Suited for Success: Clothiers Measure Market For Professional Attire

Roderick Rowser has designed garments for everyone from Bill Cosby to Chubby Checker.

But through a series of twists, Rowser recently moved from New York City to Fayetteville, where he hopes to join what appears to be a budding market for business professional garb.

“You can see this area is on the verge of becoming very cosmopolitan,” Rowser said. “Dressing well defines who you are, and the better you look, the more people gravitate toward you.”

Evidence of that claim can be seen in the increasing popularity of local fashion boutiques as well as the addition of high-end shops such as Baumans Northwest in Rogers’ MetroPark and JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., which is scheduled to open in the Pinnacle Hills Promenade on Oct. 4.

The oldest suit seller in the area is John Walker Cole. His original John W. Cole’s store opened on the downtown Fayetteville square in 1977 and moved to the north side of town as Walker Brothers Dry Goods in 1998. The original Walker Brothers was opened by two of Cole’s great uncles in 1903 in Eureka Springs.

Cole said business is better than ever, forcing him to add two more salespeople to his staff of eight in recent months. He plans to add a couple more this fall.

“When we first opened our store, we were on an island for the first few years,” Cole said. “Then, we had a number of competitors and quite frankly, it concerned me. But one thing that I learned is competition is good for everybody in our business.”

With a growing number of young, hip executives emerging in Northwest Arkansas, the fashion bar continues to rise. It’s up to folks like Rowser to keep this new breed of movers and shakers on the cutting edge of style.

“We’re looking for the Forty Under 40 guy,” said Donny Hubbard, Baumans Northwest store manager. “There are a lot more young guys around now who have the means to buy nice things when you look at guys like Brandon Barber [The Barber Group] and Hunter Haynes [Haynes Ltd.] and all the young attorneys in town.

“They have the money, the style and the taste. They wear nice clothes, and they’re known for it.”

The timing for suit makers coming into this market is right, said Blake Woolsey of Executive Communications Consultants in Fayetteville. Her company hosts seminars on business etiquette that include workshops on appropriate business attire.

Unlike a suit, Woolsey said the importance of looking professional is immeasurable.

“We are all the faces of the organizations which we represent,” Woolsey said. “We were just with somebody earlier this week who said somebody walked into their office for an interview and he said, ‘It was just such a waste of my time. It was obvious that he didn’t come to impress me because he did not look professional.'”

Making a Man

Rowser came across a similar situation when he was meeting with the vice president of a local bank who greeted him in khakis and a polo shirt. The banker defended his attire by saying the bank recently went to more casual dress for all its employees.

“It really got me to thinking,” Rowser said. “If I had two bankers in a room and one was dressed casual and the other one was in a suit and all things were equal, who would I go to ask for money? I’d probably go to the guy with the suit on.”

Rowser was a regular fashion consultant on television shows such as “AM Buffalo” and “PM Magazine” and had his collections appear in several industry magazines such as Women’s Wear Daily. He owned Roderick Rowser Limited stores in Buffalo, New York City and Toronto before the death of his daughter caused him to step away from the business in the late 1990s.

Now that the hiatus is over, Rowser has begun designing and tailoring top-of-the-line suits for a handful of professionals in Northwest Arkansas. Business has spread slowly through word of mouth, but he has recently launched a Web site at roderickrowsercouture.com to boost his customer base.

Rowser doesn’t just do suits. If it’s worn by a man or woman, he can make it. In fact, he made a black leather jacket lined with Kente’ cloth (a cloth woven in Africa) that was presented to Cosby on the television show “Good Morning America.”

Dress to Impress

Locally, men’s suits range in price from $100 (two for $200 at S&K Famous Brandname Menswear in Fayetteville) to $5,000 (Baumans).

While Rowser’s custom suits have sold for as much as $8,000, his regular suits range from $1,325 to $4,000 and take three to four months to complete.

Hubbard doesn’t personally hand-stitch the custom suits he sells at Baumans, but that doesn’t reduce the quality. Suits there start at $695, and the store orders a lot of the same exotic fabrics that Rowser uses, such as Zegna. The Rogers store is the first expansion of Baumans of Little Rock, which began fitting the capital’s finest in 1919.

“The business casual thing, with people dressing kind of sloppy, has run its course,” Hubbard said. “A lot of my customers who are executives are encouraging their employees to dress up a little more, with at least nice pants and a button-down shirt.”

Dressing to impress can be pricey. That’s why Hubbard and others stress the importance of budgeting before buying.

For those not wearing ties, never allow the undershirt to be visible around the collar and always make sure the top shirt has been neatly pressed. One trend in shirts is for the collar to be solid white, a style that’s been “in” and “out” several times since the 1920s.

