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page 16
spring fashion supplement to the daily nebraskan
monday, april 6, 1981
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Women's suits popular;
soft, feminine look is seen
Photo by Mark Billingsley
Sandi Phillips in her career suit.
By Suzanne Sayed
Baby soft pastels, bright Hawaiian
prints. Long skirts. Shorts skirts. One day
they are hot on the market, and within
months, they're on the 'sale' racks. Their
popularity comes and goes, but according
to Lincoln merchants, one particular item
consistently remains at the top of the
charts.
The woman's business suit.
Dress it up with a frilly blouse and
flashy skirt, high heels and numerous acces
sories, said Doris Brown, a sales clerk in the
fashion department of Ben Simon's. Or go
casual -jeans, boots, and a 'preppie' sweat
er, complete with wool jacket or blazer,
suggests Carolyn Benisek, assistant manager
of Brooks in the Centrum.
Regardless of how it is worn, Lincoln
merchants agree that the business suit has
definitely made a comeback.
The fashion world has done a turn
about since the late 60s and early 70s when
hip huggers, patched jeans and T-shirts
were normal school wear. Even office
fashions were more casual and blue jeans
were worn by some secretaries.
But with the stem of radical political
views, anti-establishment dress fell out of
vogue.
Today, conservative dress and the suit
have made a comeback. Despite the cost of
a suit compared to jeans, dressy jackets
with vests have appeared in the office, on
college campuses and in high school cor
ridors. Fashion editors have attributed the
popularity of suits among women to the
softer look they've acquired over the years.
Gone are the stiff padded shoulders and
severe lines. Instead, suits come in a variety
of soft colors and with feminine touches
slit skirts and frilly blouses - that make
them more attractive to women.
"Jackets are our top sellers," said Karen
Loseke, a sales clerk at The Wardrobe.
Loseke said that although they sell only
separates," people buy jackets to go with
"everything."
She said women are buying lots ot
jackets to go with dresses and the most
popular colors are neutral and white, be
cause they are basic colors and can be worn
with many things.
She said the average cost for a blazer is
$40 and the longer jackets sell best because
they are versatile.
Brown said jackets are sold "mostly to
career women" and that ladies buy an aver
age of one new suit a year. She said the
average price for a jacket, skirt and blouse
or pants would be about $200.
"But, they never go out of style," she
said. "They aren't fads." The best sellers
are basic colors, she said, including navy
blue.
She said the popular fabrics for spring
are linens, poplins, and cotton, and that
wool and tweeds are the best for winter
and fall.
The major reason for the comeback is
that "jackets are versatile and can be
coordinated with virtually anything,"
Brown said.
Brown added that women wear them
for travel, to meetings, and especially on
the job.
"The suits are feminine and business
like at the same time," she said.
Benisek said that Brooks has sponsored
several fashion shows on the UNL campus
and that they sell a lot of jackets to women
who are going to graduate in the spring.
"Basically, the jacket is one of our best
items," she said. "Sales have really increas
ed in past months."
So, said the merchants, jackets have
made a comeback. A spokeswoman for
Hovland-Swanson-Cochrane said she thinks
it is because people haven't seen them for
awhile.
Everyone agreed the business suit is not
just a fad, and it will be a long time before
it goes out of style.
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