For the Well Dressed Man

Spring Clothes for the Outdoors and the Indoors and for Sport

ROBERT LLOYD TREVOR

SPRING is at hand. The strangest spring, perhaps, that America will ever see. One views its approach with decidedly mixed emotions. There is, of course, that cheerful anticipation which is always a harbinger of the season of buds and flowers. But this year there is a certain sobriety of mind, very far from depression or pessimism, but nevertheless characterized by some restraint of feeling and by rather more solemnity than is usual at the approach of the vernal equinox.

This attitude of mind is, I think, a logical reflection of the war spirit. Certainly it is a thorough-going American way of taking the war with its enormous possibilities; not flippantly or carelessly, but smilingly, if you will, albeit with a rather grave look straight in the eyes.

You are probably wondering somewhat bemusedly what in the world all this has to do with spring clothes for men, but, Gentle Reader, it is an essential tenet of the philosophy of this department of Vanity Fair that clothes have an important and direct relation to life in its broader aspects. What a man wears is very often the outward and visible sign of what he feels. This is not always true, it must be admitted, and I admit it rather cheerfully, because, if it were always true, then the great average of feelings of the male portion of this rather carefree democracy, as reflected by its wearing apparel, must be very ugly and cantankerous indeed.

I HAVE said that the spirit of this spring of 1918 was both sober and steadfast. The clothes which men are to wear during the spring and summer are no less so. With an unmistakable flavor of the military about them, they nevertheless reflect very definitely the restraint which is in the air. Of course, if one takes the pains to look for it, he can find a good many bizarre garments, a good many oddities of style and quirks of one kind or another, many of which represent an attempt to carry over too fully the ideas of military clothing into civil life. But the men who will be wearing this sort of thing,—both young men and men more nearly in the meridian of life— are not the sort of men who set the standards by which fashion should be judged, or the sort of men whose ideas of dress are founded unshakably in good taste.

Some of the more interesting types of clothing which will take a man pretty well through the daylight hours, both in town and in the country, indoors and out, are the subject of illustration in these pages. It will be noticeable that they are cut upon distinctly individual but at the same time decidedly conservative lines. The top coats, for example, quite without any eccentricities, are slightly shapely and very conservative as to the cut of lapel, shoulder, and sleeve. They have a quiet distinction which is attractive to the man of taste.

FOR formal wear in town, there is evidence of a decided swing back to the frock coat, cut with a rather broad lapel and not too full in the skirts. This coat is worn unbuttoned and held loosely fastened by a link button at the base of the lapel. With it is worn a bold wing collar and, preferably, an ascot tie. The trousers, of course, are of striped cashmere and a double-breasted waistcoat of white linen may be worn. The morning coats, similarly, are very conservatively cut with a waist line not too long, one, two, or three buttons and very narrow .braiding. With such a coat trousers to match, striped or, if one feels slightly more exotic, finely checked trousers are the correct thing.

The sacque clothes for business and everyday wear in the city follow the outline of the figure easily and have about them an air of utility which is certainly an important and desirable echo of the military note. No unnecessary material is used and all such excrescences as belts, turned-up cuffs, patch pockets, and the like have been happily done away with, thus complying with the dictates of good style and with the Government's urgent desire to conserve wool in every possible way which is practicable. Single-breasted jackets are both two and three-buttoned, with fairly deep lapel and the skirts somewhat cutaway at the lower corners. Three pockets, two in the skirts, with flaps are a general rule. The shoulders are, of course, quite without padding and the sleeves reasonably snug but not so tight as to give that unfortunate womanish effect which has marred the outline of some of the sacque coats in recent seasons. When the sacque of this character is buttoned the waistcoat should show one button above the opening of the coat lapels.

DOUBLE-BREASTED coats find themselves this year decidedly on the upward swing of the pendulum. They have a certain trimness and smartness which smacks pleasantly of the warlike, without any slavish imitation of the uniform. This matter of the introduction of the military touch in civilian clothes is one to be handled with discretion and delicacy. There is nothing more unwelcome than the sight of a man who will not don a real uniform in the service of his country, but is willing enough to wear clothes which are of such a cut as to ape a uniform he has not the right to wear. Trench coats, campaign jackets, tunics, in imitation of officers' tunics, and the like are certainly to be frowned upon in relation to everyday street wear on the part of civilians. More latitude in this matter may properly be allowed when it comes to clothes for sporting use, because in this environment, the practicability of the quasi-military garments makes them decidedly more permissible. But this is another matter, which, for the moment, may be disregarded.

The color combinations for business clothes this spring and summer will run a reasonably wide gamut. Browns and greys will, of course, be favored as always, with mixtures and certain very soft dark greens are also receiving the cachet of popular approval. Blues are very hard to obtain because of the dye situation. In the flannels and light worsteds, rather narrow stripes will also be quite generally worn. Some remarkable fabrics of very light weight, coupled with considerable strength, are now in the market for use in very hot weather. These tropical materials, together with silks seem likely to enjoy an unusual degree of popularity this year because they possess to a marked degree that characteristic which is vital for the success of any garment this year more than ever before; the justification of practical worth.

THIS feature of usefulness, justifying the design and make of everything which relates to man's, dress is very noticeable in the accessories which go with the clothes which I have been describing. The collars, for instance, are of a sensible model, easy to wear, rather low, and still more low-looking. They have nothing of the irksomeness about them which has been characteristic of some collars of other years. The man who wears one of them does not look as if he were suffering from a stiffness of the neck, but as if he had made up his mind to have comfort.

THE hats are made on quiet blocks with a brim of medium width, rather narrow band and fairly high crown. Many of them are delightfully light in weight as are some new cloth hats of similar design which are exceedingly well adapted for sport or travel. Somewhat similar sensible characteristics will mark the straw hats which will make their appearance later in the season. Boater shaped hats can be had either of coarse straw or in some instances of straw used in the panama. The last-named type represents a maximum of lightness and comfort. For country wear the sensible cap, usually made with a one-piece top will also find itself in great good favor. It seems that we are at last being brought around to the idea so common in England that there is nothing extraordinary in wearing a cap upon all occasions where its use rests upon some practical justification. It is an exceedingly comfortable form of headgear and has so much to recommend it for use in the great outdoors, even when one's particular pursuit is not so windy and boisterous a one as motoring—that its more widespread adoption is not in the least to be wondered at.

AN interesting costume for rough country riding, tramping, and the like which is illustrated in this issue consists of a singlebreasted two-buttoned jacket cut rather long in the skirt and with large roomy pockets. It is worn with breeches and leather puttees or field boots and has as a distinguishing mark a broad leather outside belt which marks the waistline and gives a decided air of smartness and distinctiveness to the whole. This is one of the cases to which I have referred to above, in which it is quite suitable, for practical reasons, to embody a distinctly military feature, in costumes which are not to be used for military purposes. It is a comfort also in riding, of a sort which does not connote the park hack and silk hat, to have one's coat comfortably held in at the waist. A belt in this instance serves this purpose far better than it could be served in making the jacket itself too snug.

Another interesting costume which is illustrated in this issue is a knickerbocker suit of which the jacket is a three-buttoned, singlebreasted model, roomy and comfortable and with a good-sized top pocket of which the flap is buttoned through. The knickerbockers are fairly full but not balloon-like. They fall comfortably below the knee, and are fairly full at this point. They come down pretty well over the roll-down tops of the golf stockings. There is plenty of elbow and shoulder room in the jacket for free use of the arms. With this costume a silk or madras shirt, with an attached soft polo collar is, naturally, suitable.