrasts. It has both the |
| season (I love colored interesting shirts of all | | | | edge and cheek of early 80's New York, when |
| kinds), as are relaxed chic looks (like relaxed | | | | Day-Glo color fueled the New Wave scene, and |
| suits), etc. | | | | the ease and entitlement of an early 70's |
| Accessories that are hot are really simple: well | | | | Republican enclave in Palm Springs. |
| kept shoes. It's one of the first things people | | | | "The roots are in that country club thing," said Joe |
| notice, so always make sure the shoes are right | | | | Zee, the editor of the men's wear magazine |
| and clean. Here's something I like to do. Instead of | | | | Vitals. "The edge is in its conservative aspect." |
| looking at celebs, I check out various magazines | | | | Striped shirts and plaid jackets can play into a |
| and advertising and check out different looks I like | | | | conservative look, but solid colors, Mr. Zee |
| (for You GQ, Cargo) and then get shopping! | | | | suggested, are bolder. "Men are more used to |
| If you are wondering why some of today's most | | | | pattern," he said. "So a pink striped shirt is easier |
| sophisticated men's stores - Polo Ralph Lauren, | | | | for a lot of guys than an all-pink shirt. That's a |
| Bergdorf Goodman Men, Barneys New York - are | | | | more specific fashion statement." |
| stocked with enough hard-core color to resemble | | | | No sector has taken up the call to color more |
| the team uniform section of a sporting goods | | | | than the hip-hop world, in which dandies like Usher, |
| shop, well, perhaps that's fitting. Color has become | | | | Farnsworth Bentley and Andre 3000 of OutKast |
| practically a contact sport. | | | | (hard at work on a fashion line called Benjamin) will |
| Mens wear Bright New Look In the last few | | | | wear, and combine, the splashiest of colors. "You |
| seasons, many men have developed a major | | | | have urban rappers from Nelly to Puffy saying, 'I |
| passion for sharply tailored suits and brightly | | | | can wear this without being a sissy,' " Mr. Zee |
| patterned dress shirts, snapping up $200 Etros by | | | | said. |
| the half-dozen. But this spring, in the eternal game | | | | Chris Chambers, a dapper vice president for |
| of one-upmanship known as fashion, the look has | | | | publicity at BMG Music, feels the pull. "There's |
| been taken to a new extreme. Solidly colored | | | | definitely a mixture of an urban thing with classic |
| pants, sweaters and blazers - in tangerine, lemon, | | | | country club." he said. "I'll wear the pink Ralph |
| viridian, magenta, royal blue - have raised the | | | | Lauren blazer but maybe not with the white |
| stakes, and some men are, to retailers' surprise, | | | | slacks they show. I'll wear it with some Evisu |
| taking the bet. | | | | jeans and a cool sneaker." |
| Retailers report that traditional two-button cotton | | | | Still, it takes guts. "I think a solid bold color looks |
| sport coats and pinwale corduroys struck by a | | | | fresh, but you have to have a level of confidence |
| lightning bolt of color have become some of the | | | | for it," Mr. Chambers said. What makes the look |
| hottest sellers of the season. And in a rare | | | | less brash and more appealing, he said, is its |
| meeting of minds, old-school retailers like Paul | | | | history as the onetime uniform of 19th-hole |
| Stuart are sharing a design aesthetic with | | | | golfers everywhere. |
| edge-of-fashion lines like Burberry Prorsum and | | | | Ross Geisel, a Manhattan fund-raiser, has taken a |
| Duckier Brown. | | | | shine to color because of its associations with a |
| "The first thing that blew out of Barneys was all | | | | life of gentlemanly ease. "I can get away with |
| the color," said Daniel Silver, a partner in Duckier | | | | wearing it to work, and then if you go out |
| Brown. "When we were designing it we were | | | | afterward, you don't look like you came from the |
| thinking: 'It's so bright. Are guys really going to | | | | office," Mr. Geisel said. |
| buy this?' But they have. It's like someone | | | | Another reason he likes extreme color is that |
| knocked down the wall between his and hers | | | | there are so few rules about wearing it. That, he |
| closets." | | | | maintains, makes it easier, not harder to dress. "It |
| The trend has obvious appeal to men who want | | | | doesn't matter what you do," he said. "I have a |
| an easy new way to express a bold streak. But it | | | | loud pink shirt on today with a corduroy chocolate |
| has an august precedent as well, in the late, great | | | | brown blazer. I can wear it spring, summer or fall, |
| NBC peacock, Johnny Carson. In 1973, when | | | | with any shoe I want." |
| country clubs swarmed with pants and blazers of | | | | Even with his outlaw attitude, he said the style |
| every hue, Carson's own fashion line was the | | | | reminds him of his father's country-club clothes. |
| best-selling men's tailored clothing line in the | | | | But the concept of Johnny Carson as a symbol of |
| country, according to Homi Patel, the chief | | | | style is lost on him. "All I remember is Carnac," he |
| executive of Hartmarx, which owns the line. In | | | | said. |
| 1973 alone, 80,000 electric blue sport coats (with | | | | |