Yesterday I had a long discussion with a writer from Put This On about the waxing and waning of Ivy and prep over the decades. One of the topics was how watered-down the term “preppy” has become in the mainstream media. Emphasis on water. Yesterday Bloomberg.com put up a video segment on what it called …
Take a five minute break and listen to some music. Actually, you’ll need more like 15. Last night ABC’s “World News Tonight” reported on a new documentary on the plight of music in Pakistan. An important topic to be sure, but what does that have to do with us here? The story recounts a 1962 …
Is Rand Paul the coolest/squarest/hip-to-be-squarest politician so far in the 2016 presidential race? While he’s yet to be spotted in JFK’s Nantucket reds, or GHWB’s striped watchbands and J. Press suits, Rand’s wardrobe has the tradly touches of buttondown collars, conventional striped ties, and gold-buttoned navy blazers. That’s pretty unusual for a pol in the …
Who was that in yesterday’s pic of Muhammad Ali? None other than the great singer Sam Cooke, who died of a gunshot wound in 1964 at the age of 33. He’s pictured above in tab collar and emblematic tie, which appears to depict a griffin or lion rampant. The grass background even suggests a campus …
Deep Google searches on the phrase “Take Ivy” often return an image of a mysterious green VHS cassette with art from illustrator Kazuo Hozumi — evoking fantasties that the mythic 1965 film was once available as a commercial release. Six months ago, a former VAN Jacket employee handed me this very videotape after cleaning out …
When one door closes, the saying goes, another one opens. Or when one TV show ends, another begins. In our case, farewell “Mad Men” and welcome to earth “The Astonaut Wives Club.” ABC is currently advertising the series, which is set during the ’60s Space Race; it will debut in June.
This morning Ivy Style awoke to a tweet from Warren Bingham giving us a head’s up about a great article in the latest issue of Charlotte Magazine. Entitled “Penny Loafers And Alligator Belts” and written by Cole Waddell, it recounts his time in the early ’60s working in the university department at men’s store Tate-Brown. …
Launched Sunday, Lilly Pulitzer for Target has already come and gone —quite quickly, as a matter of fact. It was a masterful act of marketing for Lilly’s parent company, Oxford Industries, whose stock leapt 7 percent. Target itself comes away with slightly less to brag about, with thousands of irate customers walking away with empty …
Apologies for being in the dark yesterday as we got bit by another bug. We’re now in the process of migrating to a new hosting company with better protection against these tedious maladies. In the meantime, we welcome everyone back with a special treat from Toronto-based style writer and broadcaster Pedro Mendes, who recently interviewed …
After that epic winter, I hope I never see tweed again. If you haven’t brushed your old jackets and put them away yet, this weekend might be the time. Just don’t forget to get outside. — CC
This spring Sebago will unveil a new premium collection called Crest. Here’s what the company has to say in a press release: This collection for men reinvents Sebago’s iconic styles with new polished details and rich materials. The handmade collection features beautiful leather hide selections and supple sheepskin underfoot for incredible comfort. Crest represents the …
Here’s the book that was mentioned in the comments thread on the Sweet Briar post. “The Preppy And The Trout” by Richard Reichardt was published (self-published?) in 2011. The synopsis reads: Set in the glamorous resort town of Sun Valley/Ketchum, Idaho, the story revolves around a young, insecure, former lacrosse star who owns a fly-fishing …
In a recent post on UVA, discussion in the comment thread turned to the imminent closing of Sweet Briar College. Assistant editor Chris Sharp offers the following musings. * * * The pink and green world comprised of both alumni and the larger preppy diaspora was recently rocked by the news that Sweet Briar College …
The Masters golf tournament gets underway tomorrow, and so in the interest of timeliness we present the above photo to fuel historic conjecture. The photo is of Ernest Jones, one of the most famous early golf instructors and author of the classic tome “Swing The Clubhead.” Jones was an Englishman who lost a leg in …
April 6 is National Tartan Day. In its honor, Richard Press shares some thoughts. For more Tartan Day coverage, visit our fraternal site MasculineInteriors.com. * * * The Heyday of Ivy, the period after World War II until the civil disorder of the late 60s, regarded costume with contempt, at least at J.Press. Understatement was …
Following our April Fool’s Day diversion, we return to the topic of UVA with this wonderful find by assistant editor Christopher Sharp. Pictured are caricatures by Carlton Abbott entitled “Typical UVA Students,” which appeared in a 1962 issue of University of Virginia Magazine. Pictured above is The Ghoul, whose description reads: Amusements: Bicycling, Chess, Newcomb …
The joke is these are no joke. Note descent from campus lover to campus affair to campus doll to campus tramp. I wonder if the consumer of these had ever been to college. — CC
As a follow-up to our post on Country Club Prep, which was founded by two men who met at the University of Virginia School of Law, we’ll take a look at UVA during the heyday, a subject we haven’t looked at since last Thanksgiving. Ed Roseberry was a local photographer who chronicled life around Charlottesville, …
The PITA tree — that’s preppy-Ivy-trad-Americana (haven’t used that in a while) — is a century old. Its roots are deep, and now matter how hard the fickle winds of fashion blow, the tree stands strong. Without belaboring the metaphor, the PITA tree’s branches bend and twist with each new generation, and future historians of …