In the opening scene of Mike Nichols’ 1967 film “The Graduate,” an airplane captain intones the chilling words “We are now beginning our descent into Los Angeles.” Nichols has died at the age of 83. “The Graduate,” one of my favorite films, is truly directed — that is, crafted by a man with a vision. …
The 1930s was the time of the Great Depression, yet simultaneously it was also the golden age of Hollywood glamor and of masculine elegance. It was also the time when the Ivy League Look flourished, though within closed corridors, the aristocratic golden age versus the postwar, democratic silver age. This article from the Yale Alumni …
A few days ago we introduced you to the blog “Wearing The Ivy League Look Since 1958” and its author, “Billax.” This morning Billax left a thoughtful comment on the post, along with what sounds like a mission statement. It’s worth quoting nearly in full to stretch out what Billax calls his 15 minutes of …
Several things are afoot in Ivyland across the pond. • First off, a new edition of “Hollywood And The Ivy Look” has garnered press in The Telegraph, where Hollywood is said to have had an “obsession” with the Ivy League Look. • Also in the press department, the John Simons shop got a write-up on …
Yesterday comment-leaver “Billax” took the time to kindly correct one of my many typos. I wish you guys did that more often. Billax has been a regular on the blogs and forums for some time, and while many amateur blogs are dimming the lights, Billax actually recently started one up with the name Wearing The …
The Heckscher Museum Of Art on Long Island is currently running an exhibit on the brilliantly whimsical work of Richard Gachot. Gachot attended Yale in the 1950s, and, as you can see in the video above, never lost his taste for buttondown oxfords. With so many artists eager to desecrate icons while sporting the physicial …
Five years ago today, a fresh-faced young pup, I left California for New York. Now I’m a big-time big-city bigshot with a Chipp on my natural shoulder. It’s a smelluva town. The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down. And people in cars run you into the ground. — CC
Martin Greenfield, the Brooklyn-based tailor who has, over his long career, made clothes for Brooks Brothers and J. Press, has just released his memoirs. Entitled “Measure Of A Man: From Auschwitz Survivor To President’s Tailor,” the book is available from Amazon for $16.79. To learn more about Greenfield, check out this great video, which is …
Last week some of you may have heard on the news that a guy in Philadelphia is selling signs to small businesses that say “No Hoodies.” It created something of a stir, as some people complained it was unfairly biased against contestants of Jeopardy’s college tournament and Mark Zuckerberg. Hoods are much better when attached …
For your autumn touch-football games, or your holiday shopping for the man who has everything (which may very well be you), consider a traditional football wrapped in Harris Tweed. If ever there was a way to reconcile clotheshorse and jock, this is it. I spied it a couple of weeks ago at the opening for …
In my junior year of college my dorm room was decorated in a retro manner. One day a salesman hocking fake Polo and other fragrances popped his head through my open doorway. He took a look at two pictures on the wall and said, trying to break the ice, “Are those your folks?” Slightly annoyed …
Yesterday on our Facebook group a young lad wondered where he could read the famous essay by George Frazier mentioned in our previous post. While it’s certainly googleable, we figured why not present it here. There is a section on New Haven and the natural-shoulder look, plus plenty of fine general observations on dressing. Also, …
We bring our series on elegance to a close with these thoughts from the founder. * * * Take a look at this photo of former Esquire columnist George Frazier, author of “The Art Of Wearing Clothes.” There’s the Russell Plaid suit jacket, Churchill dot tie, and buttondown shirt — all pretty standard fare. But …
Elegance Week and Halloween collide in this last-minute costume idea courtesy of this ad from a 1936 edition of The Daily Princetonian. Just dust off your old tux, head off to that Halloween party, and say you’re dressed as an elite college kid from the thirties. Since no student dresses this way today, it qualifies …
In the 1984 prepsloitation movie “Making The Grade,” protagonist Eddie gets invited to a black-tie event. To learn how to properly deport himself, he and two of his prep-school buddies study Cary Grant, the master of looking cool and elegant in a dinner jacket. The entire movie is up on YouTube, so you can sneak …
Need a last-minute idea for a Halloween costume? Consider going as an Old Money WASP. You can build the costume from your everyday wardrobe. In addition to black-and-white saddle shoes and yellow socks (above), you will need the following. Patchwork tartan trousers: Yellow striped surcingle belt: Matching grosgrain watch band: Purple gingham shirt and yellow …
As Ivy Style’s Elegance Week continues, assistant editor Christopher Sharp presents this homage to the man who wrote the book on the subject. * * * I can still see myself sheepishly sliding a black paperback, face down, across the college bookstore counter like a schoolboy buying a nudie magazine. The book was Bruce Boyer’s …
Bit loafers are one of those polarizing items in the genre. But love them or hate them, they’re certainly a step up in sophistication from penny loafers (which is why the OPH calls them “strictly post-collegiate”). We last featured them on Ivy Style with this photo of Fred Astaire, who is surprisingly sporting them with …
Yesterday fashion luminary Oscar de la Renta died at age 82 at his home in Kent, Connecticut. The Ivy Style team had been preparing a series of posts on the concept of elegance, and when news broke of de la Renta’s death, Richard Press quickly revised his latest column, once again showing that King Richard …