FEDERATED SELLS THE BRIDAL GROUP, INCLUDING AFTER HOURS FORMALWEAR, SAYS IT DOESN’T FIT FUTURE PLANS

In an expected move, Federated Department Stores has sold The Bridal Group consisting of After Hours Formalwear, Pricilla of Boston and David’s Bridal. However, like a bad marriage, it was split into separate entitles. Men’s Wearhouse will purchase After Hours Formalwear for $100 million. An affiliate of Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. has agreed to purchase David’s Bridal and Priscilla of Boston for $750 million. Leonard Green & Partners is a private equity firm, based in California, with a portfolio, including Neiman Marcus, Sports Authority, FTD Florists, and Petco. The Bridal Group will be finalized in the first fiscal quarter of 2007. According to Terry Lundgren, Federated's chairman, president and chief executive officer, the Bridal Group did not fit with the company's strategy for focusing on nationwide Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands. The company said that it would continue operating the Bridal Group business until the ownership change takes place. The company would account for the business as a discontinued operation. Men's Wearhouse said that After Hours has an exclusive relationship with David's Bridal and this exclusivity would remain effective after the acquisition and would be extended to Men's Wearhouse and Moores store brands. After combining the 654 U.S. and Canadian locations of the Men's Wearhouse and Moores brands with 511 After Hours, Men's Wearhouse would have a total of 1,165 locations and an estimated baseline volume of three million tuxedo rental units in North America. Men's Wearhouse expects to integrate the two organizations during 2007 and realize significant benefits for shareholders beginning in 2008 and beyond.

MEN’S WEARHOUSE REPORTS FISCAL 3Q

Men’s Wearhouse’s Fiscal Report for the third quarter of 2006 shows: Q3 2006 GAAP diluted EPS was $0.58 versus $0.44 last year Company estimates Q4 2006 GAAP and adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $0.72 to $0.76 and $0.68 to $0.72, respectively Company estimates Fiscal 2006 GAAP and adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $2.48 to $2.52 and $2.50 and $2.54, respectively THIRD QUARTER RESULTS Third quarter 2006 operating income was $48.9 million compared to $33.6 million last year, and net income was $31.8 million compared to $24.1 million last year. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.58 for the third quarter ended October 28, 2006 compared to $0.44 last year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the 2006 fiscal third quarter was $0.60 per share compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.41 last year. GAAP-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles EPS-Earnings Per Share

BOB RUDOFKER REFLECTS ON HIS GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY IN BUSINESS

Bob Rudofker presently is on the Executive Committee of Flow Formal Alliance, LLC. He is also an undisputed icon of the men’s formalwear industry that happens to be marking his golden anniversary in business. A member of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School’s class of 1956, his first year in the workforce was at the J.P. Stevens Company and Burlington Industries. “These companies supplied most of the fabric that was used in the formalwear industry at the time,” he explains. In 1958, he joined the family firm, S. Rudofker and Sons, in the piece-goods department. “I worked in all departments of the company, including sales, manufacturing and operations until 1969 when I became the President of After Six Formals. The name of the company had been changed from S. Rudofker and Sons to After Six Formals,” he recalls. Bob Rudofker has seen the industry go through many changes and various stages thereof. He notes that up until the early 1960s, formalwear was mostly a retail tuxedo business then changes happened quickly. “The formalwear rental business was just beginning to grow, aided in part by the After Six development of the washable white dinner jacket. From 1960 to 1990 the rental formalwear business grew in leaps and bounds. Those were the years of unparalleled fashion growth in the rental business. It was no longer just a basic black and white business, but became colorful and very fashion conscious. It was indeed a major change in the way people thought about formalwear,” he declares. The rainbow of color lead the industry to the pot of gold. Rudofker states, “This fashion explosion helped create some major companies in the wholesale rental business. This growth also increased the business of the two major companies in the Industry for all those years: After Six and Lord West.” The late 1980s saw industry turmoil mainly from off-shore competitors and After Six came apart at the seams. Bob Rudofker explains, “At that time, After Six was a union company that began to get competition from non-union companies and imports. The company also got involved with a leverage buy-out that unfortunately caused it to go out of business in 1993.” When After Six closed its doors, Bob Rudofker was ready to open a new chapter of his life. He was hired by Jeff Weintraub, president of George Weintraub and Sons, to create a formalwear company for one of the largest importers of men’s suits, sport coats, and overcoats in America. This company was called Formal 1. It began to grow by offering fashion designer tuxedos at affordable prices to the formalwear industry. This past July, a joint venture was formed between the Weintraub and Westreich families. They combined Formal 1 and Lord West to form Flow Formal Alliance LLC. “The two companies together will no doubt be the number one formalwear company in the industry,” predicts Rudofker. He adds, “ I am indeed fortunate to be able to begin and end my career with the number one company in the tuxedo business.” When asked to pick 10 changes during his career that had the most impact on the men’s formalwear industry, Bob Rudofker thought for a while and then issued this list, underscoring that the changes were not necessarily in order of importance: There are of course many major changes that have taken place over my many years in the formalwear business. The following is my list of some of them. They are not in order of importance. 1. The wash and wear white dinner jacket 2. Multi-color fashion tuxedos 3. The long coats 4. The use of better fabrics in rental tuxedos.(super 100`s wool) 5. The destination wedding 6. The importation of almost all tuxedos 7. The entrance of major retailers into the formalwear rental business. 8. The use of major clothing designers names in rental formalwear.(e.g.: Lauren Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein) 9. The growth of major wholesalers 10. The four – in—hand tie “The most important advice that I can give to newcomers to the industry is the following: Where ever they work in the industry, that they do everything they can to make sure weddings and proms continue to be formal. As long as that happens the formalwear industry will flourish. Also making sure the consumer has a pleasant experience when renting will go a long way to continuing the usage of formalwear for important occasions,” he says. Concluding the interview, Bob Rudofker notes, “All these years in the formalwear business have had their share of mostly good and a few unpleasant moments. I am most fortunate for having my wonderful wife Janet, seven terrific children and their spouses, and 15 fabulous grandchildren. They are what have made my work worthwhile. Of course I cannot forget all the wonderful people who I worked with in my 50 years in the formalwear industry. My heartfelt thanks to all of you.”

