European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Baggy look strikes fear of fashion into m by Scott Duncan tha Baltimore evening Sun Omen have the mini skirt have baggy pants. Paralysed in my mid life anxiety i face the latest fashion hurdle wondering if i be got the nerve to make it Over. I m referring to the baggy look. Gabardine trousers that drape and billow like Jib sails on Chesapeake Bay. Wide Cut Suil jackets that hang olt shoulders like shapeless sacks sleeves pushed up cocky casual. Those Small tents otherwise known As sweaters which contain enough Square feel of excess fabric to make Bert Lance appear anorexic. I m trying really trying to talk myself Inlo it. But. These male models posing in the fashion mag spreads. They look like Young lads up to no Good in the attic dolling dad s old College duds. But taking a Quick glance around i Don l see a lot of. Alternatives. The Comlort-70s Are Long gone. And i Don l want to regress Inlo the vegetative state of preppie growing old and bitter in my Madras and chinos. But the baggy look it s hard Lor the average Guy to Swallow. Should we men embrace it or reject it like our Sisters did inc mini skirt at 34,1 still fancy myself somewhat Youthful i d like to think i retain at Leas a tenuous link to contemporary fashion. No Torch bearer of the Avail Garde perhaps but a Good Soldier who marches closer to the front of the column than the rear. Bui As i roam the american malls of today i feel my age. The truth dawns that i carry the faded shopping baggage of my past. When ii comes to clothes and the Way i look i can t seem to shake the old values those deeply embedded beliefs which Date Back to my passage into manhood. For example the notion that clothes should Fil. Ii ail hit Home in a sobering Way during a recent shopping trip. In search of my fashion destiny i would Settle Lor a pair of Slacks that were casual yet contemporary. Not overlay trendy bul not ignorant of the latest fashions either. Contemporary i wandered into a mall shop that seemed Young and energized. It was called at Leo. Which is the italian word for it is the italians by the Way. Who we americans can thank for our fashion insecurities. The mannequins in Attivo should have tipped me Olf. There was something Odd Aboul them. They did t took human they weren t the life like fleshed toned friends that we know so Well. These two mannequins were wire Buill stylization of the human body glorified Coal hangers on which apparel can Droop in nonchalant abnegation of human form in place of a face each mannequin sported a disc of arranged wooden Cut outs a cubist Taco of mixed up Jig saw pieces these were disturbed mannequins. What does thai say about the clothes they Wear but As i entered Attivo. I noticed that the store did indeed seem Active. The salespeople were Active. The music was Active. As a. Matter of act the music was David Byrne who wore that funny while suit a Lew years ago in the film Slop making sense. In my cynical moments. I Blama Byrne and the italians for making tha baggy look de Rigueur. Byrne stops making sense by putting on a baggy suit and now i m in this mall shop feeling silly. Thanks Dave. In this Active hip Neon atmosphere of this shop the clothing seemed oddly inert. Arranged in Chic ensembles on the Walls and stacked in Hull bundles in mid store displays ii had a unsexed sameness to its pleased Baggines and gentle soft shapes. I asked an attractive Young Saleswoman to direct me to the men s clothing. This she said with a gentle but penetrating look is a men s that was All for Attivo. In another shop i tried on some pants selected by iwo teen age Saleswoman where Are the kindly old men with tape measures around their necks. The Slacks billowed out trom my Waist and parachuted Down to my shoes. 