Thanks to a sharp eye, Ivy Style reader Jim Barge came across an eerie parchment discovery from the antiquity of the Ivy heyday. “I am working on a project renovating the Chelsea District Health Center,” he wrote on Ivy Style’s Facebook page, “and noticed some newspaper sticking out of the wall. I carefully removed it …
Legendary tennis commentator Bud Collins died yesterday at the age of 86. Five years ago, when I visited Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop, I had lunch with Bud and Charlie. The two were close friends, and for years Charlie had made Bud’s signature go-to-hell pants. As you can see from these photos, Collins was …
Global Ivy Trendwatch is alive and well, proving the broad and timeless appeal of traditional American menswear. Today a reader posted on Ivy Style’s Facebook page about a new collection out of Thailand. It is a collaboration between two companies, Wardrobe Ministry and John Henry. The latter, if it’s the same trademark, sounds an awful …
Regular readers will recall the khaki project we had in development last year. It sparked palpable enthusiasm here and in other parts of the Internet, but our partner was Bills Khakis, which developed business problems and shelved the project. Well there are a couple of updates. First off, last week Pedro Mendes, who runs the …
Six years ago when I wrote about Moriarty ski caps, I was left with the feeling that the story was not completely over. I initially chalked it up to nostalgia: after all I was not the only one with a reverence for this genre of winter headgear. Michael Maginn at SeniorSkining.com explored the connection he …
During the heyday of The Ivy League Look, a number of guys from preppy backgrounds wound up working in the field of jazz. Bobby Troup was one of them. Raised in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Troup prepped at The Hill School, then studied economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. While an undergraduate, Troup …
You probably remember a few years ago, back when Ralph Lauren Rugby was still alive, and neo-preps were wearing collar pins with buttondown collars. The buttons were not fastened, and had sometimes been removed, but those of the old guard found the look an incorrigible affectation. I recall going into the New York J. Press …
Unless money for you is no object, acquiring clothing probably involves some degree of compromise, it’s just a question of how much. The old adage about buying the best you can afford, and making long-term investments in your wardrobe, is sound advice. But even if you scrimp and save there’s still a limit on how …
Here’s another great find by comment-leaver and Facebook group member “Carmelo,” from the Esquire archives. In this case, the March, 1950, issue, in the pre-dawn of the heyday. The copy reads: Let the acrobats have hourglass waistlines. And leave the bulking shoulder pads on the football field. For city and campus alike, naturalness is the …
I posted this on Ivy’s Facebook group a couple of hours ago, and, as with everything Brooks, it inspired enough fireworks to justify posting here. The company’s latest head-scratcher comes in the form of a mailer sent out today touting the new natural shoulder “inspired by soft Italian tailoring.” Heresy. Treason. WTF. I realize that …
For the first time Ivy Style is proud to present an original work of fiction. This is not something from the heyday archives, but a contemporary work published here for the first time. Author bio follows the story. * * * Oxford Cloth By Eric Twardzik When hard work was valued and patriotism was a …
This week the Brown Daily Herald reported that students on campus are practically suffering nervous breakdowns. Why? Because social justice activism is interfering with their schoolwork. Or rather, getting an Ivy League education is interfering with their social justice work. While it’s right and proper that colleges today are open to everyone, perhaps there’s something …
A frequent lament is that college students no longer know how to dress. The Ivy League is not immune to this criticism. Frederick Robertshaw, Yale class of ’55, when comparing his time at Yale to that of his sons, commented on the younger generation by observing that “campus fashions resemble casual day in a county …
My how things do change. Yesterday we posted a photo of JFK as a college freshman in 1935, wearing jacket, tie and collar pin. Meanwhile in 2016, America’s best and brightest continue the practice of wearing hooded sweatshirts on national television in the “Jeopardy!” college tournament. Well one Yale student has finally taken to protest, …
From John F. Kennedy’s one semester at Princeton in the fall of 1935. He would eventually graduate from Harvard. Head over here for a short write-up on an exhibit held at Princeton in 2011. — CC
Tokyo-based W. David Marx, author of the recent book “Ametora,” has just posted an English translation of an extensive 2013 interview with Yoshio Sadasue, founder of Kamakura Shirts, as part of his research for the book. Much of the interview centers around Sadasue’s years at VAN and the early days of Ivy in Japan. Sadasue …
His brand image draws largely on WASP iconography, and he himself, of course, is a Jew. But that didn’t stop Ralph Lauren from being a fashion-industry trailblazer in the early ’90s when he hired African-American model Tyson Beckford as the new face of Polo. Since then black models have been a commonplace is the brand’s …
When last I spoke to J. Press, I was told that the whole brand was being brought under one design department, and that department would be based in Tokyo. So what might the new J. Press Blue collection look like when it finally makes it to US stores and e-commerce? These images from J. Press’ …
Today J. Press sent out an email blast promoting its new spring collection. When I landed on the site, I saw that York Street was no longer there. Previously Press had operated two sites, one for York Street and one for the main collection. The site is now integrated, which makes a lot more sense. …