Cljarlotte ^0£(t
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1996
LIFESTYLES
V'ii
#
i
Men’s
fashion:
slim, sexy,
streamline
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - Designers here
have turned out the sexiest,
steamiest, sleekest, slimmest
clothes for men in decades.
At the Seventh on Sixth
spring 1997 menswear shows, it
was all beefcake and hody heau-
tiful, the hody exalted, toned
and terrific. It doesn’t matter
whether a guy’s basic physique
resembles burly weight lifters,
gnarly surfers or reedhke pearl
divers, the body is buffed in the
best possible condition this sea
son.
The silhouette is long and
lean, devoid of unnecessary dec
oration and gimmicks, distinct
ly masculine and macho.
Suits, particularly one-and
two-button versions, are the
standard-bearers of the seasoil.
There are corporate, casual,
even leisure-suit looks com
prised of matching jackets and
trousers that put new spins on
the business of tailored cloth
ing.
Paired with classic shirts and
ties at Ralph Lauren and Hugo
Boss, or teamed with open-col
lar sport shirts, T-shirts and
second-skin sweaters at Cailvin
Klein, DKNY, and Tommy
Hilfiger, suits are the workhors
es of a mEin’s wardrobe.
Dressed down or up, today’s
suits start with a strong shoul
der and narrow through the
torso to the waist and hip. They
are slim enough to require a
single or double vent for ease.
Sport coats take the same sil
houette and bring it in closer to
the body.
Some designers are looking
backward, to movies such as
“Saturday Night Fever” (with
out the chains). Others look for
ward to the next millennium
and space travel.
Still others are influenced by
menswear from distant shores:
India for Donna ICaran’s Nehru
jackets, the British Crown
Colonies ensembles from
Joseph Abboud, Cuba and
Malaysia for Nicole Farhi, John
Bartlett, and JOOP, where
handsomely finished sport
shirts can substitute for coats in
very hot chmes.
Sportswear holds the slim
Une. Flat-front trousers and a
new generation of jeans with
stretch properties top the bot
toms hst. Surfer jams and close-
to-body shorts of all lengths are
more casual takes. Golf jackets
are pivotal. Short-sleeve sport
shirts and whisper-thin T-shirts
and pullovers round out the pic
ture.
For serious jocks, endimance
and high-test gear is the order
of the day. Biking shorts, wet
suits, swim boxers and briefs in
performance-driven fabrics are
offered by designers and mass
manufacturers alike.
Designers are big on mono
chromatics, sometimes in
brazen colors. The catwalks
were awash with blues: indigo,
azure, sky, baby, electric, teal
and aqua!
Then there are surprising
pastels: melons, citrus, pink,
purple, lavender, lime, algae.
Add in the basics, such as tan,
tobacco, gray, black, and white.
These are teamed in matching
or tone-on-tones combos.
What makes these interest
ing? Touches of embroidery,
color blocking, space yams and
the sheer sheerness of the fab
rics.
Factor it all in and you can
bet that the best accessory of
the season is a great set of
“abs.”
Manners, etiquette matter
Just good common sense, say experts
By Kevin Blocke
THE SPOKESMAN REVIEW
SPOKANE, Wash. - The
Christmas season brings with it
tons of holiday fun and may
hem. ,
Nothing is more fun, or con
fusing than a formal dinner.
Sitting down to a diimer with
more than one fork or spoon can
bring any adult to their knees
and draw buckets of perspira
tion as you try in vain to figure
out which utensil to use first.
Unfortunately, formal dining
etiquette doesn’t involve asking
the person in the next car for a
spot of Grey Poupon.
It’s knowing what to do with
the four forks on your left and
the three knives and two spoons
on your right. It’s also knowing
how to dress and how to interact
with others in a formal social
setting.
Thirty-five Gonzaga
University students were
schooled in the fine art of dining
at the Cataldo Dining Hall on
campus last month.
Paul Komelasky, general
manager of the Spokane
Marriott, offered the formal
training in an informal setting.
“Know this: You’re always
being watched,” Komelasky
said. “An impression of you is
formed in the first 30 seconds
(after) you meet someone. If you
make a bad first impression, it’s
going to take you more than 30
seconds to correct it.”
He told the students that good
social skills are just as impor
tant to career advancement in
one’s chosen field as talent and
resourcefulness.
“Business etiquette alone
won’t make you the head of the
company,” Komelasky said.
“But it can be a factor in deter
mining whether you get there or
not.”
Fortunately for the yoimg man
who wore his Nike baseball cap
from the dinner’s start to its
end, no hiring decisions were
being made at this dinner.
And luckily for the young
woman who inadvertently sent
a piece of Florida alligator
etouffe into the lap of the person
across from her, no promotion
was on the fine.
Marlin Clark, director of the
Gonzaga Career Center, came
up with the idea of the etiquette
dinner six years ago.
“Proper etiquette is something
that everybody should know,”
Clark said. “When they get out
of school they’re going to be
working with people who don’t
eat at McDonald’s every day.”
Clark, 48,. said he is aston
ished by the improper - some
times even vulgar - table man
ners displayed by todays youth.
“I’m from a generation that
was trained with these etiquette
values,” he said. “As a kid, you
never put your elbows on the
table or chewed with your
mouth wide open.”