1 stuck my hands in my pockets. There was enough room to assemble a Small Nudora device in there. "Well.,.," one of the Salesgirl said the shoes would have to go thus one of the essential truths of trendiness there s no Halfway. The look requires a Complete make Over italian loafers Slacks shirt baggy Vest or sweater and even Gads a hairstyle. Talk like this is what causes the average Guy heartburn. I know i m not alone. It s apparent thai a schism has developed Between the men who accept the Loose look which the fashion Industry Calls european contemporary and men who get sweaty Palms in places like Attivo. The Spiegel Catalon for example divides men into two completely separate classes. Men and together traditional or trendy we have your Tylel chirps Spiegel. Go. The men s fashion Magazine recently surveyed men s attitudes. They did t ask them whether they liked the baggy look bul so percent of men agreed with the statement i gel a lot of pleasure out of looking and 63 percent fell people judge you by your but Only 18 percent of men agreed with the statement i enjoy experimenting with new styles and color combinations clothing should be there s an attitude Gap Here. A yawning chasm. And i like my fellow males Leel like Indiana Jones on a rope Bridge that s unravelling. The Macy s department store seems to realize this. They have an . Program that s Macy s by appointment where a kindly fashion expert will Lead men by the hand through this fashion Quicksand. Bul 1 think i be discovered the real underlying reason that fashion designers have introduced looseness. The Leisure suit of the Early 70 gave Poty Etler a cheap and Tacky image. Back to polyester by Melissa Sones United press International a after double knit Leisure suits appeared inthe United states in the Early 1970s, polyester was in big trouble. But poly snobs beware there s a revolution stirring essentially the Leisure suit gave polyester the image of being cheap and Tacky said Steve Mccracken director of apparel marketing or Dupont. America s leading polyester producer. In 1982, the fiber Industry went so far As to consider petitioning the Federal Trade commission to change the generic name pot yesler. Polyester is the United states no. 1 synthetic fiber. Ahead of spandex Nylon acrylic Rayon and nce late other Man made fibres used in Ctol Hing. Unlike polyester spandex under the Dupont Brand name Lycra is a fashion darting. As Lor Rayon people think Rayon grows on Trees hulled a publicist for the polyester Council a Trade organization created in 1982 to save polyester face. Rayon is derived from Wood pulp but that does not make it natural. Like Leisure suits and miniskirts fabrics and fibres Are subject to fashion swings. When Dupont introduced polyester under the Trade name Dacron in 1953. Its no wrinkle easy care features made it an instant hit hurting fiber Leader Cotton seriously in 1970, the Cotton Industry bankrolled a Campaign to save itself. Today polyester is on that face saving course. The polyester Council since 1932. Has held polyester fashion shows for congressional wives sent press releases quoting the few important designers who admit to to and recently gave a touch and Tell test to 132 fashion editors and executives. All failed to Tell polyester from the real thing in every instance. Nevertheless polyester fell is not polyester worn. The problem with polyester is people said it was hot in summer and cold in Winter said a fiber company executive. Polyester thai breathes i mean that Wili be the Miracle of the next Ken Rushin chairman of the polyester Council and director of marketing for Eastman chemical products a major polyester producer explained polyester is inherently hydrophobia which Means it does t absorb moisture. That is Why the work is so Lull of blends but since the Lime Green double knit disaster fiber producers said they have put their efforts into overhauling polyester getting rid of Static cling and Pilling adding Comfort and Breal ability and keeping easy care features a Good example is Oechsl celanese s Comfort fiber. But Poty Knob Busm still exists despite Rushin s figures in 1986,86 percent of men s dress shirts 65 percent of their sport shirts 62 percent of women s blouses and 67 percent of their Slacks contained polyester. Ninety five percent of us Wear in whether or not admitted in polite society often As Nylon pantyhose. Designers Don t readily discuss the topic and retailers did t return Calls whatever their reasons. That s Why fiber companies adore the Lew important designers who speak up. Those who use it include Mary Mcfadden Norma Kamali. And lately Victor Costa the Texas designer who knocks Olf frilly Christian of Lecroix dresses and draws a following that includes Varta Trump wife of the real estate tycoon Geoffrey Beene who used acrylic Jersey in his fall fashion collection because it drapes better than Cashmere or silk added the Ctol Hes travel Well. They can be washed. They re cheaper to maintain and this is Page 14 the stars and stripes monday so
