According to the February issue of Free & Easy, Japan evidently never saw the 1979 “Are You a Preppie?” poster. It’s always interesting to hear foreigners’ take on American culture. It’s equally interesting to hear tales about guys in other countries trying to copy American style before the Information Age. The Heavy Tweed Jacket blog …
Buying authentic Ivy can be a minefield. You have to be on point for all the staples: Burlington socks, Brooks Brothers shirts, Levi’s Vintage 501s, and of course Bass Weejuns, Of course the Internet has made things much easier, especially for those who don’t live in the USA. In the UK, the go-to shop for …
The younger and less-hip cats out there likely didn’t get the reference in our last headline. “No Room For Squares” is the title of a 1963 album by Hank Mobley, who, like many jazz greats active during the heyday of the Ivy League Look, donned sack jackets, buttondown shirts and rep ties. Here are some …
We’ll wrap up our trio of pocket square-themed posts with an update on this little piece of menswear esoterica from five years ago. While covering the trade shows in New York and meeting up with longtime Ivy Style sponsor R. Hanauer, I spied these clever eyeglass cases that perform the function of a pocket …
Lyndon Baines Johnson was not known for his fashion sense, but when the White House invited him to meet with President Truman, the Congressman prepared for the occasion like a dandy. “The first thing he did,” an aide remembered, “was to go out and get his hair cut and his nails manicured.” Next Johnson bought …
Geoffrey Wolff’s novel “The Final Club” has frequently been quoted here for its insightful sartorial observations, including on the importance of understatement in the Ivy wardrobe (contextual understatement, that is, with go-to-hell clothes being another matter entirely). The reason the sack cut became the default jacket style for the Ivy League Look was because it was …
As a follow-up to our tribute to the late Prince Philip and his signature double-breasted blazer, here’s a lengthy feature I did for The Rake back in 2014. It should appeal to all those with a general interest in menswear, as well as all of you now contemplating a DB blazer. Pictured above is Fred …
When I awoke to the news of Prince Philip’s passing, I immediately thought of the image above, my favorite style shot of his. I’d thought, however, that he was wearing a double-breasted blazer in the photo. In fact it looks as though he may be breaking one of the most cardinal style rules of those …
During the Ivy heyday in the US, and as VAN Jac was budding in Japan, Kyu Sakamoto‘s “Ue o muite arukō” became one of the best pop songs to come out of the ’60s. It topped the Billboard charts in 1963, the only Japanese song ever to do so. Since the song’s title didn’t lend itself to …
Today we keep the rock-n-roll theme going with a flash back to this post from five years ago, which is anything but fogeyish. And at the bottom of the post is Waterhouse’s latest video, which should get you in the mood for… water. * * * Last week I saw Nick Waterhouse perform at the …
Years ago the Los Angeles Times asked me to write a story about a new men’s fashion trend that combined English gentleman tailoring with rock and roll style. Though it’s outside the boundaries of Tradsville, I thought it may serve as inspiration for freeing up latent energies, thereby having a therapeutic effect amid the social …
Spring is here, and, while not quite ready to call for my whangee and yellowest shoes like Bertie Wooster, I am getting ready to pack up the woolen tweeds and flannels until fall. Sometime in the next few weeks I will get the summer stuff out of storage at the dry cleaners, and I have been …
Do not let this post mislead you, for the necktie is not dead but will rise again. Happy Easter, everyone. * * * Amid the egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and flower bonnets, how can the menswear aficionado add some style to Easter Sunday? How about dyeing Easter eggs, but with the unique twist of transfering …
I will try to write this without vulgarity and profanity. Partly because someone’s son might read this. Partly because, well, it is a gentlemen’s site. Lived off of Lands’ End buttondowns for most of my career, back when they made a wide variety. Wore Brooks blazers, suits, ties, accessories, and even one pair of wingtips, …
Today the New York Times has a lengthy feature on the abandoned Brooks Brothers warehouse we posted about earlier this week, along with a summary of the present situation of the company. The Times writes: The office attire segment of retailing as a whole was battered last year as many Americans worked remotely, ditching entire …
The Ivy Style team has spent the past three-and-a-half weeks writing multiple drafts for our annual April Fool’s Day satire, only for us to finally conclude that there’s simply no greater gag or punchline than America in 2021. And so with warm wishes on this fine spring day we encourage you to join in the …
After a two-Manhattan lunch with the guys, I would occasionally go and sit with “my guy” at Brooks Brothers and go through swatches and order up a couple of MTM suits. One of the tailors, Sal, an impeccably-dressed Italian gentleman, would measure me. Pick-stitching, working sleeve buttons, pen-pocket, mid-break, no break, 1 5/8” cuffs, etc. At …
It can’t be all doom and gloom regarding Brooks Brothers. So before we get back to bittersweet nostalgia, let’s pay tribute to the company’s great stylistic achievements, such as this post on the red sweater, a rare piece in the trad wardrobe.
Yesterday I realized that Brooks Brothers is gone and it gave me a real sadness. A year ago this weekend, on a sunny day much like today, I took one of my nephews into Brooks Brothers and showed him around. I told him that one day I would buy him something there, when he was …