Red Sneakers Are Ivy

Conformity to such rules and social norms is driven by a desire to gain social acceptance and status (see Cialdini and Goldstein 2004) and avoid negative sanctions such as social disapproval, ridicule, and exclusion (Kruglanski and Webster 1991; Levine 1989; Miller and Anderson 1979; Schachter 1951). In the present research, we propose that under certain


Ivy Notes S2 E1

The Amazing Tom turned me on to this article at Forbes. It is on what to wear to an interview, which came up in the comments on another post the other day.   One of the things that drives me crazy is when my local news station says to dress warmly on cold days and to


How Quality Happens – The Lawrence Trouser Standard

When last we talked about the Lawrence Trouser company, we were talking about the human side – a company of artisan sewers who came to this country with a bird’s eye appreciation of the opportunity and steel determination to look back at country they left from the vantage point of becoming the best at what




The Future Of The Past

I have been spending some time with J. Crew lately, following the new Creative Director Brendon Babenzian, who is taking his turn at reviving a brand with updated Ivy.   I note that the companies who never stepped off Ivy in the first place also never needed to revive anything with updated anything.  Still, Babenzian seems


Woody Springsteen

  James sent me this.  It is Springsteen.  It is not Woody Allen.  You can kinda see his earring, that’ll be our differentiator.  The Boss wears Ivy with an earring.


The WOCBD Starter Kit

(While I marvel at some people’s need to avoid civility whilst expressing a different opinion, let’s try the paywall links, marked as such, and if it works then great – many thanks to those who were able to be civil during this process.  One of the things that I wanted to do with this site


Ivy Notes S1 Last One Of The Season For Real This Time

Sorry, but everyone has been sending in such good stuff, and I don’t want it to get stale. First, a word about linking.   I think the smartest policy is this, but as with Ad Men, I could be wrong.  We don’t link to paywalls because if I were the reader and I followed a link


An Example Of How To Do… Just About Everything.

If you want Ivy bona fides, this is all you need to know.  I walked into the sales offices of St John Bay Rum Company in Ridgefield CT a few minutes early, and asked Rhys Moore for a picture.   He swung around and grabbed a tie, and proceeded to tie it PERFECTLY while holding


Kazuo Hozumi’s Illustrated Ivy… In English

You can learn all about Mr. Hozumi’s extensive career illustrating the elements of Ivy Style here.  In September Mr. Hozumi’s Illustrated Ivy will be released.  From the publisher – Since the 1960s, Kazuo Hozumi has documented the minutiae of Ivy League-style clothing. His  cheerful characters are shown wearing button down shirts, buckle-back chinos, natural shoulder 


Ivy Notes, S1 – Last One Of The Year UPDATED

Yes, there has been a slight downtick in August.  Not of readership, oddly enough, but of verbiage.  I was taking a minute.  But one more week, then we go back to at least four posts a week.  With actual words.  More than 78 of them. Mitchell sent me a few good things to take a


If A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings In The Tie Department

As per Marc Chevalier, the WOCBD was a close call.     Speaking of Brooks, I went to the website just to see what is cooking for the fall.  This young man was at least wearing a bow tie on the home page, and I wanted to celebrate the win.  Things of note – the


Postum Partem

The Ivy League has been used to sell a lot of things, not just clothes.  Old School was kind enough to send me this:     Postum is interesting stuff.  Or was, you don’t see it around anymore.  It is roasted wheat bran and molasses, and was used as a coffee alternative.  It may have


Please join me in welcoming…

I am pleased to announce that Mountain & Sackett have joined the site as advertisers.  Please click on their logo and start shopping.  You can read about them here, as well.  American made, highest quality.  



Pivot Questions For Ivy (It’s not what you think)

Editor’s Note:  The featured image is James Lipton with Bradley Cooper, who is decidedly Ivy in Wedding Crashers and rowed for Georgetown.  Which I know is not an Ivy school.  But I still think West Point should be added to the Ivy League.     I did not know that James Lipton worked for a


Seersucker Goes to War by CAPT Scott Rye, USN (Ret.)

Editor’s Note:  Navy veteran Scott Rye is the author of two non-fiction books, Of Men and Ships: The Best Sea Tales, and Men & Ships of the Civil War.       While doing some research for another project, I came across the fascinating story of Reginald Spear, a young member of the OSS in


How Did We Miss This One?

On a site featuring Ivy Style, the 1994 movie Quiz Show has received one line of mention.   Yet it stands amongst the great Ivy movies of all time. There is a piece on here about Charles Van Doren, which is good.  He had Ivy bona fides.  Columbia.  His father, Mark Van Doren, was even-more-Ivy,