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 …
Here is my friend Heedan Chung on Ivy: “To me, Ivy means honoring continuity, sharing remembrance of the past, and facing an ever changing life with quiet authenticity. I don’t know of any other way to live. It transcends ancestral origin, race, ethnicity. But as far as the styling that is associated with Ivy, …
A few notes, make of them what you will. First, a word about the dialogue in the profile of Evan and about editing comments in general. I made a note in a comment on that profile, because the comment was stupid. Really stupid. There is a way to constructively criticize, and that lifts us all …
EDITOR’S NOTE: On the Facebook Group we are exclusively clothes oriented, but we also find the history fascinating. If you don’t know about WaterhollowTweed, it is a very small, eclectic online shop that offers a few Ivy Grail finds a week at very reasonable prices. The purveyor, James Taylor (every time he comments on …
If you are a member of the Facebook Group (and if you are not, you should be) then you know Evan Everhart. If you have posted, you definitely know Evan. There are various iterations. The definitive Ivy Expert (we write each other a lot, and I tell him all the time he has forgotten more …
The Wall Street Journal has piled on and it is safe to say now that we can stop posting articles about the comeback of “formal style” and just be grateful that the pendulum swung our way. Here’s their article, if you care to read it. Articles by yours truly and others to the contrary, …
Here’s the article in the October issue of The Rake. We have gone from Chensvold’s literary death sentence of the necktie to Boyer’s plea for clemency to a user’s manual. What are we to make of this? I reviewed Christian Chensvold’s book here, and in reflecting now on that review I realize that the …
In Hyde Park, NY, of all places, on the banks of the Hudson River, one of the most prestigious private universities in the country offers up one of the most aggressive and well-regarded educations available, the offspring of which is masters of their majors. Celebrity masters and non-celebrity masters alike, industry seeks graduates of this …
When I got the gig, I set out to meet the existing advertisers. Had coffee with some, went to the offices of others, the stores of even others. Started with a few emails, then phone calls, you know the drill. Ivy has the potential to be a stereotype. The boss’s son taking over the company …
I like pens and I go into town (that is what you call it when you take the train to Manhattan from where I am) about twice a week. There is a non-Staples pen store a few blocks outside Grand Central, I had a few dollars in my pocket from the last Evening With James …
I have worn a Columbia ballcap to Columbia before with predictable results. I have now worn Duck Head khakis to a cigar room on Madison Avenue, and gotten unpredictable results. If you are from parts south you might be more familiar with Duck Head. The company has everything we love here, including starting as a …
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please, for the love of god. This is a piece about Ivy dressed news anchors, or the lack thereof. I get you don’t like one side or the other. We are talking clothes here. Get it? – JB Walter Cronkite is still America’s most influential news anchor according to the polling done by …
Well well well. It does seem that our sails are catching some wind, yes? The flurry of Prep Is Coming Back (damn with the Prep thing but we can get to that too) articles that line up with our jam is gratifying. I could review one a day, but this one is particularly good and …
EDITOR’S NOTE: Nathaniel Means was kind enough to offer up this review of Alan Flusser’s book on Ralph Lauren. It’s a thought and reaction-provoking review, and if you haven’t read through the book, you should. I revisited the book itself in preparation for this article, and here is what I was left with. First, it …
Editor’s Note: ALL of the illustrations in this article were done by the author, ZG Burnett. – JB By and large, the Ivy closet was the first gender-neutral safe space. Since the founding of the Seven Sisters, students were snapping up their brothers’ and boyfriends’ clothes to wear in the secluded comfort of the quad. …