Rent-a-Suit

The ultimate uniform

For the inflation-squeezed executive who cannot keep up with the sartorially splendid Jones in the next office, it is a dream come true. Top-of-the-rung men's or women's $500 suits for a modest monthly charge, eligible for trade-in when lapels narrow or hemlines drop --and there may even be a corporate tax deduction. That's the sales spiel of new "suit leasing" and "wardrobe analysis" firms.

The rent-a-suit scheme originated a few years ago in Great Britain, where companies have mastered the art of executive perquisites because exorbitantly high tax rates wipe out almost all benefits of high salaries. Now an old-line Baltimore suit manufacturer, Haas Tailoring Co., is using the idea, and President Irving Neuman is besieged with telephone calls from prospective customers. Says he: "Business is growing like Topsy."

A company buys professional advice to dress executives in the proper corporate uniform and leases a rack of clothes --both costs presumably tax deductible. Haas prefers a minimum corporate order of $5,000 for a recommended two-year lease of twelve suits priced at about $400 apiece. The Internal Revenue Service is stonewalling comment on rent-a-suits because there are no existing rulings or regulations. In the meantime, companies assume it is a tax write-off.

Rent-a-suit has already spread to California, where the Los Angeles women's clothesmaker Smart Modes plans to initiate a similar operation. "One out of every five executives who thinks he is dressing for success, dresses to offend," says Author (Dress for Success) and Clothing Consultant John T. Molloy. "There is going to be a whole flurry of companies doing this."

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