Pretty much the beau ideal for me. Dark and muted and just waiting for charcoal tropical worsteds.

Currently on eBay, where you’ll find the answer to who made it and when. — c C m

Ivy Style was recently given an exclusive peek at a new startup shirt brand from the UK intent on making bleeding madras shirts the old-fashioned way.

In Yankee dollars, Leith Clothing‘s shirts come out to about $140, plus about $20 in shipping, so they’re not the most viable option, save for those with money to burn or an excessive infatuation with madras. But the brand’s story is interesting.

According to co-founder Guy Barley, the fabric was woven in Chennai (formerly known as Madras), India, on Victorian-era looms using organic cotton and natural vegetable dyes. “We think it’s pretty darn — or should that be yarn? — authentic in both hand and color tone,” said Barley in an email.

“We were keen to avoid the infamous cloth of the 1960s,” he continued, “which was often of very low quality and dyed with crude, poorly fixed vegetable dyes that were prone to bleeding all over your underwear.

“What we were aiming for was a cloth more in line with that from the pre-war/1950s period, when the fabric was still predominately only used on quality garments sold by higher-end retailers. This cloth, though still lightweight, loosely woven and slubby, had much greater stability in terms of colorfastness, and would usually gradually fade over time rather than suffer the rapid hemorrhaging of later madras fabrics.”

Manufacturing was handled by one of the England’s oldest shirtmakers, Barley said.

As for the styling, “They are fairly classic Ivy League buttondown long-sleeved sport shirts with an unlined three-button collar, locker loop, box pleat and small side gussets. The body has an easy taper and can be worn both tucked in or out.

“We have also actively sought to avoid any ‘retro’ or ‘heritage’ type imagery in our presentation,” Barley added. “We feel that the madras shirt is a completely timeless piece and shouldn’t just be placed within a 1950s/60s bubble. You can look just as good and relevant in one today paired with jeans and plimsolls as you could in 1961. On the other hand, we are still details obsessives and see no need to update’a classic if you don’t have to.”

Although the initial production run only consists of two fabrics, Leith Clothing “has dozens more ready to put into production in the near future.” More on Leith’s madras can be found on its website here. — c C m

Although I recently posted a pink Brooks Brothers fun shirt I acquired, I should clarify that it’s for the dog days of summer. This spring, while others were quick on the draw with their pastels, I’ve been clad in the sober Ivy colors of olive and gray, snazzed up with a patterned belt.

For example, the assortment above includes Levis 501s in olive, plus chinos in olive and gray. Polo shirts are olive and charcoal, with brown and heathered navy thrown in. Shoes are penny loafers, plus canvas sneakers in beatnik-chic black and weathered blue.

But my favorite in this lot is a charcoal cotton Lands’ End saddle-shouldered “Drifter” sweater, for which I searched high and low and finally found on eBay for 99 cents. — c C m

Following hard upon the debut of Red Fleece is today’s Brooks mailer, which plugs a new, possibly temporary, product category called “Retro Style.”

The category consists of standard Brooks items, but it’s interesting to see which items Brooks chose to group together, as well as its invocation of the word “retro,” which will sound cool to guys with a certain sensibility while frightening off others.

The choice of celebrity endorser should please both the hip and the square, however, as musician Nick Waterhouse’s vibe is a harmonious blending of the two. Brooks headlined its feature “The Right Note,” but perhaps they should have used “The Right Chord.” — c C m

There are plenty of embroidered shorts out there, but little tennis rackets or crossed golf clubs are a bit mundane.

But yesterday I finally found the perfect pair that seems like it was made just for me. After all, how many other surfing Weejun-wearers could there be? (Continue)

Today Brooks Brothers sent out an email unveiling Red Fleece, the new name for what was formerly called the University collection. Brooks now has golden, black and red fleeces similar to blue, black and purple labels.

Now before you purists and fogeys cry foul, recall that Brooks has produced special collections catering to young men for at least 100 years, and Red Fleece is just the 2013 iteration of a longstanding merchandising strategy. (Continue)