Code Blue : Sure, We Expect Our Chief Executive to Look Important, but Must He Succumb to the Numbingly Dull Capital Standards of Navy and Gray?

The too-short jogging shorts, revealing an expanse of soft, milky thigh, are still in evidence, as are the black Swatch watch and the myriad baseball caps.

On the other hand, the rumpled, tight-fitting suits, patterned shirts and trendy ties have been abandoned in favor of statesmanly navy pin stripes, crisp white shirts and striped ties, usually in classic combinations of “power” red and blue.

President-elect Bill Clinton is, sartorially speaking, a man in transition: reluctant to give up his familiar, middle-America threads yet eager to acquire a little presidential panache. At 46, he is the first President from the baby-boom generation and fashion seers are predicting his youth and vigor, not to mention a full head of hair, will spark some trends in menswear and grooming.

“Not since the Kennedy Administration have we had a President who could be so influential fashion-wise,” said Richard Martin, curator of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. “Clinton is in the process of learning what it means to express leadership in terms of clothing. He has to project enough of a “chief executive look” to appear worthy of the office yet without the trappings of status and wealth that would be off-putting to average Americans.”

Treading such a fine fashion line is a dicey proposition. The occupant of the Oval Office can’t go running around in “power leather” and be seen skimming through GQ aboard Air Force One or the electorate will start wondering who is grappling with the deficit and reading the fine print on the latest disarmament treaty. But he can’t look like he tossed on something from the Sears catalogue either because he won’t appear presidential enough to face off with world leaders.

“Bill Clinton has the entire American public staring at him,” says Donald Charles Richardson, author of “Men of Style: The Zoli Guide for the Total Man.”

“Obviously, he wants to look his best, but if he looks too fashionable he’ll be thought of as silly and superficial. Imagine what would happen if there’s a crisis and he comes to a press conference in a Jerry Garcia tie.”

Not to worry. So far there have been no sightings of the President-elect in neckwear by the Grateful Dead guitarist (which his wife, Hillary, reportedly bought as a gift). And though Clinton’s post-election garb has loosened up a bit--snazzier, geometric print ties, powder blue shirts--he still looks more corporate executive than cool dude. Candidate Clinton may have worn wraparound shades and spiffy duds on “Arsenio,” but President Clinton will no doubt obey the Washington dress code of bland business suit and innocuous tie.

“He dresses more like a politician now,” lamented Bill Vancuren, a salesman at Mr. Wicks, the Little Rock, Ark., menswear store where Clinton has shopped for several years. “He’s much more conservative. In the past he was partial to brown or taupe suits, but now he’s into navy and charcoal. And he loves crazy ties, but obviously his advisers told him he had to calm down because he started wearing all those stripes.”

The biggest change, however, has been in the fit of Clinton’s clothes. At a strapping 6-foot-2, the President-elect has been a Size 46 long for some time. However, his predilection for Quarter Pounders and fries on the campaign trail gave him that pig-in-a-blanket look. To present a more comfortable, commanding image, Clinton switched to looser, less constricting suits with broader shoulders and no vent. “Some adviser realized he was looking like a pear and just took him in hand,” said Vancuren.

The Svengali was Cliff Chally, the soft-spoken costume designer for “Designing Women” who was solicited to do the make-over by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, the show’s producer and longtime Clinton confidante.

“He’s a regular guy,” said Chally, who is also credited with revving up Hillary Rodham Clinton’s clothes during the campaign. “When you open his closet there are no surprises. He has jogging stuff, T-shirts from every corner of the world, baseball caps, khakis. His suits are pretty classic and he likes navy, so you’ll see a lot of that.”

According to Chally, Clinton isn’t partial to any labels (he reportedly owns suits by Armani, Southwick and Corbin), prefers lightweight fabrics and appreciates good quality, but isn’t extravagant. (His price sensitivity may stem from the sniping he took a few years ago for wearing $1,000 suits while governor.)

Chally was recently pleased to see photos of the President-elect jogging in long pants and a zip-front jacket. But don’t assume his much maligned short-shorts have been shipped off to the Goodwill.

“Mr. Clinton is very much his own man when it comes to clothes,” said Chally. “You can give him advice and he’ll listen but then he’ll make up his own mind.”

Some fashion observers hope Clinton will bring a fresh, casually elegant spin to Washington’s conservative fashion policy.

“He’s going to be our definition of the fortysomething dresser,” predicted Tom Julian, director of the Men’s Fashion Assn. “He has a younger mentality toward clothes. Look at what he wore on the cover of Time--a nubby, heather gray sweater that was casual but sophisticated.”

“Hair will be a big deal in his Administration,” added Richardson. “It’s probably one of the first ones where they all had it. Look at all the spiffy young staffers he has around him. They’ll also reflect the youth movement.”

Says Arthur Cooper, editor-in-chief of GQ: “Washington needs a hit of glamour. Clinton has a great opportunity to finally bury the Capitol’s eternal preppy look.”

For the past four years, Washington has seemed an endless sea of oxford-cloth shirts, Brooks Brothers suits and L.L. Bean rugged wear, a sort of “aging Yalie” style that reflected the taste of George Bush. “He was a very patrician man who wore his clothes without any personal stamp,” said Richardson. “To be truthful, no one really noticed Bush’s style.”

In contrast, his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, shook up the bland landscape with his brown suits, plaid sport jackets, jodhpurs and cowboy boots. “He was a show-biz guy who could get away with wearing that stuff because he had presence,” Richardson said.

The Carter Administration, with its accent on the homespun--jeans, work shirts, cardigans--and its populist, JC Penney image, is generally regarded as a sartorial wasteland. “Carter never dressed well even when he wore tailored suits,” said Martin. “He had no interest in clothes. The only thing anyone remembers about him are the cardigan sweaters and carrying his own garment bag.”

“But I don’t think Clinton will make any of Carter’s clothes mistakes,” he added. “He isn’t really some down-home good old boy. He’s been to Yale Law and Oxford and traveled a lot. He’s much more sophisticated.”

Bill Humble, executive vice president of Tandy Brands Accessories, an Arkansas neckwear maker long favored by Clinton, agreed.

“He won’t do the Jimmy Carter sweater thing,” said Humble, whose company’s White House-patterned tie was worn by Clinton during the campaign. “If he had a fireside chat, he’d be better dressed.”

Although menswear mavens concede that Clinton lacks the nonchalant grace and innate flair of John F. Kennedy, who could make a statement with a beat-up Lacoste shirt, they believe he’ll bring new verve to the White House. Unless he proves to be a weak leader.

“If the economy takes a nose-dive or Bosnia blows up, he’ll retreat on fashion and downplay style,” predicted Richardson. “But if he’s comfortable in office and things are going great, I think he’ll relax a bit and have the confidence to experiment with clothes.”

However, there is one frequently expressed anxiety among the fashion crowd about the Oval Office’s new occupant: his fluctuating weight. A porky President, regardless of his youth, is no fashion asset.

“He has a great opportunity to make a major influence on menswear,” said Cooper. “Unfortunately, there’s a McDonald’s too close to the White House.”