EQUIRE MAGAZINE’S DEC. ISSUE FEATURING FORMALWEAR!

Ready to show and tell its readers how to look their best for the holidays, the December issue of ESQUIRE features a special section on formalwear. In conjunction with this, FORMALWEAR TIMES spoke with ESQUIRE’S Fashion Editor, Wendell Brown, about trends he sees in the industry for next year. Here are his comments: “First of all this is the first time in my lifetime formalwear has been cool. Dressing up is now an adventure rather than a burden because of the numerous styles and options in the market, you no longer have to look like a penguin.....you can actually have some fun. What is so great is the whole sort of 007 suave retro styles have relevance again. “Major trends: velvet, shawl collars, white, red (more burgundy), grey and navy “There is also an emphasis on tradition- no longer considered boring but cool because it is so specific. In other words instead of cutting corners when required to dress up, guys have fun going all out......studs, cufflinks, etc. “The December issue reflects all these trends. We shot almost every version of tuxedo dressing on various writers in color and black and white.”

ECONOMIC TRENDS

BIG Research reports the following economic trends: With the holidays just around the corner, confidence increases for the third month in a row…in November, the majority (50.3%) of consumers indicate they are confident/very confident in chances for a strong economy over the next 6 months, up from last month (49.8%) and ’05 (39.4%). Worry about political and national security issues down a point from October to 20.2%...stay tuned in the next few months to see how Saddam’s guilty verdict, the Democrat sweep in Congress, and Rumsfeld’s resignation affect consumer sentiment. Fewer consumers cite practicality…heading into Holiday ’06, 41.6% proclaim they’ve become more practical in purchasing over the last six months, down from 43.3% in October and almost five points (46.2%) from last year. Holiday gift-giving may mean that consumers intend to give to themselves as well…this month, 51.3% contend they focus more on needs over wants in purchasing, down a point from last month and five points from ’05 (56.4%). Although confidence is on the rise, cautious consumers wary about the employment environment…in November, more than one-third (34.7%) predict “more” layoffs over the next six months (v. 33.2% in October), 52.8% indicate “same” (v. 54.7%), while 12.5% contend “fewer,” up slightly from last month (12.0%). Slightly fewer worry about their own job status…4.6% are concerned about becoming laid off, down slightly from October (4.8%). Conservatism regarding personal finances cools off as consumers get set to heat up their charge cards for holiday spending…31.4% plan to decrease overall spending over the next three months, down almost six points from last year (37.2%). Those planning to pay with cash more often also decrease, from 27.2% in ‘05 to 22.9%. Pay down debt declines a point to 36.9% from 38.0% in ’05, while those planning to increase savings rise almost as much, from 28.3% to 29.1%. With the Dow crossing the 12,000 mark in October, investor confidence rallies once again…66.7% of investors contend they would definitely/probably invest in the stock market, up almost two points from last month (65.0%). Investors planning to buy stocks in the next three months increases to 12.2% from 11.2% in October, while those planning to sell rise slightly from 5.5% to 5.9%. Although gas prices, on average, declined from October, fewer than one-third (29.5%) report that prices at the pump are having “no major impact” on spending. So what are some of the practical precautions consumers are taking to defray fuel expenses? 41.3% simply take fewer shopping trips, 39.7% shop closer to home, while 34.2% shop for sales more often. Here’s a sign that it may not be open season for retailers regarding consumers’ wallets…53.9% predict that gas prices will increase over the holidays, a rise from 42.8% in October…34.7% say they’ll stay the same (v. 33.3% last month), while 11.3% contend that prices will decline (v. 23.9% in October). With the current AAA average at $2.21/gallon, wary consumers estimate a more than $0.30 increase to $2.54 come Turkey Day, on par with last month’s prediction. Note to Santa: Bring a sleigh full of trendy, familiar-branded clothing…with department stores and discounters bringing designer stylings to the masses, consumers’ perception of fashion has begun to change over the years. This month a whopping 48.0% of consumers say familiar clothing labels are important, up from 41.9% last year, and a BIG high. Also reaching a new high are those who value newest fashion trends and styles (17.3%), up from 12.1% last year.