THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 16, 1996 TAG: 9610160051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WENDY GROSSMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 81 lines
TOP DESIGNERS are in a military mode. This season's collections feature sharp lines, severe button-down blouses, Army trench coats and Navy bell-bottoms.
The look has trickled down to clothes that the non-wealthy wear as well. Sailor suits have spread beyond the toddler set, and it's not just the druggie in the back of the class wearing camouflage. You'll find epaulettes and 13-button bells on cheerleaders, sorority chicks, engineers and society dames.
At the top end, Chanel's wool pantsuit with gold buttons and a belted waist runs $3,285. Somewhat less expensive is Ralph Lauren's pea coat at $495.
Too steep? It's possible to do the military thing on the cheap.
One place to look is a local Army-Navy surplus store, such as M&G Sales Co. on Granby Street in Norfolk.
At M&G you can pick up used Navy dungarees from 49 cents to $6.95, pea coats for$49.95.
Regulation flight suits sell for $49.95; camouflage running shorts are $4.95; Navy formal-dress officers jackets go for $29.95.
On a mannequin in the center of the room, for about $36, is a Navy uniform cut from almost the same cloth as Chanel's.
And this one's the real Navy issue.
It might not be as form-fitted, but it'll resist water and last a lot longer than the designer version, says Larry Friedman, M&G manager.
Pea coats and A-line camouflage miniskirts are popular with women at Old Dominion and Norfolk State universities this fall, says his sister, Laura Friedman-Askew, assistant manager. Boutiques in New York City and Washington have bought pea coats from M&G this fall.
This isn't the first time designers have saluted the armed forces.
By the cash register hang 10-year-old clippings from The Washington Post and The New York Times touting the military invasion on the fashion world.
``It's come and gone,'' Friedman-Askew says.
But this is the biggest bombardment since the Beatles popularized the look with their hit ``Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,'' Friedman says.
So how does the look play with Hampton Roads' many military personnel? We didn't take a poll, but some are less than impressed.
Rick Hayward, a Navy petty officer, says he doesn't like women dressed as if for combat.
``For Halloween maybe, or dress-up, but not for everyday wear,'' Hayward says. ``I wouldn't want my wife walking around in this. It's not feminine.''
Ah, but it can be. A camouflage skirt skimming a body suit and tights, paired with a trendy handbag and a jaunty cap - no lace, frills and flowers, but the look is definitely feminine.
Still, the uniformed look isn't for everybody. Michelle LeBlanc, stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, doesn't see why any off-duty woman would want to wear a uniform. ``They're uncomfortable, and they're ugly.''
And insulting, some say.
``I think it's sickening,'' says ex-Marine Byron Johnson, a security specialist in Norfolk for the Department of Defense. ``A lot of those kids won't pick up a gun and fight, but they'll wear the clothes in a degrading way. I don't think they should wear it.''
A few years ago Friedman-Askew was wearing a short lieutenant's jacket in a bar, and a soldier approached her.
``Lady,'' he said. ``If you didn't earn it, I don't appreciate you wearing it.''
But not everyone connected with the military feels that way. As she walks down the street, she says, retired soldiers smile and salute. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
AMMUNITION
Janie wears a mixture that's right in step with the military theme.
Double-breasted Navy pea coat, $29.95, works with red deck jersey,
$5.95, and Scottish Trew plaid trouser, $39.95. Navy pancake hat,
$9.99, and engineer boots $69.95. All from M&G Sales Co., Norfolk.
FASHION LINK
The trooper flap-hat, $16.95, with silver device pin, $5, sets the
mood for this East German look. Wool stirrup pants, $16.95, are
paired with striped East German sweater, $19.95, and overcoat,
$39.95, to create a look that is off the Chanel runways. Accents
include belt, $24.95, and army leather gloves, $14.95. Fashions from
M&G Sales Co. by CNB