Brooks Brothers + Preppy Handbook Fan Club Giveaway

Brooks Brothers, America’s oldest retailer, is celebrating the milestone 125th anniversary of the iconic button-down collar shirt with a giveaway in collaboration with the Preppy Handbook Fan Club. To mark the occasion, Brooks Brothers is giving away Ten (10) $125 Brooks Brothers Gift Cards. To enter the giveaway: Like the giveaway post on Instagram Follow @brooksbrothers


The Perfect Gift for the Ivy Style Woman

By Matthew Longcore There is nothing quite like the beauty of a handcrafted, one of a kind item. My talented wife, an artist with a home based studio, has run her own business for the past five years. We live near the New England coast and spend a lot of time walking the beaches of


Style vs. Fashion

By James H. Grant In the early 1970s, I knew a priest who served as the Catholic chaplain at Emory University in Atlanta. We occasionally conversed over a beer at Jagger’s, a local pizza restaurant. Father Genesse taught me the Latin expression: De gustibus non est disputandum. There are several nuanced translations of the phrase,


Brooks Brothers Celebrates 125 Years of the Button-Down Collar Shirt

By Matthew Longcore Brooks Brothers, America’s oldest retailer, is celebrating the milestone 125th anniversary of the iconic button-down collar shirt – known today as the “Original Polo® Button-Down” – with a special campaign. The campaign features nine individuals including Lisa Birnbach, author of The Official Preppy Handbook. In 1900, Brooks Brothers changed the course of


George Washington and the Gentlemanly Ideal

By Matthew Longcore He is the Father of His Country, the American Cincinnatus, the American Fabius, the Sage of Mount Vernon. George Washington – commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and first President of the United States – was born on this day nearly three centuries ago – on February 22,


Miles, Chet, Ralph & Charlie: An oral history of The Andover Shop

Interview with Constantine Valhouli, author of Miles, Chet, Ralph & Charlie: An oral history of The Andover Shop Miles, Chet, Ralph & Charlie: An oral history of The Andover Shop chronicles how The Andover Shop, an iconic clothier in in Harvard Square, became an unexpected literary and jazz salon in the 1950s. At its center stood


From Brooks Brothers to Ralph Lauren

By Dan Covell Devotees of this space might recall pieces from last year written by my brother and me about the power of the Brooks Brothers brand in the Ivy Style universe. I was reminded of this again as I continued my research into Ivy League football souvenir programs at a recent revisit to the


Pleasant Encounter: The Tom Davis Interview

Note: Back by popular demand, the Tom Davis interview with Christian Chensvold was first published on March 25, 2019. To see the original post with comments PLEASE CLICK HERE.   When I first arrived in New York, I was told about an old guard legend named Tom Davis, who had been running the custom shirt program at Brooks



Enclothed Cognition: The Art and Science of Being Well Dressed

By Matthew Longcore Look smart, feel smart, be smart…the superpowers of dressing well. It’s empirically true that clothes really do make the man or woman. The scientific evidence of this is something called enclothed cognition which was first revealed in the July 2012 issue of The Journal of Experimental Psychology by Hajo Adam and Adam


Princeton and Ivy Style

By Matthew Longcore In an article for Princeton Magazine titled Princeton’s Fondly Remembered Establishments (Winter 2024), Anne Levin recollects about “Landau, the ‘Ivy Style’ woolen shop that closed in 2021 after 66 years on Nassau Street.” The article also mentions “The English Shop, The Prep Shop, and Langrock on Nassau Street sold preppy men’s clothing


The Darien Sport Shop: An Institution Since 1946

By Matthew Longcore In an article titled The Way of the WASP: The Darien Sport Shop, Darien, Connecticut, Muffy Aldrich of Salt Water New England describes the Darien Sport Shop as follows: “The suits and more formal items were in one area, with skis and lacrosse sticks in another, and a lot of pink and


Etiquette and Networking Workshop at Yale University

By Matthew Longcore Last week, Equipage Etiquette had the privilege of teaching an etiquette and networking workshop to the lightweight crew team at Yale University. We gathered in the stunning Bass Library, a beautifully designed underground space. The group consisted mainly of first- and second-year students, many of whom are currently navigating the competitive process


Caswell-Massey: The Legacy of a Heritage Brand

By Matthew Longcore Steeped in history, the seaside New England city of Newport, Rhode Island was founded in 1639 and is well-known for its vast array of Colonial and Gilded Age architecture. The White Horse Tavern, built in 1652, is one of the oldest taverns in the United States. The Redwood Library and Athenaeum, founded


Muffy Aldrich on the Preppiest New England Towns

By Matthew Longcore In her latest article, Muffy Aldrich from Salt Water New England lists New England’s Preppiest Towns, Villages, and Enclaves. I grew up in Westport, Connecticut and my grandparents lived on Prospect Road in the Green’s Farms section of town, a place on Muffy’s list. You may also know this area as the


The Collegiate Collection from Ebbetts Vintage

The Big Three Yale University 1923 Shawl Collar Sweater The Yale Football team has won 27 National Championships since they began competing in 1872.  Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football” was a Yale alumnus and coach.  Camp attended Hopkins School and graduated from Yale College in 1880. At Yale he was a member of


Ralph Lauren receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

Today, Ralph Lauren received the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor. As the first fashion designer to receive the honor, Mr. Lauren received this award recognizing his contributions to American style, culture, and society for more than six decades. The Official Preppy Handbook Fan Club owes everything to Ralph Lauren. I collected Polo


The Shawl Collar Cardigan – An Ivy Classic

By Matthew Longcore The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel. While no film adaptation can ever live up to the writing quality of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and the 2013 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio each have great clothes. Ralph Lauren was the fashion consultant for the 1974 film and Brooks Brothers


Merry Christmas from Ivy Style

Merry Christmas from Ivy Style editor Matthew Longcore J. Press Brown/Olive Herringbone Sport Coat Polo Ralph Lauren Blue Oxford Cloth Button Down Shirt Brooks Brothers Navy-Red Silk Knit Striped Tie Archer Rust Corduroy Pants G.H. Bass Navy Pasadena Suede Bucks