“For the guy who wants to be Gordon Gekko, he wants to have that power shirt,” Hubbard said, referring to Michael Douglas’ greed-driven character in the movie “Wall Street.”

Hunt for Style

Not every one wants to be Gordon Gekko. Some want to be Mark Cuban, the usually casual and always outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.

In fact, Arkansas’ fluctuating climate makes suits en vogue only during the cooler months and for evening functions year round. That breeds creativity in some whose high-executive status means they dictate their own dress codes — guys like Barber, who is often seen wearing traditional suits without ties, or even socks.

Haynes, 28, said personal style is essential.

“The main thing is to be comfortable,” Haynes said. “Generally, it’s going to be a pair of pants, maybe light colored pants, in the summer time with an iron-pressed shirt. If it’s really hot, say 100 degrees, I might wear shorts.”

Clothes should adapt to different situations just as they adapt to the changing seasons. Haynes said what he wears changes daily depending on who he’s meeting with. Basically, dress in a style that doesn’t intimidate.

It doesn’t matter where someone shops. Haynes hits local spots like Baumans and SoHo Clothiers and will even try to find items on sale at chain stores like Dillard’s and Banana Republic.

When he’s in other places like in Dallas or Memphis, he likes to check out a few local shops.

“I go anywhere and everywhere,” Haynes said. “There isn’t one or two places in particular. That takes the fun out of buying clothes.”

From Vixen to Vivacious

Women in the workplace have long proven to be as aspiring as men, and often more fashionable.

Most women want a mix between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Hillary Rodham Clinton: classy yet empowered.

With womanhood, sometimes comes added family responsibilities.

And while there’s a growing number of soccer dads in the world, it’s often working moms who shop, run errands and shuffle kids between functions.

Shifting from boardrooms to soccer fields in style can be tricky, so a versatile wardrobe is key.

“Versatility and comfort is the key, along with making sure that everything fits,” Woolsey said. “A lot of us women do shift during the day from our professional lives to our home lives to our volunteer lives, and being able to wear separates is a trend that you’ve seen for a long time.”

“Separates” mean the outfit is not all in one piece, such as a dress. There’s not much flexibility in a plain dress, but with separates such as pants and a jacket, women can layer their clothes. That way, they can add or remove an item or two of clothing to adjust to different atmospheres.

“As you leave the office, you can take the jacket off and you’ve got a top with pants on that are a little more casual,” Woolsey said. “And you can put on a pair of great earrings and some strappy heels and go to a cocktail party with it.”

Annette Sohosky, co-owner of SoHo Clothiers in Rogers, couldn’t agree more. She will usually find out what is in a customer’s closet before trying to build a wardrobe.

For those starting from scratch, Sohosky recommends a classic suit in a basic color such as black or chocolate brown. Then, they can “build off that” by adding different blouses.

Sohosky said the average price of the “starting suit” at SoHo Clothiers is between $400 and $500.

“It’s a lot of mix and match,” She said. “She might buy a jacket that’s going to go with several bottoms. It’s not for just one outfit, it’s a building process and it kind of varies from woman to woman and depends on the guidelines for the company.”

When in doubt what those guidelines are for interviews or meetings, it’s not a bad idea to call ahead to a secretary or someone with knowledge of the situation to ask what kind of style is appropriate.

Ten Executive Wardrobe Tips

1. Golden rule of dress etiquette: Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

2. Buy with quality — not quantity — in mind. Purchasing classic pieces of quality material and design will last several seasons, not just one.

3. Think versatility when shopping. You want to easily transform your outfit to accommodate going from work to the soccer field with kids and then possibly to dinner with a client.

4. To make shopping for clothes a positive experience, do a closet inventory. Determine what you need before you head to the stores so you are not apt to make impulse purchase. Good rule of thumb: If you haven’t worn something in the last 18-24 months, give it away, throw it away or sell it.

5. Accessories are very important, especially for women.

6. Know what colors look good on you and buy those. Know what colors work best with your skin tones, hair color, etc. Use sales staff to assist you if you have a question about a particular color.

7. Walk, sit, and stand when trying on new clothes. Be comfortable in what you wear.

8. Bring your favorite clothing items from your closet to the store to help coordinate with.

9. Follow fashion but do so appropriately. What may look good on all the television and movie stars may not be right for the office.

10. When buying clothes for the office, ask yourself some questions:

• Is this appropriate for the kind of job I have?

• Is it a fad or will it hold-up as a basic fashion idea for two or more seasons?

• Can I afford it?

• Does it fit properly? Is it OK for my physique?

• Is it comfortable?

• Is it the right thing to wear this season, in this climate?

• Is the fabric of really good quality?

Source: Blake Woolsey, co-owner of Executive Communications Consultants of Fayetteville