Personae

Last week Jesse Thorn put up an interview with Bruce Boyer for his podcast show called “Bullseye.” You’ll find it on this page under the date March 8, and Boyer comes in around the 39 minute mark. — CC

Today Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop turns 90, and a young acolyte recounts how the legendary clothier continues to inspire. * * * When I was in high school I read Christian Chensvold’s article for The Rake on Charlie Davidson and The Andover Shop and knew I needed to visit the legendary haberdashery as …

I’ve been vaguely aware that Kiel James Patrick had developed a huge social media following. Sometime last year when Town & Country listed him and now-wife Sarah Vickers as one of the preppiest couples in history, I immediately tweeted my disbelief at Kiel. There he was, right alongside JFK and Jackie! It seems like just …

When I was in college, I worked part-time tutoring foreign students in English. One Japanese guy became kind of a pal, and during a conversation one day he said, “The way it works is that America comes up with an idea and Japanese make it better.” I was only 20 at the time and this …

Ellsworthy Kelly, surely one of the last of a generation of artists who combined abstract art with blue buttondowns worn unironically, has died at the age of 92. There’s plenty of news coverage here, while below is an interview from his later years:

In the current climate, one half expects to one day see Santa Claus come out of a re-education camp gaunt, clean shaven, fully repentant and vowing never to pick up his sooty clay cutty. But thankfully Christmas still offers free range and a delightful annual tradition to that endangered species known as the pipe smoker. …

For some, navy blazers, white shirts and rep ties are the perfect costume — costume in the dictionary sense, that is. Namely, “a style of dress… especially that peculiar to a nation, region, group, or historical period.” So it should come as no surprise that a costumer would appreciate this costume. Pictured is stage and …

A reader notified me that one of the old trad/collegiate guard has passed. Robert ER Huntley was longtime president of Washington & Lee University. There’s a video slideshow of him here, and the memorial service is streaming live right now. — CC

Recently a unapologetically philistine reader left a comment saying he much prefered the world of finance to the subject of art history. Robin Williams’ character in “Dead Poets Society” has a speech about that kind of thing. But here’s some art I think all of us can appreciate: the work of Japanese illustrator Akira Sorimachi …

Gentle readers (ha!), I have some news to share. I’ve been writing op-eds and essays for my entire career — in fact my first professional publication was a piece of social commentary in my local daily. I’ve always felt like a columnist by temperament, and in the present volatile climate we live in, I figured …

Last night Kamakura Shirts held a party celebrating the opening of its second New York store, located Downtown at Brookfield Place. The party was held at an event space in SoHo and was far more packed than these photos may suggest. And yet the crowd all seemed to be part of a family that Kamakura …

You probably heard the news last night that actor and politician Fred Thompson has died. I went searching for photos, and while he wasn’t the tradliest of guys, I found this great one with buttondown and pipe. While most men cut their teeth on acting before turning to the role of politican, Thompson did the …

Ivy Style contributor Rebecca C. Tuite, author of the book “Seven Sisters Style: The All-American Preppy Look,” was married last week and made the New York Times weddings pages. Congrats!

Daniel Patrick Moynihan came up in the comments section last week, and as he was an academic as well as politician, he fits the bill for our Professor Style Week. For a tradly guy you’ll see a far-reaching embrace of the genre, including straight as well as buttondown collars, desert boots, double-breasted seersucker, olive poplin, …

On Thursday night a book launch party was held for G. Bruce Boyer and “True Style.” The event took place at The Armoury and brought out a plethora of Boyer groupies and menswear personalities. Here’s Boyer with Alan Flusser, that other great menswear author, and who was clad in sneakers and sweats (perhaps from just playing …

The phrase “to die with your boots on” means to leave this earth while still doing your duty, heeding your call, following your passion. While some look forward to a long sedentary retirement, others want to work at what they love until the very end. I’m not sure if Leon Gorman was actually wearing boots when …