Happy Thanksgiving

Although the tie above is from Chipp, this year I’d like to state how thankful I am for Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop. Notoriously reticent and press shy, if Charlie hadn’t agreed to talk to me about dressing Miles Davis some five and a half years ago, and made it all sound so cool


Trad Eye For The Frat Guy

Recently an email sent by an Emory University student to his fraternity brothers telling them they were badly dressed made national news. Well it’s about time someone took them to task.


The Shape Of Things To Come

There are multiple meanings in the headline above. For starters, there’s the coming winter weather, which will require coats like the one pictured above, which is coming to a retailer near you. It’s a toggle coat in rugby stripes and is either brilliant or monstrous, depending on whether or not you take your whisky straight.


Stanley Blacker, Mr. Sport Coats

As our exploration of “cool Ivy” continues, assistant editor Chris Sharp examines this Stanley Blacker advertisement, which is held in special reverence in the jazzier corners of Tradsville. * * * This Stanley Blacker advertisement is from 1965 and features an American blazer being offered at a British store. When it appeared on the Film


Is Ivy Cool?

Answer: only as cool as the guy wearing it. Cigarettes and sunglasses help. Here’s a sampling of images we’ve run over the past five years. — CC


Unseen And Undarted: New Book On King Of Cool Steve McQueen

© Photograph Judith Jamison/Barry Feinstein Photography, Inc. A new book shows that Steve McQueen could wear an undarted sack jacket and more than live up to his title as king of cool. Based on candids and stills from the movie “Bullitt” taken by friend Barry Feinstein, “Unseen McQueen” is due out next week from Reel


JFK On PBS

 Tonight at 9 PM is the premiere of a new JFK documentary on PBS. Here’s the description: Forever enshrined in myth by an assassin’s bullet, Kennedy’s presidency long defied objective appraisal. Recent assessments have revealed an administration long on promise and vigor, and somewhat lacking in tangible accomplishment. His proposals for a tax cut and


GQ’s Style Treason: Buttondown “Not A Dress Shirt”

In last month’s issue of GQ, the magazine managed to twice make an assertion that puzzled us here in Tradsville: namely, that a buttondown-collared shirt is not a dress shirt. The first instance occurs in question-and-answer format in Glenn O’Brien’s “Style Guy” column: Most of my dress shirts are buttondown- collar oxfords, but I recently


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Maine Street Ivy: Bass Returns To Pine Tree State

Bass has returned to the state of Maine — indirectly, at least. Though it no longer operates a factory there, it has contracted with Rancourt & Co. to produce a new limited-edition “Made In Maine” shoe called the Fenmore Weejun. The beefroll-styled shoe, which is priced at $275, comes in four colors. Tan and loden


Breaking: Allen Edmonds To Be Acquired By Private Equity Firm

Allen Edmonds has just contacted Ivy-Style.com with the news that it is being acquired by a private equity firm, with the announcement set to hit the newswire shortly. Those who’ve had their hearts broken at the acquisition of quintessential American brands by foreign companies will be pleased to hear that the new owners are American,


The Decline And Fall Of The American Inseam

Without preppy style — not to mention other WASP values — to act as a guiding beacon over mainstream American culture, bad things happen. People are chronically rude and selfish. They don’t exercise. They’re suckers for false, gaudy dreck. They become obsessed with celebrities and long to become one on reality TV. And their pants



New Name For A New Era

Starting tomorrow there will be a major change around here. Your browser will redirect you from Ivy-Style.com to our new home at Ivy-Aesthetic.com. After ridiculing the term for years, I’ve finally decided to embrace it. I believe the extra syllables of “aesthetic” will give this website a more contemporary identity, as well as confer upon


The Swelled Edge, A Quarter-Inch Of Distinction

Ivy-style tweed sports jackets and suits are often distinguished by detailed quarter-inch stitching from the edge of the lapels down the front of the jacket. This distinctive feature is usually echoed by lapped seams that run across the shoulder, down the back seam, and around the pocket flaps. But how did it get there? Everyone


Critics Have Beef With Brooks Steakhouse Plan

A couple years ago, when a guy at Brooks first mentioned they were considering a restaurant next door to the Madison Avenue Flagship, I thought it was a great idea. I still do. I mean, assuming there’s a bar, won’t it be the ultimate place to have a drink among fellow trads? And for guys


Golden Years: The Tables Down At Mory’s

Last week I spoke at “the dear old Temple Bar we love so well.” Mory’s, founded in 1863, moved from “the place where Louis dwelled” of “Whiffenpoof Song” fame to its currently shabby chic colonial quarters on York Street in 1912. Originally a private club, townies were never allowed on the premises unless they were


Room For Squares: Kamakura’s Handkerchiefs & Neckties

We’ll conclude the recent batch of Kamakura-versus-Brooks discussion (aka the “buttondown showdown”) with a couple of photos snapped yesterday in the Madison Avenue store. The shop may be small, but it still has room for some newly arrived pocket squares and wool neckties, in addition to all the shirts.


That Damned Brooks Brothers Shirt

Recently the comments section has been lively with discussion about Brooks Brothers shirts. Obsessing over them is practically an institution; as early as the mid-’60s George Frazier was writing, “What the hell’s happening to the roll on Brooks Brothers buttondowns?” There’s a reason men get so worked up about them: they have strong attachments to


This Day In 1959

…. the Guggenheim Museum opened. One year later William Claxton took the above photo of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. A previous Ivy Style tribute to Coltrane (and the Claxton photo shoot) is here, while a post on striped sportcoats is here. As for posts on buttondown-collared shirts, Mr. Erik J. has weighed in on the