During the six-course dinner,
in which the entree consisted of
Indian baked rabbit periguex
stuffed with pate of prime rib,
Komelasky offered advice:
It’s important to be a good con
versationalist, he said, but
motor-mouths are frowned
upon.
He also said:
•Don’t arrive for a formal din
ner or luncheon more than 8
minutes late.
•Be positive. “No one wants to
be around a whiner.”
•As for silverware, use the
outside utensils first and then
work your way in with each
course.
•And if you’re not sure what
to do, sit back and hope the per
son next to you does.
“If you’ve got a lobster sitting
in front of you and you aren’t
sure how to proceed, it’s all right
to ask the waiter or waitress for
instructions,” he said. “It’s bet
ter to ask than to end up having
it in your lap.”
•And if your appetite isn’t
completely satisfied at the end
of a formal dinner and you’re
thinking of asking for more,
don’t.
It’s considered rude. A serving
is a serving is a serving.
Maimers matter, Komelasky
said.
“Good etiquette is just good
common sense.”
Jeri Young of The Charlotte
Post also contributed to this arti
cle.
Spending for the holiday needs budget
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STARKVILLE, Miss. - With
all the advertising charms
aimed at consumers during the
holidays, many people are car
ried away by the Christmas
spirit without remembering to
manage their money.
Fanulies often make the mis
take of neglecting to prepare
financially for the holidays. It
can be difficult to finance much
celebration without considera
tion of where the money is going
to come from beforehand.
Farmhes often make it through
Christmas using credit, but
then have trouble paying the
bills in the new year.
Beverly Howell, extension
family economics and manage
ment specialist at Mississippi
State University, said there are
several wa3rs to get through the
hohday season successfully.
Howell suggested planning
ahead for Christmas expenses
to be prepared to make good
spending decisions.
“It’s very common to get
caught up in the holiday season
and make financial decisions
that are not to one’s advantage,”
Howell said.
One of the best ways to pre
pare for Christmas is to make a
budget early.
“Stop and take a look at your
expenses, and make sure you
take everything into considera
tion,” Howell sand. “When peo
ple think of Christmas expens
es, they often think of the cost of
gifts. However, there are severaJ
other expenses such as decorat
ing, cards and postage, extra
food, and amy travel costs.”
Once a practical budget is
determined, the family must
come up with a means to
finance it.
“For most famihes, tak
ing the extra Christmas
money out of a regular
paycheck just isn’t going
to work,” Howell sand.
Howell said an ideal
way to prepare for
Christmas expenses
would be to figure a bud
get, divide the total cost
by 12 and save a fraction
of the money each month.
Another way to avoid a
money crunch in
December is to stagger
gift buying throughout
the year.
“Some faunilies deal with the
extra expenses by taking on
extra work or relying on credit,”
Howell said. “Before you maike
the decision to rely on credit,
look at how the additional debt
is going to fit
into your budget
later.”
Some other
money manage
ment tips
Howell offered
were to make a
hst, to shop early
and to use the
same consumer
shopping skills
that you would
during amy other
time of the year.
“When you
make a list,
include as much information ais
possible. Include sizes and price
ranges. The more information
you have, the less likely you will
be to maike a bad buying deci
sion.
“Also shop early. Whien you
wait until the last minute to
shop, the options are fewer amd
often more costly,” Howell sadd.
Always remember to read
labels and warramties and know
each store’s return policies
when buying gifts. These
actions help avoid problems for
the gift receivers.
Howell said there are alterna
tives to spending a lot of money
during Christmas, and every
thing doesn’t have to be bought.
“Certainly Christmas does not
always have to involve money to
the extent that we often feel it
does,” Howell said. “Christmas
is a wonderful time for sharing
talents, making gifts and offer
ing services.”
Welfare women advised about abortions
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON - Pregnancy coun
selors now are advising young
women to take another factor
into account: welfare reform.
Along with offering informa
tion about a host of childbirth
considerations, coimselors are
advising women about the
state welfare law that took
effect Sept. 1. The bill bars
women from getting more ben
efits if they have more chil
dren while on welfare.
Although it is unclear
whether the law is leading to
more abortions, it has become
a factor in making that deci
sion, counselors say.
“It’s not that women say,
T’m not getting (more) wel
fare, so I’ll get an abortion,’”
Barbara Day, a Boston
Medical Center social worker,
told The Boston Globe. “It’s
more that it’s part of the total
calculation on whether to
have an abortion.”
In Massachusetts, welfare
typically gives $496 a month
to a parent and child. Until
the law was changed, each
additional child increased the
monthly check by about $90.
In the past, social workers
say, women generally have
not been motivated to have
more children by the promise
of more welfare benefits. But
they may be motivated not to
have more children if it will
strain a fixed budget, and
counselors say they have a
duty to deliver that informa
tion.
“We’re telling them they
should not expect to get bene
fits,” said social worker Julie
Clements, who works at the
Uphams Corner Health
Center in Boston's Dorchester
section.
Day said that about half of
the 80 low-income women she
has counseled since the law
took effect have had abortions.
Abortion opponents said
they feared the welfare bill
would lead to more abortions.
as a similar law did in New
Jersey.
Joseph Doolin, director of
the Catholic Charities and
Cardinal Bernard Law’s
spokesman on welfare issues,
said he has heard from social
service agencies that more
women feel pressured to end a
pregnancy. He said the num
ber of abortions in New Jersey
rose 15 percent when a so-
called “family cap” was
imposed.