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                                  EXHIBIT 99
                           FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Written and oral statements provided by the Company from time to time may
contain certain forward looking information, as that term is defined by the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act") and in releases
made by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The cautionary
statements which follow are being made pursuant to the provisions of the Act and
with the intention of obtaining the benefits of the "safe harbor" provisions of
the Act. While the Company believes that the assumptions underlying such forward
looking information are reasonable based on present conditions, forward looking
statements made by the Company are not guarantees of future performance and
actual results may differ materially from those in the forward looking
statements as a result of various factors. Accordingly, the Company has
identified important factors which could cause the Company's actual financial
results to differ materially from any such results which might be projected,
forecasted or estimated by the Company in written or oral forward looking
statements:

 .    The overall retail economy in the United States could affect retailers'
     expectations of future apparel product sales. A more pessimistic evaluation
     compared to 1997 could adversely affect both the advance order and in-stock
     product lines marketed by the Company. The Company's sales and earnings
     could be adversely impacted to the extent that the financial strength of
     its existing or new retail customers worsens.

 .    The Company's largest customer represented approximately 15%, 18% and 16%
     of consolidated sales in fiscal 1997, 1996 and 1995, respectively. The
     Company's second largest customer in 1997 represented approximately 8% of
     consolidated sales. The Company believes it maintains an excellent business
     relationship with these customers and sales volume for 1998 is anticipated
     to approximate recent historical levels. However, an unanticipated decline
     in sales with the Company's largest customers would adversely affect
     profitability as it would be difficult to immediately replace this business
     with new customers or increase volume with other existing customers.

 .    Substantially all of the Company's men's and women's sportswear, women's
     career wear and a portion of its tailored suits, sportcoats and slack
     production are manufactured utilizing independent contractors, mostly
     located outside of the United States. The percentage of product
     manufactured or assembled outside of the United States is increasing. The
     Company is dependent upon the contractors' ability to deliver such products
     on a timely basis. Labor, delivery, or transportation difficulties
     regarding contractor sourced products which result in delays not readily
     controllable by the Company could negatively affect operating profits.
     Also, unanticipated political or economic disruptions in these countries
     and/or currency fluctuations could adversely impact overall Company
     profitability.

 .    Continuation of the trend towards more casual dressing in the workplace
     could reduce the demand for the Company's tailored clothing products,
     especially for tailored suits. While the Company markets several sportswear
     and casual product lines, consumer receptiveness to the Company's casual
     and sportswear products may be less than anticipated.
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 .    Sales derived from products which utilize licensed brand names represent an
     important current component of the Company's overall revenue and
     profitability. The Company also serves as a licensing agent for several of
     its principal licensors. While the Company believes the relationships with
     its principal licensor to be favorable and the termination of any single
     licensing agreement would not have a material adverse effect on its
     business taken as a whole, the long-term prospects of the Company assume
     the continuation of most existing licensing arrangements and ongoing
     consumer acceptance of the products sold under these licensed brands.

 .    The Company competes with numerous manufacturers and distributors of
     apparel products, both foreign and domestic. Currency valuation changes
     versus the U.S. dollar arising from the economic difficulties experienced
     in many of the Asian economies during 1997 has, among other things, reduced
     the cost of products imported into the United States from these countries.
     The Company sources only a limited percentage of products from Asia
     (principally certain golf products and women's styles). The Company's
     ability to generate sufficient margins from products not sourced from Asia
     (such as suits, sportcoats, tailored and casual slacks) could be adversely
     affected to the extent that competitors can source these products from Asia
     at lower costs in sufficient quantities at comparable quality levels.

 .    Fabric purchases from the Company's largest supplier approximated 40% of
     the total fabric requirements in fiscal 1997. As is customary in the
     industry, there are no long-term contracts with fabric suppliers. The
     Company believes that there are alternative sources of supply available to
     satisfy its raw material requirements. However, a prolonged, unanticipated
     disruption of scheduled deliveries from this or other suppliers would
     adversely affect production scheduling and ultimately the Company's ability
     to meet customer delivery dates.

 .    During 1997 the Company commenced a comprehensive upgrade of its management
     information systems. This project encompasses a significant change to the
     Company's existing hardware configuration and software applications and,
     among other things, is expected to result in the Company's information
     systems being year 2000 compliant upon completion during 1999. The
     significant portion of the new system enhancements will emanate from
     purchased software and written representation has been received from the
     various application vendors that such software is year 2000 compliant. The
     Company will be testing the various software during 1998 as an integral
     part of the phased implementation of the new applications. Costs associated
     with maintaining or modifying systems not expected to be replaced will be
     expensed as incurred. The Company's plans for assuring year 2000 compliance
     are also expected to include performing appropriate testing of the
     electronic interfaces to important customers' and suppliers' systems.
     Amounts charged to expense during 1997 for year 2000 compliance were
     insignificant and the Company does not expect the costs required to be
     expensed over the next several years to have a material effect on its
     financial position or results of operations. The Company expects that with
     the conversions to the new software and hardware, the year 2000 issue will
     not pose a significant operational problem for its computer systems.
     However, if the conversion is not made on a timely basis, the year 2000
     issue could have an impact on the Company's ability to operate efficiently.
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 .    During 1997, the Company's variable rate debt (based on the Prime or LIBOR
     rates in effect from time to time) averaged approximately $74 million under
     its Revolving Credit Facility.  The Company anticipates that such variable
     borrowings will be comparable during 1998 at rates averaging  approximately
     7.5%.  An unexpected increase in total borrowings and/or in the borrowing
     rates under the Revolving Credit Facility would adversely affect
     profitability.

 .    The Company is not aware of and has assumed no significant adverse impact
     of pending or threatened litigation matters.

 .    The Company has assumed that no major acquisitions will occur during 1998.

The above noted review of factors pursuant to the Act should not be construed as
exhaustive or as any admission regarding the adequacy of disclosures made by the
Company.