As you’ve probably noticed over the past 60 years, the borders of that little menswear town we call Tradsville is not wholly secure from outside influence. After all, the companies, large and small, that clothe us are in business to make a living. While not full-blown Ivy royalty like Richard Press (grandson of Jacobi) nor self-made …
For no discernable reason, I recently developed a mini-obsession with the color green. I picked up some polo shirts, a striped belt from J. Press, and a few other things. Among the purchases was a pair of shorts in mint-green oxford cloth (Polo, natch), which finally brought things to the tipping point and inspired a blog post. But …
A few lucky souls are skipping through the dog days of summer in new bleeding madras shirts. The eclectic and sartorially resplendent haberdasher David Hodgkins of David Wood Clothiers in Portland, Maine reintroduced the fabric last Thursday, and were sold out in 24 hours by word-of-mouth alone. Priced at $175, the shirts were based on …
While doing image research this morning I came across the fantastic photo above. When I investigated the source, it turned out to be a Tumblr site called The Black Ivy League Look. We’ve posted some historic images of students before, bunkered down with books or huddled together the way Robin Williams gathers them in “Dead …
In the spirit of all the students presently packing up for their first semester at college, Ivy Style has the pleasure of presenting a piece of student homework. I say pleasure because getting to write about The Andover Shop and J. Press is certainly a lot more fun than having to take a remedial math course. The …
My latest piece for Ralph Lauren Magazine is on the Jaguar XKSS, a rare ’50s sports car whose distinguished owners include Steve McQueen as well as Ralph Lauren himself. Ralph’s personal car will be featured in an upcoming fall Purple Label ad campaign. Here’s an excerpt: The XKSS’ combination of gorgeous curves and raw power …
Today is National Rum Day, the perfect excuse to revisit one of the bay rum stories from our archive. Although this post ran a mere two years ago, it was actually written several before that. No idea if bay rum improves with age (nor my writing, for that matter), but I’m pretty sure rum does. …
Hot on the heels of Brooks Brothers‘ announcement that it will pull the plug on Black Fleece comes the news that the lights are going down on York Street, J. Press’ attempt to court younger guys with money. The news actually came out last month — apparently while we were all on vacation. The story …
Back-to-school month may not be until September, but magazines generally publish a month early. That means that hot on the heels of Vanity Fair’s lengthy dissection of the dating apocalypse is The Atlantic’s September cover story on that other thing kids do at college — or rather are supposed to be doing — namely, getting …
Last week The Independent published a feature on John Simons, who is to England what Kensuke Ishizu is to Japan. The king of English Ivy is celebrating 60 years in retail. Writes the paper: Simons, more than anyone, is the man who brought the “Ivy Look”, the apparently effortless American cool of the postwar years, …
Earlier this summer I wrote an essay about college dating in which I modestly proposed that young women take back control of the courship process by demanding committed relationships. I ended up taking the story down not because of any backlash, but because further reading on the subject led me to realize that my quaint …
On Thusday it was reported that Brooks Brothers will cease its Black Fleece collection headed by Thom Browne. The New York Times interviewed both Browne and Brooks CEO Claudio del Vecchio, and writes: “I don’t think people ever saw the collection as being inappropriate or irresponsible to live within the world of Brooks Brothers,” Mr. …
The great American tradition of preppy-jerk villains returned last week with the debut of “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp.” The Netflix series, which consists of eight 30-minute episodes, is a prequel to the 2001 comedy film of the same name (minus the last part). Over the past 14 years I’ve somehow managed …
There’s just a handful of hours left until the prime-time debut of Donald Trump’s presidential reality show. He’ll be flanked by nine other White House hopefuls, including Jeb Bush, son of GHWB, who is pictured above in sack suit and striped watch band. The son is pictured below — in Brioni. Trump’s preferred suit, coincidentally. Enjoy the …
Summer 2015 will be remembered as the summer of outrage. On whichever line of Donald Trump’s combover you stand, each day brings some gaffe, injustice or felonious act about which to gripe bitterly to the enjoyment of your friends and followers on social media. And so within this spirit of antogonism and hyperbole that I …
Yesterday the evening news carried the story that frisbee — or “ultimate” as its practitioners call it — has been officially recognized by the Olympic Committee and is a candidate for future games. But did you know that frisbee is just as Ivy-preppy-trad a sport as squash? The pastime was popularized on the Princeton campus …
A couple of years ago we featured this post from James Kraus, whose most recent contribution was the write-up on Playboy’s architectural designs from the ’50s and ’60s (which actually ran on Masculine Interiors). Previously Kraus’ bachelor cookbook was only available on iPad, but it recently became available for iPhone thanks to the iOS …
“Lionhearted” actually means brave and valiant. But in the headline I like to think it’s a double-entendre expressing affection for big cats. After all, it’s August, the month of Leo. And there just aren’t many lions left out in the wild. But thanks to heraldry, the lion is a popular symbol on ties, slippers and athletic …
And you thought there were a lot of choices for oxford-cloth buttondowns? Now there’s another penny vying for your nickels. A few days ago I spied the recently released Charlie loafer from Jack Erwin when it started popping up on Google ads. I’d never heard of the company and sent a brief message of inquiry. …