IS: “Take Ivy” isn’t due to come out for another month, and yet you’ve already pre-sold the first printing. How many copies have you sold in advance of publication?
WDV: Let’s just say we’ve already had to go back to print, which is very rare, especially for an illustrated book. It’s really taken off because of the blogosphere. You guys are just taking the information and running with it. It’s just viral, which is the dream of every publisher.
IS: The book’s original hype was also driven mostly by the Internet.
WDV: Absolutely. I found the book via new media. I saw the Times write about it, and saw it on either A Continuous Lean or The Trad. The Trad had scanned the whole book, so I saw it and thought, “We have got to do this.” Over several weeks I was on the phone at 10 at night trying to find the Japanese publisher, trying to track down who holds the rights to this thing. We finally found them, and were just elated that we got the rights. So many people had been talking about it online that we thought we might be too late, but we weren’t.
All of us here saw scans and knew we loved it: none of us had seen a copy. Very few people have actually held a copy, so we were all just going crazy for scans, which really says something about the material. And now we’re seeing that a large group of people are really into this. But the timing is perfect, too, right in the thick of the American Craft movement, as some people call it, or a celebration of all things American. (Continue)
Will Fall 2010 be remembered as the peak —and therefore beginning of the end — of the Preppy/Ivy/Trad/Americana trend, or will it mark the beginning of a much larger and longer influence on American style and culture?
Time will tell, and things are heating up in preparation.
According to Amazon, “Take Ivy” is scheduled for release on August 31 (J. Crew’s site says 8/24, the NY Times article says “next week,” and the powerHouse Books website does not have a date). On September 7, soon after the release of “Take Ivy,” Lisa Birnbach’s “True Prep” will be published.
With the double-shot of trad tomes on store shelves this fall, it will be interesting to see how the PITA trend plays out in the media — and society at large.
In the meantime, tune in on Monday for Ivy-Style’s interview with powerHouse Books publisher Wes Del Val about the process of acquiring the rights to “Take Ivy,” with plenty of arcane trivia about the book and its origins. — CC
As Details recently reported, the preppy/Ivy/trad/Americana trend (acronym: PITA) is becoming a global phenomenon. One of the things it’s inspired is foreign photo shoots. There’s Denmark-based Sergei Sviatchenko’s “Up Close And Private” photo project (here and here), and h(y)r collective’s recreation of “Take Ivy” (OK, so they’re Canadian).
But I think the image above is my favorite photo so far. Maybe because it’s in black and white, or because of the contrast between the nighttime urban setting and a lone collegiate type reading the “Preppy Handbook.”
The blogger, Francis Cazal, had a friend provide the following translation of his post on the photo shoot. Since it’s always amusing to read foreign takes on American culture, here are some highlights:
For our first example, we have chosen to propose an original alternative to your habitual summer attire. The lead-up to the hot season makes everyone yearn for lighter clothing, whilst losing out on the minimal amount of panache and comfort.
The Bermuda shorts-blazer combo will attract endless admiration when teamed with a button-down shirt and club tie for your garden parties, or with a polo shirt for an outing at a tennis match or on your sailing boat.
Finally, we have an outfit very Week-end à Nantucket which will don any man with an infinitely easygoing and relaxed look.
As for the Bermudas, we prefer them to be in chino material, madras or why not even seersucker? The color is of little or no importance. We would even go as far as embroidered Bermudas. Yes, it’s true: preppy Yale graduate bloody runs in our veins.
Sounds like Bloody Mary runs in the translator’s veins. — CC
The current issue of Details devotes its style section to home-grown looks, saying that American style is a rapidly growing global trend. Writes the magazine:
Classic American style is dominating fashion these days. What started as a domestic revival has snowballed into a worldwide movement — well-dressed guys from Antwerp to Tokyo have suddenly traded in their skinny black suits for navy blazers, slim khakis, and, yes, polo shirts.
The magazine includes pages devoted to three classic style archetypes, only one of which is relevant to us here. The prep page mentions Ivy-Style as required digital reading, along with fellow blogs Heavy Tweed Jacket, The Trad, All Plaidout and Unabashedly Prep. If you’d have told me in 1985 that 25 years later I’d be mentioned in a magazine alongside Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, let’s just say I would’ve been a trifle suspect.
The page also mentions “Take Ivy,” and for clothes includes Bass Weejuns and the Gant varsity jacket we posted about previously. Related pages are devoted to khaki shorts and oxford-cloth button-down shirts.
Though the image in the lower left of the prep page is of Alex Keaton from the sitcom “Family Ties,” the copy references another fictional character. Writes Details:
The uniform once associated with the New England elite has gone global — and modern. With fashion designers both here and abroad riffing on boarding-school basics, it’s never been cooler to channel Holden Caulfield.
You know, I only got around to reading “Catcher in the Rye” last summer. Man, I wanted to smack that kid. He actually reminded me of some of the curmudgeonly trolls on the men’s fashion forums — just complain, complain, complain all the time. Nothing wrong with him, he’s not the phony, it’s everyone else who’s the phony.
Made in Maine, the “Ivy” loafer comes in unlined cordovan and four color choices.
If you like the look of the Venetian but balk at the price, check out Bass’ version for $125.
Personally I’ve never much cared for the Venetian. It looks like a face that’s missing the eyes, nose and mouth — in other words, all the things that make a face a face.
Urban Outfitters is now offering an exclusive Docker pant called the Ankle Chino. With a slim cut, tapered leg and 30-inch inseam (the only inseam available — talk about target marketing), the chinos are shown paired with beefroll Weejuns and no socks for a reverberating Princeton ‘67 vibe.
“There was definitely an American preppy/Ivy influence when the pants were being designed,” Dockers spokesman Shaun Lewis told Ivy-Style. — CC
Polo Ralph Lauren has finally released images to Ivy-Style of its Fall/Winter 2010 collection, which include a new silhouette in the Blue Label line. This updated sack suit was first reported by WWD Men’s about two months ago, which was picked up by Valet, and since then has been sitting in Ivy-Style’s Ephemera column under the title “Natural shoulder, no darts at RL.”
Now we get a closer look of what the suits and sportcoats will look like. Polo has also released the following description:
A new suit jacket inspired by an antique sack suit is one of Polo Tailored Clothing’s most distinguished statements for fall. Defined by an easy natural shoulder and dart-less front, the jacket is fashioned in washed tweed that has a beautiful drape and exceptionally soft hand.
If you’re on the svelte side, the cut is a great blending of Ivy League heritage with a modern, tailored fit. There are no darts, but still shaping at the waist. Just because it’s called a “sack” doesn’t mean it has to fit like one, and darts, after all, are only one means of waist supression.
Sportcoats will be priced at $1,095-$1,295, with suits going for $1,295. — CC (Continue)
The designers at Gant Rugger appear to have hit the books in preparation for the Spring 2010 collection. Or at least one book: “Take Ivy,” the 1965 Japanese photo book hyped to the max on the Web over the past couple of years.
The sartorial motifs of “Take Ivy” abound in the Rugger collection, mixed and matched with colors changed. There are hooded rain slickers, shorts worn with white socks and loafers, skinny chinos with untucked oxfords, jeans with the pant legs rolled up, and canvas sneakers sans socks.
Danish photographer Sergei Sviatchenko has released new images from his ongoing photo project “Close Up And Private” (our previous post on him can be found here).
The photos feature a modern European take on traditional preppy looks. Included in the latest shots are such collegiate staples as khakis, wrinkled oxfords, white bucks, desert boots, boat shoes, rep ties, herringbone jackets, and, this being Spring/Summer, plenty of madras.
To see the full set of images, head over here. — CC
