The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-08

most of the new styles in what men
are to wear have been fixed already,
and by the first of next month the re-
tailerS either will have their goods on
hand or at least will know exactly
what they are going to put on show.
Makers of neckties says the Phila-
delphia Ledger, are turning out great
numbers of flowing four-in-hands to
take the place of the small, stringy
knots of 1902 The little knot must
give place, they say, to large ones such
as were worn years ago. Bows, it is
announced, will be even less popular
than last year, and Ascots are to be
regarded as unfit for use, except with
frock coats. In regard to color ties are
going to be quieter, solid tints taking
precedence over fancy combinations.
Full dress ties should be ribbed bows
rather than smooth ones, and the
widths are considerably increased over
what they have been in the fall and
winter.
In warm weather shirts solid colors
ate to prevail largely, and most of the
fancy shirts that remain on the market
vail be distine uished by stripes Polka
dots and other fancy designs are being
tabooed by the dealers. The prevail
ing solid color. they say. is to be blue
of different shades, the striped species
being confined almost entirely to COM
binat'ons al white with blue, brown or
black. Ped, even in small quantities,
is declared 20 be growing more unpop-
ul2r each year. The mold of the shirt
will he tight fitting, as it has been for
several years, and fewer cuffiess shirts
than ever are being laid in at the
stores. The attached cuffs, following
the cue of last season, will be very
narrow, and the proper sort of cuff
button is plain gold one, with neither
engraving nor jewel.
"Only a few days ago." said a we'll
known furnisher, the other day, ''it
was stylish for men to wear extremely
fancy cuff buttons, twice or three
times as large as those used to-day.
Every year there has been an increased
tendency to seek simplicity, and the
most popular button we sell now Is
one with each of the two links in the
shape of a thin gold oval"
The same dealer commented on the
contrast of style changes in
underwear as compared with
the changes in outside cloth
ing. 1t seems that the while articles
for exterior dress have been simpler
and simpler each year. mems under
clothing has grown proportionately
more gaudy. The stocks ordered for
the coming spring are variegated, even
dazzling, but the dealer will tell you
that most of the men who buy fine
things for show pay little attention to
either the color or quality of what
does not show.
"A majority of the well-dressed men
who come into the store" said the fur
nisher spend money lavishly. on out
side dress, and then go away to seek
whatever else they need in some de-
partment store, where they get 1t
cheaply and without frills. Those of
my customers who do buy expensive
underwear pick out the loudest colors
then can find. no matter how quietly
they dress as far as their outside
clothes are concerned"
Mems hosiery, coming under the
classification of visible wearing apparel
because of the fact that it shows itself
occasionally, follow the rules of the
exterior rather than those of the un-
der clothing. Socks of many colors
are to be retired to great extent this
spring. Solid black ones are most in
demand. Next to them are the gray.
Belts, in which there has generally
been more latitude of selection than in
almost any of the appurtenances of
spring clothing, will be narrow this
year. An inch or an inch and a quar-
ter will NE the proper width and few
dealers are ordering many broad ones.
Black is to be the prevailing color.
The average man who has kept his
eyes open does not have to be told
that the turned down collar has come
to stay. Except for use with a Tux
edo coat, in which case there is a
gradual disappearance of the turned
down, the dealers have little trade in
high neckwear these days. This is the
case even In winter, and in any large
store they will tell you they do not
have two calls a day for high collars
for street wear. AS the spring comes
on, the number of men who want
standing collars decreases. The turn
downs "get lower to use the trade
expression, every year.
If you try to corner a fashionable
furnisher on questions of style, how
ever much his over accuracy may i'm
press you at first. you will be sur
prised to hear him hedging" One of
them confessed this much when he was
"l have two customers, both of them
considered exceptionally we'll dressed
men, and one of them wears a dress
shirt with tucks down the front. while
the other snorts with disgust If you
dare to show him a tucked one"
The tailors. in preparing for the
spring cuts, are planning to make
their coats, as one of them expressed
it. with less shape than last year"
cut" The shoulders are to have less
padding. the waist less curve. The
hang Will be looser, as it was before
the advent of the uncomfortable mill
tary shapes. Loose and easy fitting
cutaways are to come into more gem
eral useN again, it is said. and fancy
vests are to be worn much more than
they were last year. There will be
vests with or without collars, either
in good form. but all of them will be
cut high.
Trousers are to have moderate sized
legs-not tight, but baggy like those
OF recent seasons The shoes of this
year are to be a little more pointed.
say the shoe store men, but beyond
that there are not to be any innova-
tons. As to hats they form the one
line Of mems clothes about which the
public gets no reliable advance hints.
II is explained that there is so much
rivalry Ia the hat trade that each
dealer regards his plans for the COM
ing season as a dark secret. Each has
an opening day" and then his pa
irons are expected to come around and
see for the first time what they are
supposed 10 wear on their heads