AS VANITY MEETS CASUAL FRIDAY : A SEA CHANGE IN MEN'S FASHION CONSCIOUSNESS.

Byline: Jennifer Steinhauer The New York Times

After years of blue suits, Patrick Yalung has started to think about clothing and has come to this conclusion: He likes it.

``Before, I had all dark suits and all white shirts,'' said Yalung, a 38-year-old executive for Wells Fargo in Phoenix. ``Now, I get pants with patterns in them and wear them with a sport coat. I guess you could say I've become a little more fashion conscious'' - and willing to spend more on clothing.

Even as sales of women's apparel have fallen in recent years, sales of men's clothing have been rising. Between 1989 and 1996, sales of men's clothing grew 21.3 percent, to $41.2 billion, a record high, while women's apparel fell 10 percent from its record high, $84 billion in 1989, according to Tactical Retail Solutions, a market research firm in New York.

There is other evidence of men's expanding closets. Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and trade organizations confirm that men's spending has been rising faster in recent years.

Of course, women still spend nearly twice as much on clothing as men do; this week, women's designers have been strutting their stuff on New York runways, beckoning that huge market. But many retailers at all price levels are reporting that their men's business - particularly in brand-label sportswear - is now growing faster than or at least as fast as their women's.

At J.C. Penney, for example, men's sales have grown at a rate of two percentage points faster than women's over the last four years. At Nordstrom Inc., menswear now accounts for 18 percent of the company's sales, up from 16 percent in the first half of the decade. At the Neiman Marcus subsidiary Bergdorf Goodman, the only real growth is in the men's shops, said the company's chairman, Stephen C. Elkin.

Some manufacturers are also cashing in. Just Tuesday, Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., renowned for its preppy sportswear, said it would offer stock to the public and boasted of 15 percent growth in its menswear business.

Men's clothing has traditionally been the last purchase out of the family budget - after clothing for the rest of the family. But that has been changing for several reasons.

One is the increasingly casual workplace. It was not so many years ago that men had two basic uniforms: suits for work, and jeans and sweat shirts for the weekends. But when the concept of casual Fridays - and sometimes other weekdays, too - became a mainstay at a significant number of American companies, many men found themselves without the proper wardrobe.

Suddenly, they actually had to think about what they would wear. ``Going casual allowed me to be a little more creative,'' Yalung said.

They started looking at clothing like cotton pants, knit shirts and sport coats, and buying them in big numbers. ``What we have noticed is that there is a sea change in fashion consciousness in guys,'' said Isaac Lagnado, the president of Tactical Retail Solutions. ``Casual Friday brought a whole new wardrobe with it.''

Even political figures have adopted the trend, he said. ``You see Al Gore wearing appropriate yuppie casual clothes like pressed khakis, the right casual shoes and a nice sport shirt. What is more, some of this is actually quite expensive.''

Another reason for the change is that while apparel has historically been the domain of women - retail experts say women pick out roughly half of men's clothing alone - men are increasingly taking an interest in their own wardrobes. ``Men are beginning to shop like women used to shop and women are shopping more like men once did,'' said Rick Gallagher, vice president of the National Retail Federation. ``Women are not driven by fashion as much anymore, but men on the other hand are probably the most label-driven consumers that exist in America.''

This trend may go hand in hand with the fact that many men, particularly baby boomers, have been worrying more about their appearance and doing something about it, through plastic surgery, workouts at health clubs and special creams and scrubs that make them feel younger.

``I think the vanity factor is important here,'' said Therese Byrne, publisher of Retail Maxims, a newsletter in New York. ``Men really have historically been the most vain. If you look at the 15th and 16th centuries, they dressed more frilly than women. Somewhere in the 19th century this got annihilated. Now, it is back, bigger than ever.''

Men ``have been disempowered at work somewhat, so how are they going to feel good about themselves?'' Byrne said. ``With clothes. And in the aging of America, men have gotten more ridiculous than women with the hair implants and the eyelifts. They think a woman can get a job over them if she looks younger or fitter or stronger at 40. So they're doing it all, too.''

CAPTION(S):

8 Photos, Chart

Photo: (1) Phoenix executive Patrick Yalung has abandoned his blue suits and white shirts and now mixes patterns with a sport coat.

(2) David Damiba favors wide ties and brightly colored shirts while working on Wall Street.

Knight-Ridder Tribune Photo Service

(3) Casual comes with a price: argyle V-neck sweater, $120, with cotton oxford shirt, $54, and plaid shorts, $59, by Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc.

(4) Try a comfortable, natural woven jacket, $150, from Haggar's spring '97 City Casuals Collection.

(5) Next casual Friday, wow your co-workers with a flax/linen sweater, $285, canvas suede slim pants, $1,125, and dark-brown calf wide-band slides, $275, from Donna Karan.

(6) Cause a stir at the water fountain with these Slates dress pants in blue and white seersucker by Levi Strauss & Co.

(7) City Street puts the edge back into suit dressing with full-cut, double-breasted or funky, four-button jackets, $75, that will look great over pleated pants, $24.99. Match them with hip polyester shirts in solids or cyber-prints, available at J.C. Penney department stores.

(8) no caption (Sales of men's casual wear)

Chart: Sales of men's casual wear

Source: Tactical Retail Monitor