EDITOR’S NOTE: On social media we discuss the difference between Ivy Style and dressing for affectation. My answer is always that Ivy Style comes with an inherent value system, and that if you represent that value system in whatever form it works for you, it is nearly impossible to be inauthentic. Mr. Heinz-Ulrich von Boffke …
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mr. Chevalier has posted a whole collection of these essays on the Facebook Group, as well as providing a lot of keen insight. He’s invaluable. – JB IVY STYLE AND PLEATED TROUSERS: WHY THE DISCORD? For at least as long as Ivy has been categorized as a style, it has been …
Zoë G. Burnett isn’t replacing anybody at this job, which is the first problem. Which also we can now count as solved. There is no better public-facing voice for Women’s Ivy than Zoë, and two days ago she agreed to join Ivy Style. Here’s how I knew she was right for the job – she …
Ok so I have not read the book. I am working off of the marketing materials, so this is not a review of the book per se. On the other hand it is not often one gets the double dip of quoting Elvis to make an intellectual point AND being asked for an encore. From …
The bow tie is Latin. People still read it when they come across it, but no one speaks it anymore. I am in and out of Manhattan twice a week, I live in Bedford, and my free time is spent in Rye and Greenwich and the last bow tie I saw other than my own …
The Duluth Trading Co. is not shy. The plumber’s crack image is almost as prevalent as their logo. In fact, I bet you know that image better than you know their logo. It’s not over the top but it is right on the brink. Naming the most functional backpack (it is, as we say on …
Editor’s Note: Jonathan Boorstein is a regular contributor who also has curated an image library of the most fantastic automobiles. He can be reached on the Facebook Group as well. “Christmastime is prime time for tartan plaids,” proclaims the latest catalog from The Vermont Country Store, which, like Yankee Magazine, is one of those minor, …
I hope you dressed for Thanksgiving. I did. I would show you a picture but none exist that do not include non-consenting guests/family members/teens. Lemme see, brown trousers with Jay Butler Bit Loafers (and no socks, it was over 40, my new personal rule), white OCBD, bow tie (pictured but not my picture), gold Brooks …
My Thanksgiving morning traditions would make an OCD sufferer jealous. I get up at 3:00 anyway and am booked til 4:30 with routine. On Thanksgiving that journey takes the other side of the fork in the turkey – I am responsible for the turkey so that goes in by 6:00 because no matter what the …
You want a sculptor making your shoes. Justin Jeffers is the founder of Jay Butler shoes. That’s the site, go there. It is a collection of fantastic surprises. Let me keep going. I spent some time on the phone, texting, emailing Justin. In one of our first calls, we discovered that we had corporate turnaround …
Context: I had the chance to speak to Mr. Robert Squillaro, who is the Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer of J. Press about this project, which is a collaboration between Todd Snyder (if you don’t know who Todd Snyder is, he is a VERY NYC designer, successful for sure, launched his own …
EDITOR’S NOTE: Once again the writing of my friend Zoë is accompanied by her great illustrations. Ivy women live for the coming of sweater weather. They’re warm, they’re practical, and we’ll wear each of them exactly twice a season to rotate the horde we conceal from friends and family. The uninitiated may ask, why so …
A stupid title for this post would be: If you aren’t dressed, you are the turkey. This is why we edit. I was going to do a post about why one should dress for Thanksgiving. And I was going to pepper it with pictures of people who are examples. And do you know, aside from …
In the comments, the Filson briefcase got a lot of exposure. I carried one for 10 years +. That’s good, but then again… I carried one so much that I added an ACK patch to it. ACK are the call letters for the Nantucket airport, which is incredibly bougie EXCEPT I’ve been going …
Editor’s Note: Jack Lee is a member of the FB group who posted this review yesterday. I will be posting other reviews as well as they come in, but his perspective is great. – JB   My 25th birthday is this week so I decided to treat myself with a trip to the local Brooks …
I went through Take Ivy a few times yesterday, first for reference and subsequently to make sure I was right. I counted zero bags, for men anyway. Stacks of books for sure, bike baskets, but no bags. This of course does not rule out bags being Ivy, they are, but it does put forward …
It is a privilege to work with great companies. I am purposely not pitching Macy’s here (although our numbers are getting there – but don’t worry, we won’t) – but I sat down with the Rhys Moore, President of St John’s Bay Rum for coffee and ivy talk, I pitched him the contest and …
I won’t tell you where I was. Well, ok, I will. I was at a church, sitting on a committee in a library, waiting for the meeting to start. I saved the mail from the church for that meeting, and so I was opening it at a conference table. I pulled the knife my daughter …
A good impression can be the start of a changed life. 100’s of charities in the US provide second hand clothes for people starting over who have job interviews but no clothes to wear to them. Let’s help. Every year thousands of people try to start their lives over. I am not going to waste …