Nehru Jackets Create Mod Look in Belleville ' Color it red and name it after Mao. Color it any other hue of the rainbow and call it Nehru. Convicts, Rajput emperors, British cavalry officers and London swingers all had a hand in it. Just one thing's for sure, a man has to have the figure for it before he dares appear in a Nehru jacket. And appear he will this winter, by the dozens, even in Belleville. City men's wear stores are stocking the eastern look in both suits and jackets, in answer to the demand from their customers. First to stock the eastern look was Meagher's Men's Wear, whose staff has already sold a dozen jackets at $45, four suits at $75 and one suit at $110. So popular is the new style that Meagher's can't keep the item in stock. Still waiting for his supply from the wholesalers is Joe Burke of Burke's of Belleville Men's Fashion on the plaza. "They'll sell like hot cakes if we can get our hands on them," he said. "The demand from men in their twenties and early thirties is terrific." Other city retailers agree that men, especially those in the young adult category, are going overboard for the eastern cut. "Most of our customers for the Nehru will be university types," commented a Tip Top Tailors spokesman. But the look isn't for everybody. Only very slender men look well in it -- the football half-back, no matter how well built comes on paunchy in a Nehru. For the Molson-muscled middle-ager, the Nehru is a disaster. To wear the eastern look with elan, the male will have to bone up on his fashion savvy. The top button should be left undone and turtleneck shirts and demi boots are the required accessories. Trim line cut trousers in a co-ordinated plain color are required wear with the jacket. The jackets and suits come in brown and black, but look smartest in bright golds, blues and jades. Material is a hardfinished, light-weight, tropical wool worstzd. The Nehru look got its name from the late Prime Minister of India, who m a d e it his trademark. The style, made up in coarse cotton, was required garb for Indian prisoners of the British Raj, and Nehru, imprisoned for advocating Indian independence, continued to wear the style after his release as a gesture of defiance. The high-necked, long-line, convicts' uniform was fashioned after a style popular in some parts of India and originally inspired by both the Rajput shirt and British officer's tunic. W. T. Meagher calls the new look "modified mod'*. "They spruced up the London mod look, thank goodness and when it came out looking vaguely eastern, called it Nehru," he claims. Whatever its origin, the Nehru style seems headed for a long reign over the male fashion field. It can't miss. City merchants report it has almost more appeal to women than to men. ·