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Movie Has Men Taking Stock of Wardrobes
By Georgia Sauer
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 7, 1988
ONCE IN A WHILE, a movie captures the imagination of the fashion world. Remember the
''Annie Hall'' look, when women began raiding men's closets for oversize shirts, vests and
skinny ties to wear with long skirts, boots and old hats pulled low a la Diane Keaton in
the movie? Or ''The Great Gatsby'' look, when the fashion industry emulated the fragile,
lacy, dropped waist dresses worn by Daisy and the sporty, tennis look of Jordan?
Usually, women's fashions are affected by movies, but this time it's the men's turn.
Have you seen ''Wall Street,'' with Michael Douglas playing a very rich, very stylish
power broker, the mentor of Charlie Sheen, who changes not only his values but his fashion
image after being in contact with Douglas? The movie is changing the menswear look, not an
easy feat in the slow-moving world of men's fashions, where changes are often measured in
the quarter-inch increments of tie widths or the ''new'' splay of a shirt collar.
''Wall Street'' is causing some big-time fashion changes for men; there is nothing subtle
about it. Consider:
Loose, double-breasted suits, with wide, padded shoulders in very rich imported wool
fabrics.
Boldly striped shirts - the one creating the most stir in the movie is Douglas'
horizontally-striped shirt - in bold colors. Try mauve stripes at your next business
meeting when the boss is out of town.
Suspenders - or call them braces if you want to be au courant - which are bolder than the
shirts. Suspenders are not just for holding up your pants; they have graduated to the tie
category in that they are colorful, wildly-patterned, and worn to be seen.
Speaking of ties, forget the regimental stripes, the conservative Nixon polka-dots, the
little squiggles in safe colors pretending to be paisley. Now it's huge paisley forms
loosely floating in a sea of purple silk or turquoise - kind of like what you'd see
snorkeling in the Pacific.
Trousers are loose, always pleated, though still tailored, neat.
The return of the white collar on a solid or striped shirt body, which has been on the out
list for the past few years, and French cuffs, whi ch have been out for eons.
And along with French cuffs come cufflinks, best if solid gold and personalized. In ''Wall
Street,'' Michael Douglas wore a chain-link bracelet and ring inscribed GG - for Gordon
Gekko, his character's name - although no one has mentioned men's jewelry as a new trend.
(The expensive silver and gold watch - by the likes of Rolex, Gucci, Cartier - has been
around for a while, and fits right into the look of ''Wall Street.'')
Very expensive shoes, in tres cher skins such as crocodile. The price of a pair could get
you to the Everglades for a week to see the real thing.
Custom-made clothing. Michael Douglas' $28,000 wardrobe for the movie included 11
custom-made suits of English and Italian wools at up to $1,500 each, 24 Swiss and English
cotton shirts at $250 each, and lots of handmade silk ties.
''Wall Street'' costume designer Ellen Mirojnick spent weeks of research on the real Wall
Street, where she studied such real-life wheeler-dealers as Ivan Boesky (way before his
office furnishings were auctioned off), T. Boone Pickens, Carl Icahn and Donald Trump. The
bottom line, if you'll excuse the expression, was they all wore custom-made clothing. As
these men have created their own fortunes, so, too, have they created their own styles.
Extremely wealthy women may bump into someone wearing the same couturier fashion, but for
men, there are no dress-alikes in the world of the powerful, the super-rich.
Which is great news for custom clothiers, including David Shockley of Savile Row Custom
Clothiers in Clayton.
''I'm just getting ready to go to Miami for the annual Custom Tailor Designers Association
meetings, where the 'Wall Street' look will be prominent,'' Shockley said. ''That look -
with wider shoulders, soft, fuller coats with a fuller arm - is called the blade suit, or
the drape suit. Esquire magazine and Gentlemen's Quarterly have been calling it the new
silhouette for quite a while now, and the movie will only help.''
Shockley added that ''the real difference is a wider shoulder - an inch to two inches
wider - which is flattering. It creates the illusion of height.''
