Earlier this year I had a buttondown shirt made for me at a Sid Mashburn trunk show in Boston. Pleased with its quality, I reached out to the Mashburn team for details about their shirt offerings, both MTO and ready-to-wear. I received the answers I was looking for (it’s an unfused collar with 3¼” points), but …
I found this post sitting on Ivy Style’s server, never published. The only note is that it dates from a 1933 issue of Apparel Arts. * * * The word “collegiate,” now seldom used in speaking of college men, is altogether foreign to its famous meaning of some eight years ago, when the raccoon coat, …
Sperry is ready for fall with a new collection hearkening back to those Ivy Varsity days. I like the pictures and the vibes even if I don’t love this collection. Sperry for life, though! I’m still getting nice mileage from one of their summer boat shoes. Images, logos and mascots are memorable and a useful …
From LIFE Magazine‘s 1964 story on Yale freshman Tim Thompson, which Ivy-Style covered here. Thompson, clad in black Chuck Taylors, reading Camus’ “The Stranger” — in French (this is Yale). Note neckties draped over lamp behind him: Thompson with back to camera, showing third collar button: Bow tie with club collar: Pinned club collar with …
Immediately following our 2,000th post, Ivy Style reached another milestone: reader comment number 50,000. It was made by a regular — “Old School Tie” — and as a thank-you for his longtime participation, J. Press has kindly offered to present him with a flap-pocket OCBD. There’s an enormous number of options when it comes to …
This is part one of a two-part piece on collegiate style in the South during the heyday. It is recounted to us by contributor James H. Grant. * * * The distinction between the mode of dress known as Ivy League and the Southern Collegiate Style – if one actually exists – is somewhat murky. …
Eleven years ago, in the middle of August 2008, I had just published the “Miles Davis goes to The Andover Shop” piece for Ralph Lauren Magazine, and was so fascinated by this little-known anecdote of Americana that I was working hard at launching a daunting new web project called Ivy-Style.com. From Los Angeles, of all …
Ivy style has had something of a moment lately, and no Ivy moment could be complete without yet another online brand vying to recreate the OCBDs of old. On July 28th a new venture calling itself Wythe New York launched a Kickstarter campaign titled “The ‘Perfect’ Oxford Shirt,” hoping to raise $10,000 by August 25th. By …
Given all the preppy ’80s talk lately, we revisit this 2010 interview with Lisa Birnbach, which was done about six months before the release of True Prep. The interview was subsequently used as part of the book’s press kit. — CC * * * IS: How did the new book come about? LB: It came …
I was going to say that Americans today are obsessed with authenticity. It’s probably more accurate to say “people” in place of “Americans,” our global network of friends growing so wide, and so homogenous along the way, that the cultural differences that separate our nation from the broader global economy seem ever smaller. For all …
Our run of ’80s-themed posts continues thanks to the New York Times, which ran an essay on the OPH yesterday. Writer James Poniewozik links the book to a brief moment of transition in American history out of the dark ’70s and into the era of Reagan, “Dynasty,” Alex P. Keaton and popped polo collars. Writes …
On Saturday we took a look at a Sperry ad from 1985, and now here we are a couple days later and still preoccupied with Sperry — and 1985. Don’t get what I’m referring to? Here you go. Upon seeing Saturday’s post, contributor BC sent in this shot of him in ’85 wearing a Sperry …
Today we revisit this post from 2010 on the rise and fall of WASPdom. * * * Very belatedly I’m finally getting around to a post on Tad Friend’s “Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of WASP Splendor,” which was released last year. Like the tribe of WASPs itself, Friend and his …
According to Esquire, there’s a boat shoe trend going on. Of course, they’re not your father’s boat shoes. That’s probably because not much that was once your father’s is your father’s anymore. From Esky: Though a staid classic of maritime casual wear, and a favorite among style icons like JFK and Paul Newman, they have, …
Today we revisit this 2010 post by Tokyo-based W. David Marx, who went on to write the book “Ametora.” * * * Compared to Western fashion magazines, Japanese magazines often get very specific about how to achieve a certain look. Editors and stylists do not just play with themes, as with most fashion editorial, but …
We’ve got a handful of news items to get through. Where to start? How about with the 30th anniversary of “Dead Poets Society.” The Guardian has a tribute, writing: Like Weir’s other film based in and around an exclusive private school, the more enigmatic Picnic at Hanging Rock, education is viewed as a pivotal but …
Nomenclature in Tradsville is a tricky thing, and depends largely on your point of view. Those who like hair-splitting will tell you that a short-sleeved gingham shirt is Trad but not Preppy. Likewise, bit loafers are WASPy but not Ivy. Fair points to an extent, though it gets tedious pretty fast, and bloggers and forum posters …
This distinguished gentleman was discovered and shared on our Facebook page, where he was much admired save for the few members who work in law, accounting, or other corporate environments, and resent men who have beards, and say that a gentleman must be clean-shaven. This, as Ibsen would put it, is the noble lie they …
AldenPyle of Andy’s Trad Forum, one of the most diligent ransackers of the LIFE archives, recently dug up some photos of the 1936 National Amateur Golf Championship at the Garden City Golf Club. The winner was John W. Fischer, who took the cup not only for his fine form on the fairway, but for being …