silly boy suit

by cfmullen ••• In Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, Cary Grant played the original Mad Man and he wore a gray suit. Wait; let me restate the importance of what he wore. He, Cary Grant, wore “the suit.” The precise nature of the fabric and the maker of this iconic garment are often disputed. However, what is not open to conjecture is the fact that this suit defined taste and style in men’s clothing forever. Forever. It was impeccably cut, not drapey or overwhelming or skimpy or foolish. The lapels were precise, not too wide or too thin. The pants were sensible, not too full, or too narrow. This suit was so perfect, one might never even notice it. •••Today, one can’t help but notice what is considered fashionable in men’s suiting. I call it the Silly Boy Suit. Created by Thom Browne and various design lemmings, this look is guaranteed to turn any grown man, of any age, into a little boy. ••• Some say Pee-wee Herman (circa 1985) is the muse for this trend, with his jacket two sizes too small and pants just long enough to be called capris. But Pee-wee was comedian and he dressed purposely to make people laugh. ••• Is this new fashion statement any more foolish than the Nehru jacket, the love beads thing, the Yves Saint Laurent-cinched-waist-suit-phase, the polyester disco craze, the 80’s retro-1940’s-double-breasted period, the Miami Vice pastel moment, the Pat Riley too slicked back for its own good era, or the countless casualties of the Casual Fridays generation? Obviously not. ••• Considering all of those fashion faux pas of the past, I can say with certainty that these Thom Thumb suits will soon join the list of shouldn’t have happened.  Thankfully, even immaturity can go out of vogue. ••• After 50 years, that elegant gray suit of Cary Grant’s is a suit you could still wear –any time, any place, on any occasion. And believe me, at any age, it will never make you look silly.