March 30, 2007

Suiting Ourselves

By EDWARD TENNER

America's classic suited-up zone is surely the two square miles or so north of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York, a district home not only to old-line men's retailers but also to many of the financial, legal, and media headquarters where coats and ties are still de rigueur.

The library now features a delightful exhibition, "A Rakish History of Men's Wear," on view until May 6. What unites it is an improbable story: the rise and persistence of the

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