Hot Couture

Business attire in Southwest Florida can, at times, border on the casual. Warm temperatures and our laid-back pace often mean rolling up the sleeves, dropping the necktie or forgoing the pantyhose. Still, many professionals here take great care in what they wear, and rely on help from custom clothiers.

Sometimes referred to as image consultants, these people offer men and women what they often can't buy off the rack in retail stores: fine fabrics, finishes and an array of color choices; the best fit in fashionable styles; their name embroidered on coat linings; initials on their shirt cuffs; convenient fittings in their offices; wardrobe consulting; and other personalized services.

Quality of fit, fabric and tailoring, along with consistency and convenience are why State Rep. Dudley Goodlette of Naples buys suits, shirts, sport coats and formal wear from Joe Genta, owner of Gulfshore Clothier, based in Naples.

The custom clothier, with three full-time tailors and three of its six offices located in Florida, sells suits priced from $395 to $12,000, making an average of 1,800 transactions per year. Genta tells his clients, "Fabric needs to breathe. Rotating suits allows wrinkles to fall out and suits to last for years. Seventy percent of my clients have been with me for 10 years so I've had ample opportunities to remind them that fashion is fleeting, but elegance is in style forever."

Genta also recommends a basic two-week wardrobe of three suits and two dozen shirts.

A long-term client and admitted poor shopper, Goodlette appreciates the custom suits that hang in either of his two closets maintained out of necessity in Tallahassee and Naples. "Because Joe has my measurements, he and my wife, Barbara, select the fabrics for new suits and coordinate ties and belts without my help," says Goodlette, who owns about 25 suits.

As one who appreciates proper fit and fabric selection, Jim Wallace, founder and CEO of Wallace Homes in Estero, has worn custom clothing since age 13. He doesn't usually wear suits to meet potential homebuyers, but Wallace knows when to dress more formally. "I dress appropriately to address groups like the zoning board and planning commissioners," he says. Wallace selects fabrics from material swatches supplied by Ron Brodeur, co-owner of Brodeur Carvell, a fine menswear company with a retail store in Fort Myers.

All the fine wool fabrics come from mills in Italy and England. Benefiting from today's technology, manufacturers produce lightweight, durable and crease-resistant wool that can be worn throughout the year, even in Florida. "The finest wool weighs nine ounces per yard. A man's suit weighs little more than a pound, while a woman's suit weighs less than a pound," he says. Brodeur's regular customers typically don't wear suits to work, but rather in board meetings, to church and when entertaining visiting business partners.

Jill Taylor, local representative for Tom James, a $300 million Nashville, Tenn.-based company specializing in custom-made clothing, fits some of Naples' top professional women and men in their offices. "Custom suits even the playing field for successful professional women," says Taylor, who claims that the clothing is far superior to that purchased in exclusive women's clothing stores. "The closest comparison has no seam allowances for alterations, acetate linings, 90-grade wool that pills, polyester-lined side pockets, improperly contoured darts and no inside pockets to hold business cards or lipstick," she says.

Among Taylor's clients are Mary Murray, sales associate for Fiddler's Creek, and Carol Whitlock, vice president at a Naples SunTrust Bank. Though their roles differ-Whitlock is a private financial adviser, and Murray is in high-end real estate sales-the two buy custom clothes to present a polished, professional image when dealing with wealthy clients.

At businesses like Metropolitan Life in Naples, Taylor teaches new employees basics for appropriate office attire. "This gives employees, some just out of high school, insight into projecting a professional team image," says Taylor.

She also consults with people at the other end of the age and experience spectrum.

"Male residents of upscale retirement communities are often required to wear jackets in the formal dining room, and those who have had a high-powered business career or who continue serving as a member of a board of directors wouldn't consider entering the boardroom in anything but a custom suit," says Taylor. "Nor would they wear an off-the-rack sport coat to dinner."

Shelly Ficarra, wardrobe consultant for Kepp's Men's Shops of Florida in Naples, has noticed the growing popularity of custom dress shirts, suits, sport coats and trousers among men between the ages of 25 and 35. "They want clothes other than what everyone else is wearing. Beyond that, it's about different styles, a wider selection of fabrics and finishes, and a need to set themselves apart," Ficarra says. "I'm seeing a fashion trend of French-cuffed shirts with cuff links worn with designer jeans or casual pants. Superstars impact people that follow the fashion world." Such cues are provided by some of Hollywood's leading men, such as Brad Pitt and Ashton Kutcher, Ficarra says.

Though top-drawer office wear may be news for younger buyers, that standard has never changed in some business circles.

Mark English, vice president of Morgan Stanley's Naples office, can purchase off-the-rack clothes, and his company's dress code accommodates some casual attire. Yet he chooses to wear custom suits and shirts. English notes that during the dot.com period, when dress codes became less formal, Morgan Stanley did not totally embrace the concept.

"Especially not the older financial advisers who conducted business when suits and ties were required," says English.

Never dressing business casual, English prefers to establish a comfort and confidence level with clients whose careers flourished during an era of traditional business attire.