Gray Suits And Madras

madras and gray

Best wishes for a delightful holiday weekend as we remember those who’ve given their lives to defend this great nation of ours, and when we also remember what a great genre of clothing our forefathers have given us. Note the great sartorial variety in the image above, from charcoal suits to madras shorts, all thrown together in the context of campus life.  

20 Comments on "Gray Suits And Madras"

  1. That is Memorial Church in Harvard Yard, appropriate for Memorial Day.

  2. I went to Harvard, and of course I recognize Memorial Church, but I can’t imagine what those people are doing exactly, other than posing for a photo. Almost all of them look more middle-class than preppy. One might be Latin American but all of the others are white. There are no women. Are they a glee club? Are they young Republicans? I can’t imagine. I also can’t estimate a year.

  3. Not this century, no slim cut shirts or low rise pants, with the exception of the wheat 501s. No polo player/pony branding, but there are flip flops and bare feet. I’m guessing early1970s

  4. Harwell Crowper | May 24, 2015 at 2:02 pm |

    @MAC
    Please note that the OCBDs are all blue or white.

  5. Ole Master | May 24, 2015 at 3:16 pm |

    1964 or 1965. Possibly 1966. The collarless shirts with white piping were Ivy style for only a few years.

  6. The haircuts tell you it isn’t the seventies. I agree early to mid sixties.

  7. Congrats to JR for being the first one to ruin a great post by bringing up the race/gender B.S.

    Did anyone else notice there are no transgender Eskimo dwarfs either?

  8. Christian | May 24, 2015 at 4:39 pm |

    ’65 is my guess. Feels very much the same time as “Take Ivy.”

    No way is it post-’67 fall. Plenty of shots on this site in the ’70s and Historic Images category would show that.

  9. Ward Wickers | May 24, 2015 at 7:28 pm |

    That photo shows up here:
    http://rebloggy.com/post/shorts-vintage-student-preppy-harvard-prep-ivy-league-students-madras-trad-sport/78631002986

    A caption says Harvard students in ’65, but no citation or attribution from what I can see.

  10. George: why is it “B.S.”? There’s no value judgment. When trying to date a photo, the level of integration is relevant.

  11. No politics on this site, please.

  12. Arg. “Milieu,” of course.

  13. Señor Yuca | May 25, 2015 at 4:50 am |

    65 or a little later is right imo. The hair is too long for early 60s but the lapels are still narrow and there are no counterculture signs.

  14. Vern Trotter | May 25, 2015 at 10:18 am |

    Yes, have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend for the dead we honor today and their sacrifices. Fitting the picture is of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. Today’s only editorial in the New York Post:

    NYpost.com/2015/05/24/the-dead-we-honor-9/

  15. Particularly proud of my late grandfather, who enlisted in the Air Corps after three semesters at Penn, served in North Africa and the Pacific, then returned and graduated. He also wore the hell out of a Brooks button down for all of his professional life.

  16. No chinos/khakis.
    My guess is that they’re not Harvard students, but a visiting choir/glee club.
    A few of them are singing (or pretending to sing).

  17. Ken Sprague | May 29, 2021 at 12:07 am |

    One can’t help but wonder how many of them went on to die a bloody death in Vietnam.

    Vietnam’s total trade with the United States was $9.8 billion in March 2021 , a change of 57.27 percent from the same month in 2020. The change in exports was -5.41 percent and the change in imports was 70.05 percent. Vietnam ranked No. 8 among U.S. trade partners in March. It had ranked No. 15 for the same month last year.

    The top three U.S. exports by value in March were Cotton, (2) Computer chips, and (3) Corn. The top three U.S. imports from Vietnam, also by value, were Cell phones, related equipment, (2) Furniture, parts, and (3) Amplifiers, speakers, microphones. By tonnage, the top three U.S. exports were (1) Corn, (2) Paper, paperboard scrap, and (3) Sugar and starch residues. The top three U.S. imports, also by tonnage, were (1) Furniture, parts, (2) Seats, excluding barber, dental, and (3) Portland, aluminous and slag cement.

  18. Oh come on! The guy on the iPhone is a dead giveaway that this pic is fairly recent.

  19. Boston Bean | May 29, 2021 at 12:36 pm |

    @Ken Sprague
    This song says it all:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxEyg61LC4g

  20. The gentleman who is standing front row second from the left is wearing a type of T shirt that was common in the seventies. Solid color body (usually white) with the school name on the chest and with the collar trim/tab and cuff trim usually in the school colors. I wish they still made this style.

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