This week US News & World Report released its annual ranking of the best colleges in America, and Princeton once again is back on top, right along with their — alas now dismantled — sartorial legacy.
In the last post, on Sewanee, a reader left a comment wondering if college students during the heyday were equally as sloppy as those of today, just with dressier clothes strewn about the floor.
As society hadn’t yet reached the point of pajamas for the classroom (not to mention airplane travel), I think the guys in the ’50s and ’60s were a tad more fastidious than the guys of today. As for Ivy wearers from the aristocratic pre-war years, let’s revisit that Princeton clotheshorse showing off his closet in a 1938 issue of LIFE magazine, which contributor Deirdre Clemente presented in her 2009 Ivy Style post “Leading Men: The Princetonians.”
Three cheers for white bucks with flannel and tweed. — CC
My father was a Tiger, and he once mentioned how few clothes he had as a young man. A sport coat or two, some shirts, slacks, and maybe a suit for good measure. I wonder if these Ivy Guys looked put together in all of these lovely photos because they didn’t have any option other than to dress up. Squeeze, can you provide any insight as to how much clothing the average student had at his disposal?
Average depended on Daddy’s resources. Borderline survival Ptown in 30s suit, blazer, pair of gray flannels, 4 OCBDs, black & orange rep tie and a flask of Four Roses.
I attended U. Of Wisconsin in early-mid 60’s, just before the hippie era. I still have my yearbooks. Dress was far more fastidious then, even in a non-Ivy campus. The Ivy look was the preferred one, especially in fraternities. where proper dress was required. McNeil And Moore was the best men’s shop on campus, and carried Southwick, Corbin and others. The brooks look reigned supreme. Again, the proof is in my yearbooks.
My father was a Tiger, and he once mentioned how few clothes he had as a young man. A sport coat or two, some shirts, slacks, and maybe a suit for good measure. I wonder if these Ivy Guys looked put together in all of these lovely photos because they didn’t have any option other than to dress up. Squeeze, can you provide any insight as to how much clothing the average student had at his disposal?
Average depended on Daddy’s resources. Borderline survival Ptown in 30s suit, blazer, pair of gray flannels, 4 OCBDs, black & orange rep tie and a flask of Four Roses.
If anyone is interested in the background of the resplendent looking model in the top right plate.
http://www.towntopics.com/jul1107/obits.html
This could lead to an interesting post. What is the ideal wardrobe? 1. The basics. 2. The ideal.
I attended U. Of Wisconsin in early-mid 60’s, just before the hippie era. I still have my yearbooks. Dress was far more fastidious then, even in a non-Ivy campus. The Ivy look was the preferred one, especially in fraternities. where proper dress was required. McNeil And Moore was the best men’s shop on campus, and carried Southwick, Corbin and others. The brooks look reigned supreme. Again, the proof is in my yearbooks.
wow squeeze, only four shirts? Did they re-wear shirts or were they just really good about laundry?