Last weekend I met up with Ivy Style contributors Zachary DeLuca and Jason Marshall for two of the smaller menswear trade shows. The highlight was a long session with Crittenden Rawlings, a longtime business associate of my girlfriend’s.
“Critt,” as he’s known by friends and colleagues, is a menswear industry veteran who came out of retirement a few years ago and manufactures clothing for a number of specialty stores. Currently based in Kentucky, Critt previously worked for Norman Hilton (who he said had “the best taste in the history of American menswear”) and Ralph Lauren.
Last season I had a look at a prototype sportcoat based on a classic Ivy pattern, and was happy to learn that the project is steaming along. While we were there, two members from J. Press (the US general manager and a designer from Press’ Japan division) were meeting with Critt, so you may see his jackets in J. Press stores this fall. (Continue)
I ended up getting the Rugby pants in all three colors, and here are some tips in case you’re thinking about them for yourself. First off, this is a “relaxed” chino, so the fit isn’t super-skinny. The “longer rise” simply means that the rise is more normal for a chino and not a low-rise for college-aged guys with 1 percent body fat. Regarding colors, the “green” is more of an olive (perfect for a “Take Ivy” look), but the charcoal is really faded black, so beware if you consider black a forbidden color. (Continue)
Hollywood’s status as an epicenter of impeccable sartorial taste is long gone, but there was at least one guest at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards who gave a nod to the well tailored days of yore.
That man was talent agent Ben Press, son of former J. Press president and Ivy Style columnist Richard Press. Company founder Jacobi was Ben’s great-grandfather.
Ben accompanied client and longtime friend Elle Macpherson and was dressed in a dinner jacket made for his grandfather Paul (Richard’s father, if you’re having trouble following the family tree) in 1968.
The tradly duds got Ben named one of the evening’s best dressed, according to the London Daily Mail’s Alex Shekarchman. — CC
Seems a couple of designers found an old college t-shirt, and, without bothering to research its origins, decided it would make a cool name for a logo-driven sportswear brand.
This year the company grossed $61 million.
The college eventually got wind of the name appropriation, and though initially miffed, ultimately decided to let the brand continue, since when you’re a school no one has heard of innocuous buzz is better than no buzz.
The tragic irony, however, is that the fake collegiate Franklin & Marshall sweatshirt (right), designed in Italy, looks more handsome and collegiate than the generic one sold in the real Franklin & Marshall bookstore (left):
Pictured at top are F&M students from 1956 wearing dirty white bucks. — CC
Last night Brooks Brothers held its annual Christmas party, which benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, at its Madison Avenue flagship. My third year in attendance (but my first one in brown flannels), the event seemed larger than usual and there was revelry on every floor.
I took a few snapshots of guys who caught my eye (like the gentleman above, Thomas Jackson, who is the national head of Brooks Brothers’ custom-clothing operations, and who was decked out in a spectacular fox-head waistcoat), but you’ll have to head over to my latest web project, questmag.com, to get the full scoop. — CHRISTIAN CHENSVOLD
Allen Edmonds has just unveiled a new collection of higher-end shoes priced at $445. Dubbed the Independence Collection, with models named for signers of the Declaration of Independence, the shoes feature a sole detail called wheeling (pictured above) that had remained locked in the archives, unused, for the past 30 years.
Pictured below is an updated longwing called the Williams (seen here in dark brown) that’s a fine alternative to Tradsville favorite the MacNeil, which comes in walnut and burgundy but not chocolate brown. (Continue)
If you’re a trad on a budget and want some “Take Ivy” jacket details but can’t afford RL/Rugby prices, take a look at these two jackets by Lands’ End with a student/professor vibe and cheap tuition.
Above is a herringbone sportcoat that was on sale last week for about $165 (it’s currently back up to $199). Although it’s two button and darted, rather than the purer three button and undarted, you get patch pockets and a completely unpadded shoulder.
Being a sucker for patch pockets and a herringbone collector, I gave the jacket a try but was forced to reject it. Despite how the jacket looks in the photo, the lapels are a standard 3.5 inches — too wide for me and my number-one dealbreaker — and the patch breast pocket annoyed me more than I thought it would.
But to each his own, and I wanted to alert those of you looking for traditional styling on the cheap. I can vouch that the shoulder has no padding, though I don’t think this jacket is tailored enough to deserve the term “natural shoulder,” which is why I said “unpadded.”
I’ve been working at a magazine for the past few weeks and today my first issue came from the printers. The magazine is called Quest and is basically New York’s last Society magazine — capital S. We cover the Upper East Side/Hamptons/Greenwich/Palm Beach crowd.
They were closing the November issue when I started and I was thrown a few last-minute stories to bang out, including a piece on the latest book by Nicholas Foulkes, my comrade at The Rake, on the most legendary costume balls of the 20th century. I also got to do an advertorial for The Plaza Hotel which was kind of fun, and copy edit Taki.
We’re still figuring out my role, which will likely be a combination of editorial and marketing duties. One of the things I need to do is revamp the website and start blogging daily. New Yorkers are encouraged to follow me and the crew at Questmag.com. You can also follow us on Twitter, where some of our tweets will be penned by Robert I. Brown, the teenage blogger I wrote about a couple of years ago, who moved to New York last month and is interning at the magazine while studying fashion merchandising.
Quest occupies a penthouse office strewn with oriental rugs and sailing paraphernalia. My office features an old wooden desk. I haven’t asked yet if I can smoke my pipe.
There are some interesting coincidences with the magazine. First off, they interviewed me some five years ago for a story on dandyism when I was living in California. And friend Bruce Boyer has scribed for Quest in the past.
But most coincidental is the office’s location: Madison Avenue at 48th Street, which is just one block from J. Press and four blocks from the historic Ivy intersection of 44th and Madison, where Chipp and Press were once located across from Brooks Brothers.
Speaking of the brethren, my golf game should stay sharp through the long winter since I can hit on the simulator every day at lunchtime.
I still plan to continue Ivy Style — at least until my four-year graduation day — and hope the site doesn’t suffer too much from neglect or misplaced commas. And with any luck I’ll come across some interesting fodder for the site. — CHRISTIAN CHENSVOLD
