The archetypal preppy jerk has returned to take his place of privilege in the pop culture pantheon. Netflix has a new show out called “The Politician” which features twin brothers and a Southern California setting whose style is inspired by Slim Aarons, Wes Anderson, JFK, and ’80s Ralph Lauren ads. The brothers are played by …
Menswear writer Stuart Husband, whose credits include The Rake, has a new piece at FashionBeans.com called “How ’60s fashion still puts swagger into menswear.” The piece focuses on the UK and ’60s styles in general, but there is some mention of our cherished style here: The prime look, for [Michael] Caine and his working-class-made-good peers, …
As a follow-up to our last post, a circa 1950 video on Princeton’s crew team, here’s another vintage gem from the Princeton Campus Life YouTube channel: a 25-minute, professionally shot and scripted orientation film from 1962, dead center of the Ivy heyday. It’s all here: “Princeton” haircuts, stretched-out Shetland sweaters, white socks and no-break trousers, …
This is a 20-minute clip, so watch it over lunch if you’re the kind of schlub who eats lunch at his desk. And if you’re at home, pour yourself a drink and get comfortable. Love the towel worn as a scarf in the opening. Great chinos and sweaters in action at 2:28. Jackets and ties …
Legendary menswear historian G. Bruce Boyer offered this piece to Ivy Style ten years ago. Much has changed since then, most notably that Bill Thomas is no longer at his eponymous label, and presently works for Duck Head. * * * Khakis and jeans are the iconic American work pants, both having been around for …
Ivy Style reached its 11th anniversary on Monday, which means its time to inject some fresh blood into the site. A transfusion comes via Peter E. Lavelle, who recently became a friend and neighbor here in the lovely New York City neighborhood of Astoria, which is trad central — at least east of the East …
By now you should have noticed a new company in our sponsor tower. Dapper Woodworks was founded by Justin Trewitt and is surely set to corner the market on tie and pocket square racks made-t0-order. Thanks to Mr. Trewitt for coming aboard, and kudos for tapping a select niche, not to mention the skills to …
Think you’re smart? Then see if you can figure out the cryptic meaning of this vintage Chipp emblematic necktie. Pictured are four motifs. They are: A clock reading 3:55 An empty whisky bottle A woman with one breast exposed A toilet What does it mean? Hint: It’s about baseball. Give up? It’s really quite simple: Clock = …
You should have received your J. Press fall catalog by now, and if you haven’t, give them a call and ask for one. The photo shoot (outtakes of which are featured in this post), as well as the merchandise, represents the growing influence of executive Robert Squillaro, who began his career at Brooks Brothers in …
Today we revisit this post that originally ran in July of 2010 with the publication of “Take Ivy.” When powerHouse Books releases the first English-language edition of “Take Ivy” on August 31, eager readers will finally get a chance to see its enchantingly atmospheric photos as they were meant to be seen: within the hardbound …
With his wholesome looks and penchant for the Ivy style, Anthony Perkins was perfect to play the apparently good-natured but in fact deranged killer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” He also had a taste for our style.Here’s a quote about Perkins from Tab Hunter’s autobiography: As I toweled off, someone approached and formally introduced …
I’ve previously presented two articles on Brooks Brothers from the troubled Marks & Spencer era. This one, from four decades earlier, was featured in the September, 1950 issue of the Esquire-owned digest Coronet, and also reflects a time of corporate management change. In 1946 Brooks Brothers was bought by the Washington, DC department store known …
Esquire has a feature on the way we dress now that includes the fellow above, who’s combined trad elements with workwear and whose quote reads “Everybody forgives a well-worn navy blazer.” Click over here to see the way the other men dress. There’s even a guy outfitted in FE Castleberry‘s Wes Anderson look, proving that, …
When it comes to classic Americana, the Japanese are meticulous in their research and sticklers for details — at least most of the time. Nick Sullivan, Esquire‘s fashion director, lent me the latest addition to his style library: “The Ivy Pictorial Dictionary” by Toshiyuki Kurosu (who’s associated with the brand VAN, according to our man …
Back in the heyday there was only one white sock for the college man to wear with his Weejuns: wool ones by Adler. Though the ad above testifies to Adler’s pristine whiteness, it was actually much cooler to bleach them a sickly yellow color. I stumbled across the above image (which you can find on …
Rowing Blazers’ Fall/Winter 2019 lookbook features a campus setting and a vaguely “Take Ivy” feel. Check it out here.
The annual Harvard-Yale football game presents one of the best opportunities of the year to put together traditional preppy ensembles and turn out in force. My great-grandfather graduated from Yale in 1916, and I’m the proud owner of several sartorial artifacts from his time in New Haven, among them a pipe, a smoking jacket embroidered …
Most parents dream of their son getting accepted into an Ivy League school. On the other hand, the number of parents who hope their pride and joy goes on to become a cartoonist is probably close to zero. Whitney Darrow, Jr., the cartoonist we featured in yesterday’s post, had the ideal sensibilities to be a …
I’m sure you can think of a lot of things that make you just want to give up. Whitney Darrow, Jr. could certainly sympathize. He was a midcentury cartoonist whose work appeared in The New Yorker, among other places. These panels are from a 1966 collection, and many of them are strangely apropos to the …