Keeping Track: men's suits

Call it the 'casual Friday' creep. When it comes to workplace attire, employees have increasingly preferred to slip into something a little more comfortable while on the job. (See story, page 11.)

The trend has had an impact on workers of both genders, but sales of men's suits (below) perhaps best illustrate the effects of "casualization."

What about ties? While people are buying fewer ties, they are now purchasing pricier ones, notes Gerald Anderson, executive director of the Neckwear Association of America. The number sold has declined from 108 million in 1991 to 94 million last year, according to the NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y. But tie sales in dollars are up from $1.2 billion in 1990 to $1.6 billion last year.

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