National Clothesline

As the stock market rises and drops daily in topsy-turvy fashion, Americans are suiting up in hopes of making the workplace more stable and professional.

For drycleaners, this means good news. After all, numbers complied by the Society for Human Resource Management had previously revealed that the number of firms allowing workers to dress down every day grew from 36 percent in 1998 to 49 percent in 2001.

However, recent articles in the New York Times and Newsweek have indicated that the tide may be turning in the war against casual wear. Dressing up doesn’t just create the impression of success anymore; it conveys a strong desire for survival in a competitive business climate.

In his article “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Put on Suits” on Aug. 18, New York Times writer Guy Trebay notes that the suit is making a smashing fashion comeback.

Evidence of the dress-up trend was illustrated recently by Deutsche Bank of London, who wrote an internal memo to its 3,000 employees asking them to refrain from wearing “clubbing attire” to the office as of Sept. 3. Specifically, the bank banned blue jeans, midriff tops, baggy clothing, T-shirts and trainers.

The new dress policy was announced in the wake of many similar ones issued by major business firms that believe a casually dressed employee projects a cavalier lack of professionalism.

Korn/Ferry International and Lehman Brothers enacted stricter dress codes several months ago. Their aim is to return to a more serious-minded business atmosphere.

After all, Trebay writes, “tough times call for legible dressing. Tie sales are now stronger that they have been in years. The suit is back for men, goes the chorus, as the people flock for safety to a uniform that evolved from the court dress in the days of Charles II, in 17th-century England.”

Trebay interviewed Mark Shulman, the chief operating officer for Retail Brand Alliance, who attributes the national unemployment rate as a factor in America’s new outlook on looking sharp.

Shulman explained, “You could afford to be a little more casual when the economy was fat. You were not as worried about your job and how you look.”

Now, Shulman added, things have changed. “A lot of people are out of work and have to look for employment.”

Another writer who shares Trebay’s sentiment is Suzanne Smalley of Newsweek who examined the reemergence of the suit in her June article “An Aggressive New Cut.”

Suit sales are definitely up, according to statistics tabulated by NPD Fashion World, a market-research firm. In fact, 12 percent more suits and other tailored wear were sold last year than in 2000.

Because of this increase, Smalley said, a furious marketing battle has begun among several leading men’s clothing shops. “To appeal to former dot-comers whose closets are filled with khakis and polo shirts, some suit sellers, whose wares were once a symbol of Old Economy thinking, have adopted some New Economy tech and swagger,” she wrote.

One example given of a suit company adapting its marketing strategy to keep pace with the times was Brooks Brothers. The company, despite its 184 history of tradition, upgraded into the digital age by replacing its tailor’s tape measure with a hi-tech scanning device that plots 200,000 points on the human body.

Men, clad only in boxers, step into a scanning room and then emerge about 15 seconds later as the collected data is transferred to one of the company’s suit factories.

The process costs about $700 and customers can expect their new attire in only three weeks, a considerably shorter time than the custom suits of the past.

Jos. A. Bank, a retailer with 140 stores established in 1905, has opted for a strategy of sending its store managers out to college campuses.

The company offers group discounts to fraternities hoping to attract new customers and cultivate that relationship over a long period of time.

Seeking to minimize the ongoing confusion between what constitutes business formal and business casual, Jos. A. Bank also educates its clients on the matter and offers a web site with a build-your-own suit option.

The efforts have been worthwhile so far. Since last September, Bank’s stock has actually risen from less than $5 a share to over $20.

Men’s Wearhouse is doing its part to capture market share by running a series of full-page ads in newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal. One slogan reads: “Introducing a Revolutionary Concept in Business Attire: The Suit.”

To complement the ad campaign, the company has increased its inventory of $200 suits by more than 50 percent to target young and middle-income men.

Certainly, all of these campaigns will likely see an abundance of suits sold in the near future, but for how long remains to be seen. If the economy surges into a period of extreme growth, the popularity of the suit could recede again.

Smalley interviewed suit designer Joseph Abboud on the subject and he theorized that the stock market will always dictate fashion trends to some extent. “When times are tough, people are going to be dressing more professionally,” Abboud said.

“Troubling events abroad, and fears about homeland security, are also a boon to suit sellers. This is a time of war, and men will be dressing for power. People don’t want to seem frivolous.”