He has already seen an interest in the clothing from the movie: ''One of my customers, a
stockbroker from Merrill Lynch, came in asking for a double-breasted wool flannel blazer
like Michael Douglas wore in the movie. We made it for about $500.''
Savile Row's clothing should look very similar to the movie's, because ''we use the same
manufacturer as Alan Flusser, who made the clothes for the movie. We use the same fabric
people, too,'' Shockley said. (Flusser is a menswear designer who has an exclusive custom
shop in New York City.)
Shockley said the other trends he sees from the movie are ''shirts that have no tie space
where the collar points meet - the collar almost butts together.'' Also, he said trousers
will be ''quite full, double- andtriple-pleated. Obviously, suspenders will be more
important now, and French cuffs and cufflinks.
''It might be a little early to see some of these trends in St. Louis. That 'Wall Street'
look could probably offend certain people, and St. Louis has always been a conservative
town. Fashion trends are only followed by certain people, but the movie will create an
interest in some change.''
Tom Julian, assistant fashion director of the Men's Fashion Association, which is ending
up its annual press preview in Chicago today, said, ''The power look, the textured look,
the pattern and pattern mix that was so important in the movie 'Wall Street' is one of the
big trends we're seeing in spring menswear.
''The look is British, Italian, French, American - it has global appeal. We are getting
away from the traditional to the power look.''
''Hand-tailored suits are a big part of the 'Wall Street' look, as are double-breasted
suits for the corporate executive,'' he continued. ''Accessories that personalize a
wardrobe are important, such as the suspenders seen in the movie. And we haven't seen
French cuffs with cufflinks for several years.''
Another look from the movie that Julian said might cause a stir is ''when Michael Douglas
wore a mock turtleneck under a double-breasted blazer when he entertained at home. And
when Charlie Sheen wore silk, a luxurious fabric, at home.
''And did you notice the large triangles on neckties? That's important, along with
paisleys and florals - not just stripes anymore''
Just as the television show ''Miami Vice'' changed the way men dressed three years ago,
''Wall Street'' is doing it today, Julian said.
Terry Felumb, who along with his wife, Carla, owns the Mister Guy stores in St. Louis,
said, ''A lot of the things in 'Wall Street' have been the direction of men's fashion for
the last year or two, but the movie will move things along further in that direction.
''I think the foundation of the whole look is that clothing is becoming more elegant, even
for a sportswear store like this. The clothing that looks best is dark and dressy, with
double-breasted suits, elegant accessories , and braces as the centerpiece of an outfit -
some flashy, a lot bright colors.
''The button-down shirt is almost entirely gone now. I'd say about 75 percent of the
shirts we carry have spread collars. Oxford cloth is almost a dead item, with broadcloth
being used more and more.''
Felumb said he had stopped carrying shirts with contrasting white collars a few years ago,
''but I have some on order now. I'm also stocking a few French cuff shirts, which is a
departure for us.''
Neckwear is dressier at Mister Guy, too, he said. ''Paisly, wovens, not as many stripes -
they're bolder but dressier.''
Even hair styles for trend-setting men are changing a bit, according to Dominic Bertani of
Dominic Michael Studio Capelli, which is downtown in the Lammert Building.
In the movie, Michael Douglas' hair is long, slicked back, a real wet look. In fact, in
one scene after a workout at the club, Douglas seemingly combs his wet hair back. But it's
done with more than water, Bertani said.
''If you used only water, it would be dry by the time you got to work,'' he said. ''We use
the 1980s version of Brylcreem, or other pomades, petroleum-based products. They are
lighter, they wash out of the hair easier, and they have a clean, not unpleasant fragrance
that is almost nonexistent.''
Bertani said the new products, which can be purchased in salons, leave the hair ''supple.
Hair is not stiff or brittle when you use it.''
The product he used for the picture is called Sebastian Grease, ''but there are other
brands that will work.
''I think in three or four months, after a lot of men see 'Wall Street' . . . they'll be
coming in more and more for the look,'' Bertaini said.
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