Ties
Soft pastels in mangos, pinks, light greens and soft blues along with bold and vivid stripes are the most exciting part of the wardrobe. Add one of our colour co-ordinated silk pocket hankies and you’ll have a look that is bound to bring compliments galore.
Suits – fitted and fun
Slim and trim, lean and mean….take your pick of descriptions. The more slimming, stream-lined European fit featured by most Spring 2008 suits are very flattering to wear. Jackets are all single breasted with (for the most part) 3 buttons. Some are styled with side vents – ‘garage doors’ as some of the boys call them. The pants are slimmer fits as well with an almost equal proportion of single pleat to flat front. Stripes are always popular and there is a wide variety.
Fitting Hints
- As a general rule, boys dress clothes should not be fitted (nor are they designed) to the same degree of technical perfection as a men’s clothing.
- Your son will grow and needs a little ‘extra’ in his clothes to allow for this. The shoulders, back and chest of suit jackets and blazers as well as the length are areas that cannot be altered larger and longer as time goes on. It is important that your son’s jackets have some extra shoulder and chest room as well as a length that is a little longer that his Dad has on his.
- Sleeve length should reach a point between the bottom of the wrist and top knuckle of the thumb – exactly where within this range is based on individual taste.
- Pant length is a matter of taste as well but we find that the most common length is reached by marking the back of the pant bottom to approximately ½” over the top of the shoe heel.
- Most boys will do their level best to push the pant waist down over their hips. This leaves the crotch hanging far too low, is quite sloppy in appearance and usually cannot be altered well Dress pants are designed to be worn with the top of the waist band at or just above the top of your son’s hip bone. The boys will probably push the pants lower regardless of the ‘hip rule’. Knowing this we usually ask them to keep the pants up for those first 15 or 20 minutes when that important first great impression is made on others. After that….well we don’t fight the inevitable!
- Before altering the clothes, be sure that the tailor realizes that he/she must leave extra cloth in the pant and jacket sleeves as well the pant waist to allow for re-alteration as your son grows.
SPRING 2008
Big Changes at Perry Ellis!!
J. A. Besner & Sons, based in Montreal and with U.S. offices located in New York City is one of North America’s largest and most important suppliers of boys dress and upscale casual clothing. As the licensee for the Perry Ellis line of boys wear they turned boys fashion into an exciting and varied arena and have become leaders in the industry.
As great as things have been with the Perry Ellis label, the folks at Besner are not ones to rest on their laurels. They decided that it was time to shake things up again and move ahead with fresh ideas. To that end, they did not renew their license arrangement with Perry Ellis. Spring 2008 bring a new and refreshing partnership with Hart, Schaffner Marx and Ike Behar.
Hart, Schaffner ,Marx is one of the most respected names in fine tailored suits and sport jackets and Ike Behar is renowned for fine shirts and casual wear. We viewed the lines several months ago and love them. The look is fresh, fun and has a great European flair. We are looking forward to many successful seasons with both labels.
Shirts
While white remains #1, it’s only by the smallest of margins. Blue tones, pinks, lilac, peach, coral are all great colours that accent a suit beautifully.
Stripes either soft pastels or vibrant blasts of colour are important. We’ve purchased as much selection as possible. The one we’re most excited about is the stripe shirts (5 shades) with white contrast collars and cuffs. Outstanding! We also can’t forget our signature white tone on tone dress shirt with French cuffs and terrific silver cuff links
To Pleat or Not to Pleat
Some of our customers come in under the impression that pleated pants are out of style. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We still sell, and our manufacturer's over all orders bear this out, 50% to 60% pleat pants. We have found that while just about every boy can wear and look good in a pleat pant, many do not find a flat front pant to be complimentary. As not every pant or suit pant is available in both pleat and flat front styles, our best recommendation is to be sure that the pant fits well, is comfortable and looks great. Don’t invest too much time over whether it is a pleat or flat front style.
