Although fashion trends don’t change as often or wildly for men as for women, they do change.

“The suit is inching its way back,” said Dave Welch, owner of Austin Taylor, a custom tailor and wardrobe consultant company in Anaheim, Calif. “Men are starting to care more about their wardrobe. They are tired of the casual.”

Some companies have jumped on the shift and now encourage their employees to dress more professionally.

At the investment-banking firm Buchanan Street Partners in Newport Beach, Calif., a formal dress code is a way to enhance the corporate brand.

“It’s very important to show that we are respectful of our clients,” said Robert Brunswick, co-owner. “It’s important to show that we take what we do very seriously.”

Monday through Thursday, the 55 employees are expected to wear business suits. No sports jackets and no sleeveless tops. On Fridays, it’s business casual with Dockers and jackets, tops and sweaters.

“I’ve seen a direct correlation with the enhancement of the corporate image,” Brunswick said. The affirmation from clients, he said, includes comments such as “Your people always look so well put together,” and “I can always tell when I’m dealing with a Buchanan person.”

To help employees keep up with the policy, the firm gives away shirts, ties and other clothing as incentive prizes. And starting about eight months ago, the owners periodically bring Welch to discuss tie choices, skirt lengths, color and other fashion points.

These days men can dabble in color like never before. Hold on – don’t buy a purple suit – but consider a colored shirt, preferably with a pattern. Wear it with one of the new narrower-stripe pinstriped suits. Wrap a fun tie around the neck and dash off to the office in style.

Where casual still prevails, the look is more “tailored casual,” Welch said. Sport coats are a good in-between choice and go well with tailored shirts and open collar.

“Some wear casual shirts with cuff links and no jacket,” Welch said.

The pants should be nice slacks, he said. No cotton. Wool or microfiber are the fabrics.

For those who want to stick to polos, they should look for brands that had their heyday in the 1980s: Lacoste and Polo.

These casual or semicasual styles are still popular among younger men, said Ilse Metchek, director of the California Fashion Association. She agrees suits are making a comeback but said she sees it mostly with older men. Their attention to more formal wear trickles down to younger generations as a sports jacket with their beloved Dockers.

Those who buy suits, Metchek said, buy expensive ones. While women will buy store brands if they like the look, men want the label to say Hugo Boss or Calvin Klein.

“It’s different from women,” Metchek said. “Women buy what they like. For men, the brand is very important.”

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(c) 2004, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

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PHOTO (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): WRK-FASH-CLOTHES-MEN

AP-NY-08-17-04 0618EDT