This fall and winter season is bursting with suits in all the earth tone colours and they are being complimented with a bright and rich blouse for women or a shirt and colourful tie for men.

Whether they are belted, double breasted, or single breasted, suits are again scaling the fashion heights, being highlighted in every well-known fashion magazine.

Owner of Shannon's, Keith Trott, said he didn't think much had changed in fashion for men since the 60's but "they are going back to retro with wide legged pants, and jeans.

"We have olives and navy blues, burgundies, blacks of course, tans, beige browns -- those seem to be the colours that are most conservative and it is not really what I'm trying to put across at Shannon's but due to the fact that we need to stay in business we have to become like everyone else. We are probably more new wave, new fashions, colours and cuts, the new look.'' Mr. Trott added that most of the young people are looking for the big logo on their clothes like South Pole, Pelle Pelle, and Wicked.

At 27th Century Boutique owner Sharon Bartram said the colour tones she is carrying for women are the basic earth tones but there is also a lot of black and the big accessory colours are lime green, beige or pumpkin.

"We have all separates in clothing for women so they can mix and match. One day they can come in and get the waist coat and skirt and another week they can coordinate it with pants, jackets, over shirts and blouses.

"We are finding that every company does different sizes so there can be different fits in the separates,'' Mrs. Bartram said.

She added that the boutique also carries a lot of prints in the blouses along with hipster jeans, regular jeans, and the boot leg jeans in denim.

"We will also have corduroy cover-alls in the boot leg.'' On fabrics that seem to be popular this season Mrs. Bartram said: "Fabrics for ladies are going anywhere from 100 percent cotton, 100 percent polyester, and we have different blends such as the poly-spandex which has a suede look, 100 percent silk and mixed wool fibres.

"Based on Bermuda weather I try to keep the fabrics light as the weather changes.'' For men 27th Century has lots of greens, pumpkin, burgundy, all shades of blue, black, black and white, and grey.

"We have a very large selection of dress shirts in orange, beige, lime green, royal blue with matching ties, then we have the dress pants with the four pleat front and the flat front as well in beige, grey, navy blue and black.

"We also have the four-button suits and for casual wear we have leather jackets, rubber jackets, cotton jeans in green, black and denim, and over shirts.'' Aston and Gunn buyer Eric Pedro said basically the most popular colour is blue, and orange is also very popular.

"There are a lot of darks this fall and golds. The bright colours look lovely with the darker shades,'' Mr. Pedro said.

He added: "We are sticking with the classic look this season showing more natural fibres for the young classic man.

"There are more suits, jackets and blazers in navy, grey, blacks and a darker tan.'' Mr. Pedro also said this season most of the ties are more vibrant so it will look good with the darker colour creating much stronger colourations.

"For women we are seeing more suits and dresses from the very conservative to the bolder pattern dresses.

"Right now we have red suits, and dark suits and lots of navy blues. And brighter blouses are being worn with the suits.'' Owner of Pirate's Port Susan Gilbert said this season is quite an exciting one because of the amount of dressing fabrics for day and evening.

And she said it's even more exciting because of the shapes.

"Pant suits and pants for career wear, slight boot-legged or with a real flare are in styles this season and some of the jackets are longer and slightly fitted.

"If you are wearing a skirt they are either short or long with a side slit, there is no in between,'' Mrs. Gilbert said.

She added: "Tops are dressy as well as basic dressy. For daytime there are satins and velures in short sleeve which are great for Bermuda as they can be worn all year and can also be layered.

"Dresses are long with jackets the holiday look will be with sleeves or sleeveless.

"Sports wear in denim is great and again we see the 70's look with the wide pants, tie dye, fringing, it's all selling well. Denim overalls are very good too especially for the ladies and girls in boot legged and wide legged. They also come in knit pants.'' A.S. Cooper's spokesperson Emma Mitchell said women in business have a firm grasp on the importance of `power dressing'.

"Whether they work in Bermuda, or more particularly, if they are required to travel frequently, one of the most practical and appealing looks this season for the professional women is the trouser suit.

"Autumn 97's trouser suit has a certain new panache about the cut, with a well defined waist and cuffed bottom to the trouser. The suit jacket is often belted and with the addition of some nifty darts this newly shaped style certainly will create the desired effect - feminine yet professional,'' Mrs.

Mitchell said.

She added: "The suit trousers are cut to make a woman's leg look longer, they should just break over a shoe, perhaps a pair with this season's important higher heel. Plain Front or pleated, a well tailored pair of rousers will pay dividends this season.

"The featured look in trousers suits from A.S. Cooper's is Jones New York.'' Mrs. Mitchell also said new in the petites (sizes 2 to 14) at Cooper's are lots of coordinates of which trousers are a big feature. `Liz Petites' cuts her collection to suit the woman with a small frame, but she loses nothing of her distinctive style.

"Generally speaking, Bermudian women love the versatility of coordinates since they work well into an exciting career wardrobe to give a new season lift, and at the same time one does not feel over-dressed.

"Tailored suits need tailored handbags and Cooper's has this fall's important shapes. Personalise your look - add a hat, or twist up a scarf,'' Mrs.

Mitchell added.