Historic Images

Within one year of LIFE Magazine’s 1954 feature “The Ivy Look Heads Across The US,” which surely would have caught the eyes of the apparel industry given the magazine’s enormous circulation, Botany 500 was already jumping on the new menswear trend. You can all but imagine the product development meeting. Let’s come up with a …

No, not the couple. The guy’s outfit in this 1959 illustration. Check out the full image: He’s matched light blue socks to his light blue shirt. That’s a matchy-matchy no-no, to say nothing of harmonizing with the drapery. The other items are fine, including what we assume is a navy knit tie, and penny loafers …

It’s been well noted that the South has hung onto classic American attire better than any other part of the country. It’s certainly a region where traditions are deeply valued. Which is why students at the University Of The South did not jump the Ivy ship en masse like their peers in the Northeast. These …

Michigan halfback Tom Harmon doing his sports radio show, in classic combo of button-down collar, knit tie and cardigan, 1940. Below, crew cuts and crewnecks. University of Illinois, 1956: The archetypal combo of argyle socks and tassel loafers. Looks cooler if you’re 20, though. University of Illinois, 1956: Varsity sweater, OCBD, and lovestruck Wake Forest …

Midcentury modern fans, as well as guys who are single (or sometimes wish they were), will likely enjoy heading over to our fraternal site Masculine Interiors for a fine article posted yesterday. It’s about Playboy’s architectural and interior design articles of the ’50s and ’60s, and was written by contributor James Kraus. Kraus’ previous articles …

James Kraus, who has authored a piece for Ivy Style on bachelor cuisine, has alerted us to a post from his vintage automotive blog, Auto Universum. The piece centers around Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman, the Matisse and Picasso of automotive illustration. Writes Kraus: These lush images depicted scenes of glamour and sophistication populated by …

Well here’s a super-cool discovery: a pack of 1960s playing cards using cover art for the magazine Heibon Punch, by artist Ayumi Ohashi. The cards, our translator tells us, depict a wide range of social situations and leisure activities and the proper attire for each. — CC

As you break out the tartan jacket and red socks to hit the holiday party circuit, take a tip from Tony Randall and watch out for these fellow guests. In 1957 Randall did a photo shoot in which he portrayed various pests typically encountered at cocktail parties. Pictured above is The Jokester, who amuses himself …

Our confrere Matthew Jacobsen of OldMagazineArticles.com recently supplied us with a vintage article from the pages of Gentry Magazine (see “The Gentrified Campus.”) Now he follows up with another one, this time from Gentry’s Autumn 1952 issue, that provides an eye-opening glimpse into how collegiate attire was presented to young men at the time. As …