Nothing gets past you guys. This time “DCG” alerted us to a report in MR Magazine from three weeks ago, in which J. Press announces that the Ovadia brothers have been relieved of their duties designing for spinoff collection York Street.
Ironically the line is not being killed but instead expanded internationally, beginning with Japan.
Ariel and Shimon Ovadia had served as creative directors of the capsule collection since its launch in 2012.
In other York Street news, this time the street in New Haven, J.Press this week announced the opening of its new location at 260 College Street, which is just one door down from the storied Owl Shop, one of the last great campus tobacconists.
Google pulls up this street view when the new address is entered:
J. Press was forced to vacate its longtime home at 262 York Street building when the building was slated for demolition. — ZD & CC
Yesterday a deal between Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A Bank was reached. No doubt JAB sealed it with a “buy one company, get three free!” kind of deal.
There was a time when Jos. A Bank, which was often called a poor-man’s Brooks Brothers, sold American-made traditional staples such as dark herringbone suits, flannel blazers, and Harris Tweed jackets.
Assistant editor Zach DeLuca, who runs Newton Street Vintage, has had plenty of these specimens pass through his hands. Here are some standouts. — CC & ZD (Continue)
Longtime comment-leaver “Old School” is always sending us tidbits of info. His latest was in regards to the film “Kill Your Darlings,” which centers around the early days of the Beat Generation at Columbia University in 1944.
We thanked Old School and told him the material was intriguing, though we feared the homoerotic theme might freak out our more fuddy-duddy readers. Old School replied:
You’re probably right. Some readers of Ivy Style are even freaked out by bit loafers.
That wisecrack was enough to inspire us to go forth. So on to “Kill Your Darlings,” which stars a grown up Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter.
The Beat Generation has been part of the film zeitgeist for a while now. In “Howl” (2010), James Franco starred as Allen Ginsberg during the obscenity trials of the 1950s. In 2012, Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” was adapted to film. The trailer for “Kill Your Darlings” casts the film as a bohemian, collegiate version of a Tom Ripley-style noir, exploring themes of obsession, love-triangles, and murder. There is also plenty of vintage eye candy in the form of tweed, knitwear and saddle shoes.
As the scion of a wealthy family, Lucian Carr (Dane DeHaan) looks as slick as a model in an ’80s Ralph Lauren shoot. With his well-coiffed blonde hair, saddle shoes, ascots and popped collars, he is a supremely self-confident counterpart to Daniel Radcliffe’s self-conscious, buttoned-down Ginsberg. Jack Kerouac (Ben Huston), a merchant mariner during this period, sports a nautical workwear look that is so de rigueur it barely registers as costume.
“Kill Your Darlings” saw a limited theatrical run in 2013, but will be released on DVD later this month. — ZD & CC (Continue)
Yesterday Brooks sent out an email blast of its spring catalog. Inside its pages I spied something that echoes our most recent post on GQ’s Nantucket photo shoot.
The common link is white jeans (and worn with sportcoats, no less). (Continue)
What rhymes with Nantucket?
Photobucket, of course.
The March issue of GQ gets us ready for spring with a photo shoot shot on Nantucket entitled “The New New England Thing.” The photo above is the choicest, and here are highlights from the copy:
We’ve seen a lot of crazy, tweaked-out preppy style over the past few years. But now the all-American look is going back to where it all began: subtler colors, sensible combinations, and go-to patterns like madras plaid.
And:
You may have noticed that a lot of zealously stylin’ men out there have fetishized the Waspy look so hard that they’ve transformed it in to a character, even a caricature. It’s like, did you have to wear the raspberry pants, the polka-dot bow tie, and the skull slippers? If that sounds like you, it’s time to dial it back. That doesn’t mean forsaking tried-and-true New England garb… but it does mean wearing madras with something that’ll quiet it down. The goal here is to nod to New England, not look like a total WASP wannabe.
Sounds like GQ is declaring the end of GTH-obsessed neo-prep, which we mused on back in November with contributing writer Daniel Greenwood’s piece”The Uncertain Future of Neo-Prep.”
As for preppy’s past, yesterday A Suitable Wardrobe ran a lengthy essay on prep under the pity title “On Prep.” Check it out here. — CC
As yet another storm hits the East Coast, the Ivy Style staff — Chens, Zach, Chief Sharp and King Richard The Forty-Fourth — share the favorite overcoats that have been getting such a workout this winter.
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When it comes to fabrics, The Ivy League Look conjures up thoughts of tweed, flannel and oxford cloth for hearty basics, while for accents one might think of wool challis for neckties or Irish linen for pocket squares.
But any comprehensive list including such obscurities as “crash linen” would have to include velvet, which has played a small role in the history of the look. I don’t mean smoking jackets or crested slippers, but of the little strip of fabric that sits atop the collar of an overcoat.
Since moving to New York, I’ve weathered the winters in a navy duffel coat and camel polo coat. This year I added a third, a charcoal coat with three-button front, hacking and ticket pockets, and black velvet collar. Not quite a Chesterfield, nor Crombie or covert coat, but something similar, the coat is not too far from the one pictured above in this 1955 ad from Cornell Daily Sun. (Continue)
