In the 1980s, Britain, the United States and Germany all saw a swing back to the political right. Instead of Jimmy Carter's casual denims, the new Reagan administration favoured suits and military uniforms. President Reagan rebuked the military men who had not been wearing their uniforms in Washington and from May 1, 1981 the US Navy ordered all its officers and men back into full uniform. The same year, US secretary of state Gen Haig was voted the Best dressed man by the custom Tailors Guild of America. In England the Menswear Association of Britain nominated the former 1960s swinger and dedicated follower of fashion, Patrick, Earl of Lichfield as their choice. No longer the dandy, Lichfield adopted the conventional look with hand made suits.
Along with the suit came the waistcoat which advertised the wearer as a man who could afford a three-piece suit: in the early 1980s a bespoke, Savile Row three piece suit would cost around £800; a two-piece suit would cost around £300. For those on an even tighter budget, help was at hand from ready to wear designer suits from Monsieur Dior at around £150.
The suits climb back up the fashion ranks began in the late 1970s in Italy where the textile industries centred around Prato, near Florence, Como and Biella, to the north and west of Milan, began to produce cloths that were specially designed for ready to wear suits. As well as being much cheaper, the cloth with a virgin wool content of over 50% was gradually abandoned in favour of producing low-cost cloths from waste wool , these fabrics accommodated the fashion industry whereby new collections, new ideas, new colours and new patterns were presented each season. Made in Italy now meant an alliance between textile companies and the designers, the former becoming the ready to wear manufacturers of the garments conceived by the designers.
Engineering this system was Giorgio Armani. Armani presented his first ready to wear men's line in 1975, manufactured by Turin Textile giants Gft who also make parts of Valentino Uomo ready to wear. Over the seasons Armani increasingly cuts away the structure of suits by removing padding and interlinings, a very useful tactic for mass manufacturing as all the parts that really give a suit its shape are dispensed with. The unstructured stylishness of Armani's suits in 1980 are the best demonstration by the clothes he designed for Richard Gere in American Gigolo, and his double breasted suit is as worn byDon Johnson on and off the set of Miami Vice became the indispensable sign of the well-dressed man.
