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 …
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Ivy is a fashion born of a mindset manifested in a lifestyle. There are values attached: dignity, the value and power of thought, ethics, hard work, aesthetics, appreciation of all things classic, and the dogged pursuit of excellence. While Ivy evolves (I haven’t worn socks since Easter) the values don’t. If you are a …
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In the arts and culture, generally things are either cool or beautiful. Marcello Mastroianni in “La Dolce Vita” is cool, while beauty is what happens between 1:18 and 2:59 in the third movement of Brahms’ Piano Trio in C Minor. “Cool” didn’t exist before midcentury, while since then the quaint notion that art should be …
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There are more than one kind of whisky, but then there isn’t. Scotch Whisky is Whisky. There is Irish Whiskey if one cannot get one’s hands on Scotch Whisky. Scotch Whisky is made, or given to us by the Gods, I dunno, from malted barley. Irish Whiskey is a blend, made from malted and unmalted …
Editor’s Note: Old School sent me a collection of essays from old Land’s End catalogs… and they are fantastic. We’ll feature some of them – there’s an essay on ironing your own shirt (the male author says, “You may call me a pantywaist but…”) (I have to tell you, I had no idea pantywaist was …
Book reviews are so predictable. They start in one of two ways – either with the author’s take on the subject and then a segue into the book (if you want my take on the subject read WASPS by John Burton – KIDDING there is no book like that) or with a quote from the …
I promise cigars. But here is a close up of the guy to the left of JFK. This photo is credited as being at Hyannis. Ok, I will get back to the central thesis. But no promises that we don’t circle back. A number of events coalesced. First, I have a huge day on Monday …
Recently, JB posted an Ivy Style Playlist on Spotify, and there was a discussion in the Ivy Style community about music tangentially related to the Ivy League. Be it that the artist attended an Ivy, dressed Ivy, or had some sort of connection to Ivy. If we’re judging by those standards, Vampire Weekend is gold-caliber. …
An ill-mannered impeccably Ivy-dressed person is… … … an ill-mannered person. I shouldn’t have to sell you on the idea of wearing Ivy rather than Ivy wearing you, and that the difference between Ivy as cosplay and Ivy as wardrobe isn’t the Ivy, it’s the person wearing it, right? I am a product of …
The problem with picking a strong lead image for an article is that since a picture is worth a thousand words one has to start in the middle of the piece to avoid repeating one’s self. Since not everybody is a visual learner, here: the death of the necktie has been predicted almost as …
My favorite Rodney Dangerfield joke has nothing to do with the rules about madras and white bucks and Labor Day, which the rest of this article will be full of. Here’s the joke. “I asked my wife, Honey, how come you never make any noise when you have an orgasm? And she says, how would …
I have received a lot of inquiries about the J Press catalog I reviewed and when to expect it in the mail. It went out at the end of last week. But please make sure you are signed up by going here: The J Press Website where a pop up happens and you can sign …
I have always been a fan of Chukka boots. The desert boot’s close cousin, Chukka boots are essentially a beefed-up version of their relative. While the basic outline remains the same, Chukkas have a slightly more streamlined silhouette and are made of sturdier leathers and more durable rubber soles. All around, the Chukka is …