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Men, Too, Are Going for an Old Smoothie

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Even before Little Lord Fauntleroy flounced through 19th-Century storybooks in a black velvet suit with lace collar--a get-up which quickly became a symbol of the quintessential sissy--many men have shared a certain sentiment about velvet, the lush, plush stuff that’s the current word in women’s holiday dress.

“Ugh,” groans John Abajian, 41, a Costa Mesa jeweler, for example. “Never in my entire life would I wear velvet. And my wife wouldn’t let me either. People would think I have a problem.”

Elena Martinez, 25, a Brea telephone operator, clarifies the “problem.”

“Velvet’s beautiful, but too feminine,” she says, adding that neither she nor any of her friends would “ever in a million years” go out with a man clothed in the sensuous fabric of ultimate luxe. “It’s not for a man man image, you know?”

Nobles of generations past--and fashion arbiters today--may beg to differ.

With sexy vests, crested slippers, host coats, bow ties and suspenders that go partying at night, this season stylish men all over are going soft on velvet.

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Far from Scarlett O’Hara’s dress of drapes, and South of the Border Day-Glo paintings, the velvet creations in which these samples of suave can relax or entertain are some of the smoothest, most elegant ever.

But then, velvet has always meant savoir-faire.

Romeo wooed Juliet in tights and a velvet jerkin. Henry VIII ruled while gussying his girth in a gold-embroidered gown with fur collar and lining--a gown of the most sumptuous velvet available. That old French roue, Louis XIV, wasn’t appropriately clothed unless his ensemble--lace cravat, fur muff and beribboned cane--included velvet coat and breeches tied at the knee.

And then no self-respecting 19th-Century English gentleman, said by a fashion observer of the day to be “the noted elegant of the world, imperturbable, ironic, a graceful model for aristocratic bearing and behavior,” would feel up to snuff without a velvet-collared Chesterfield coat.

Even the most macho of men, the Spanish bullfighter, historically wouldn’t dream of ceremoniously entering the ring naked of his capa de paseo, or velvet bullfighter’s cloak.

Men of power, pride and, not incidentally, pampering knew what velvet was about: luxury.

And whether it’s Ralph Lauren’s double-breasted host coat and Church’s hard-soled slippers--for the most conservative and elegant of men--or Kathrine Hemnett’s skintight vest and stretch leggings--for hipsters of a trendy bent--today’s velvet clothes and accessories continue the tradition of styling party-goers and stay-at-homers in unabashed extravagance.

“Velvet on men, especially during the holidays, is always so elegant, so sophisticated,” says Carol Horowitz, vice president and general manager of Neiman Marcus at Newport Center Fashion Island. “There is nothing more fabulous than a man in a velvet smoking jacket.”

Still, there are men unimpressed by velvet’s pedigree.

“I wear cowboy boots and Wranglers every day and if I wore a velvet anything I wouldn’t feel right,” says Manual Garcia, 42, a Santa Ana messenger. About the only man I know who could pull it off is the guy in (Gainsborough’s) painting, “The Blue Boy.”

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Dan Woods, 33, a Laguna Beach psychiatric nurse, wouldn’t feel himself in the traditionally formal fabric either. “Unless it was a Halloween costume,” he jokes, finding velvet fairly gross and “old.” “It reminds me of something tacky, from the ‘50s, and if I wore it my friends would call me an old man.”

Sure, the material’s bad rap may result from associations with lizard-friendly lounge booths, unctuous crushed tuxedos and singer Mel Torme, dubbed “The Velvet Fog.”

Or, as it strikes Huntington Beach veterinary assistant Lori Struck, 18: “Velvet, you think of drapes--old, old drapes.” Asked if there would be nothing more fabulous than her boyfriend in a velvet smoking jacket, Jeremy Runyan, 19, of Orange, is fairly repelled.

“No way! He’d die. Velvet’s so disco,” she says. “When you think of it you think greasy John Travolta in ‘Saturday Night Fever’ or (one-time teeny-bopper heartthrob) Shaun Cassidy in a jacket that kind of, like, shines. Yuck!”

Of course, there are those of rather different opinions, shoppers snapping up the velvet jackets, slippers, vests, suspenders, bow ties and other items that fill stores during the holidays.

“Many of these are special items that sell out very fast,” Horowitz says. After all, during these festive days when dressy occasions reign, “velvet has always been a classic, for men as well as women,” says Wilmer Weiss, a senior vice president and fashion insider at I. Magnin/Bullocks Wilshire.

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Velvet is special, indeed. And whether a man steps out suave in a sumptuous smoking jacket, shows up smooth in regally crested shoes or shimmies into hip, sexy leggings, he will be following a tradition established early in the evolutionary chain of chic: when nobles, kings and cavaliers--veritable peacocks of power and persuasion--draped their frames in the most extravagant fabrics of the day.

“Guys should really enjoy wearing velvet around the holidays because it’s simply a lot of fun,” says John Slater, in his mid-40s and manager of the Polo-Ralph Lauren Shop at South Coast Plaza.

Of course, he adds, “It takes a guy very self-confident to wear it. The type who knows he looks good in clothes, knows he’s a fashion statement, perhaps. A leader.”

But, hey, Rodney Rivers, 27, a Newport Beach milliner, will be progressive this holiday season.

“Yeah! I’ll wear velvet,” he says. “You don’t see it too much, but when you do, you say, ‘Yes sir, there’s man of the world who knows how to dress. Who understands fine quality.’ Velvet’s not that common, but then, good taste isn’t that common either.”

And anyway, notes Bernadette Arellano, 20, a Laguna Beach sales assistant at the Nature Company store in Costa Mesa -- and a woman of obvious taste, “Velvet on a guy looks so cool!”

Colette O’Connor is a regular contributor to Orange County Life.

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