Fall Sportswear Portfolio

Remember the Fifties, when every guy wore blue jeans and wanted to be James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause? Topped off with a varsity or a black motorcycle jacket, it was the simplest way to make a sharp impression. Which is just what has happened in the Nineties--simplicity is back: relaxed but evocative clothes with a strong, manly style; denim and leather with plenty of sex appeal; cool duds that go back to basics. We asked fashion photographer Peter Arnell to capture that look of a time "when people approached life with the kind of sincerity and optimism," he says, "that we in the Nineties are finally returning (text concluded on page 152) to." The clothes we've chosen are honest and comfortable: plain or logoed team jackets in leather, wool melton, satin or quilted suede; denim or corduroy shirts worn with a sports jacket and even a tie; stone-washed or ready-to-fade blue jeans with a relaxed fit and a boot-leg cut; plaid flannel shirts that are patch-worked and cowboy styled; V-neck sweaters worn over white cotton T-shirts (a white T-shirt with jeans also looks great); hooded sweaters in cotton jersey, fleece and heavier wool blends; cabled turtlenecks, tunnel-necked turtles and mock turtle-necks in light- or heavy-cotton knits (check out the new zip mock turtles in "Style" on page 26). Baseball caps are also back and all the good guys this year are sporting black cowboy hats just like country singer Clint Black's. And there's also biker, cowboy and workmen's boots--as strong and tough as Brando in On the Waterfront.

Where & How to Buy on page 185.