There’s a deadly serious game being played in the deep-carpeted boardrooms of Western Canada.

It’s about corporate power and control. It’s about who’s got the chops, who’s got the drag, who’s going to blink first.

It’s about worsteds, silks and cashmere.

It’s about Zegna, Boss and Armani. It’s about, um, clothes.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
Peggy Schroeder is ready to deliver the right look to her business clients to maximize their potential in the boardroom.

Or so says the fashion expert who routinely invades the corporate inner sanctum to play dressup with the Big Boys.

Bold, brassy Peggy Schroeder, a.k.a. The Original Travelling Tailor, comes on like a hyperkinetic combination of Mr. Blackwell and Joan Rivers. But for all her sassy innuendos (her slogan: “Doing Men Right”), the OTT knows her cuffs and inseams.

Schroeder grew up in Montreal’s garment district, learning the fabric business at her father’s elbow. And she doesn’t miss much.

“It’s all about power,” says Schroeder, who has offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal and who concentrates exclusively on men’s fashions.

“I had a client call me up and say, ‘Hey, I’m not the best-dressed guy in the boardroom. Fix it,’” she remembers.

“It’s all down to details – the cufflinks, the ties, the shoes, the socks and the belt.”

This fall, for example, the preferred look is “super serious,” a return to an elevated brand of severe elegance.

That means pinstripes, charcoals, navies and blacks: “Very power,” she repeats.

Since she branched out on her own 15 years ago, Schroeder (she has 400 clients in Vancouver, 500 in Calgary) has been generally impressed by the improving fashion sense of her customers.

When she originally set up shop on the coast, she was horrified to see so many decision-makers dressed in navy blazers and grey slacks, apparently reluctant to outgrow their private-school uniforms.

And Calgary’s boots, jeans and jackets of Western cut also threw her . . . temporarily.

“But the men were so good looking. Calgary was the first place I bought jeans to go out in. I used to wear jeans just to paint . . . before that, I would NEVER wear jeans out in public,” says the Travelling Tailor.

According to Schroeder and her website (www.travellingtailor.com), promotion-minded businessmen will never maximize their bonus options without spending $20,000 a year on wardrobe.

The basics:

* Ten well-fitting stylish suits, five each for fall/winter and spring/summer.

* Two patterned tweed or wool-blend blazers, plus two more in a lightweight silk/wool blend, tan or beige tones preferable.

* Eight pairs of trousers in black, navy, tan and charcoal, plus a minimum three pairs of golf pants.

* Twenty-four shirts in assorted colours; 30 ties; a selection of sweaters; one tuxedo and formal shirt plus a minimum six pairs of shoes, including black, burgundy and tan.

Extreme makeovers aren’t in Schroeder’s line, but she does gently educate her more recalcitrant clients, i.e., the bookish geologists who think corduroy Levis are the ultimate in haute couture.

“If someone is really comfortable with western (jacket) pockets, I’ll find a fabric which will look good in that style, then subtly update it,” she points out.

Nevertheless, she often plays den mother to the more challenged corporate he-men, metaphorically reminding them to scrub behind the ears.

“You have to shine your shoes,” Schroeder scolds. “Frayed cuffs, collars and pockets are a big no-no.”

Cowboy boots are cool, however: “I have a lot of clients in oil and gas and they buy the best shirts and the best ties. And their boots are always spit polished.”

What if you’re a fashion-challenged doofus, who feels like the whole world’s a black tuxedo and you’re a pair of brown shoes?

There’s hope, says the Travelling Tailor.

“Depends on the brown, it’s gotta be like a cognac shade . . . brown shoes are really big with charcoal and navy. It can look really nice.”

But loafers with a suit? Bite your tongue. At the top of Schroeder’s horror list: “Loafers with those little tassel thingies. You have to have a little shoe style,” she sighs. “Pay-Less is great if you’re going hiking or something.”

Though she once created a cashmere coat for $10,000, Schroeder can put you in a made-to-measure suit from $850 to $2,000.

She says by coming to your office, she’ll save you time while keeping her overhead – and your costs – down.

But although more Western Canadian businessmen are getting up to speed on fashion know-how, Schroeder still suffers a minor spasm whenever she spots a would-be high flyer wearing a pinstriped jacket with coal-black pants.

“That’s when I slip him my card,” she laughs. “Baby, we have to talk.”

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)