Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop turns 91 today and refuses to retire. Truly one of a kind.
Happy Birthday, Charlie, from all of us here. — CC
19 Comments on "Happy Birthday, Charlie!"
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Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop turns 91 today and refuses to retire. Truly one of a kind.
Happy Birthday, Charlie, from all of us here. — CC
Comments are closed.
I wish I had half of that man’s style. Happy Birthday!
Truly an icon in the industry. I hope one day to be under the tutelage of such an artist. Happy Birthday Charlie.
Sounds like he is the Jiro Ono of the clothing industry!
A round table discussion with Charlie Davidson, Paul Winston, and Richard Press might make a great short film, touching on many 20th century legends, and maybe even a few emerging 21st century ones.
Mr. Davidson
Long may your big jib draw.
Will
Pani M,
What are you, out of curiousity?
Mazama predicated on your comment, I guess we all known what you are, and what you are about.
H. Korn,
Elaborate.
Charlie Davidson is an antidote to Rugby.
I’ll disagree (of course).
More likely Rugby is offspring–a descendent–of this typically Andover Shop combo (tweed jacket, repp tie, OCBD). Early Rugby was promising, then along came the incursion of silly insignias, crests, blazer badges, coats of arms, and similar regalia.
http://thetrad.blogspot.com/2013/03/you-may-ask-yourself-well-how-did-i-get.html
Very early Rugby offered much to hope for. I was optimistic. So was “the Trad” (see above link). There was a store at the Short Hills Mall that looked, well, great. If not identical to The Andover Shop, it was leaning in the right direction. There were nicely tailored sack jackets (and suits), oxford button downs made New England Shirt Company, and plain front pants (tropicals, gabs, flannels) that fit just right. I recall a round table populated by repp silk, an entire wall dedicated to polo coats (around $650) and navy duffel coats.
The styling was right on; so were the prices.
Then along came people–stylists?–armed with ideas about trim (“modern” or “tailored”) fits and the importance of crests, badges, and such. The downward spiral was house-on-fire fast.
Mr. Davidson’s shop, as well as J. Press, are what Rugby tried to copy-high New England WASP with an ivy pedigree. They stand for tradition and authenticity.
What doomed Rugby was that they tried too hard with all their phony insignia and faux-WASP ambition. Then, late in the game, came the stylists, who imagined an RL alternative to Abercrombie. I would not be surprised if Fred Castleberry was on Rugby’s payroll. It was all so contrived and over-styled, like a Walt Disney version of the Ivy Club at Princeton.
Long live the Andover Shop. Let’s hope Mr. Charlie’s lives to 100!
Happy B-day Mr. C. D. and may you have 91 more!
S.E.,
Allow me to rephrase my comment:
Reading about Charlie Davidson and the Andover Shop is an antidote to being exposed to Polo.
Happy Birthday to Charlie Davidson! I regret not being able to get to the Boston area the last few years. Stopping in at the Andover Shop was a real treat.
@Grey Flannels
GS has a big piece on Polo coming up. You’ll love it!
Christian,
Correction:
Of course, I meant: Reading about Charlie Davidson and the Andover Shop is an antidote to being exposed to Rugby.
Long live Charlie. No one can touch the Andover Shop. Here’s to the best
Happy birthday Charlie.
Taliesin, I like the round table idea. Kinda like the guys sitting at Carnegie Deli talking about Danny Rose.
All the best — the very VERY best — to a wonderful guy.