Today we revisit the work of a man devoted to the preservation of the Ivy League Look in its pure — albeit office attire — form: Yuhei Yamamoto, who operates out of Tokyo under the name Tailor Caid. Hardcore Ivy fans will know him from his blog, which features a vast library of vintage images …
One of most interesting aspects of the Ivy League Look is that while it campus dress was extremely formal in relation to that of today, it was relatively casual in relation to off-campus dress of the time. Historian Deidre Clemente has shown how college kids invented the very concept of being dressed-down in her book …
Yesterday we featured a contemporary artist who takes inspiration from the collegiate fashions of the past. Today, in contrast, we feature original collegiate fashion art from the 1950s which is scheduled to go the way of Columbus statues. Joe College, meet the year 2020. The iconic American figure Joe College is on the chopping block …
Wes Robinson is one of those inherent creative types, and we’re fortunate that the object of his interest just happens to be Ivy style. A synesthete, Robinson wields his condition like a secret weapon, and, combined with his talent for brushwork, creates delightful little portraits of some well-dressed fellows. Though that is hardly the extent …
Pictured is my posterior in 2009 at the end of my last California summer before embarking for the East Coast. Updated photo coming soon. Enjoy your Labor Day. * * * I can think of no better way to mark the end of summer than with my own end. It’s wrapped in a pair of madras …
I am reminded me of an old article in which the author finds himself staring out the window of a New England country inn on an autumn day. His only companions are a bottle of old sauterne and the ghosts of his past. He calls sauternes “memory in a glass.” My epiphany is that seersucker has …
As the summer of 2020 winds to a close, we revisit these Japanese images from eight years ago with a little inspiration for what to wear this weekend. These are bow-tie slip-ons…. …. which might just result in a….
Rowing Blazers is weird. The people that inhabit the fashion world label it a neo-prep brand and point to items like 3/2 button stance blazers in patterns like blackwatch or gun club check, or chunky shawl collar cardigans. Conversely, prepsters are leery to accept a brand that sells collaboration hoodies and graphic-print tees into their …
Today MR Magazine reported that Brooks Brothers has finalized its sale for $325 million to Authentic Brands Group and SPARC Group. The menswear trade publication writes (emphasis added): Through the transaction, SPARC, the dedicated operating company for ABG-owned brands including Aéropostale, Nautica, and Lucky Brand, assumes the role of core licensee for Brooks Brothers. SPARC …
This interview originally ran in 2011, but the historic information on Gant, one of the most celebrated brands of the Ivy heyday, has evergreen value, and so today we pay it a revisit. * * * With fashion in a constant state of flux, it’s no wonder apparel brands are less than assiduous when it …
As The Summer To Remember — or forget as fast as possible — winds to a close, let’s catch up on the latest news. Heavy Tweed Jacket, a longtime and much-loved denizen of Tradsville recently disappeared from the web for reasons unknown. But he is now back and on Instagram. You younger fellows who use this …
Summer is winding to a close, which means if you bought a pair of these shoes in 2011, it will soon be time to put them away. Ah the halcyon days of Neo-Prep excess! May that gaudy sun rise again one day.
It’s one thing to wear a blazer to staff meetings at work. But it’s quite another thing to wear a Bookster sportscoat done up in one-of-a-kind Hainsworth khaki whipcord based on the fabric used for British officers’ tunics in World War One. Yes, the fabric of this jacket is made of Hainsworth’s “True Heritage” 16-ounce merino …
Recently we revisited the subject of nomenclature as it relates to our cherished style and its various branches and manifestations on the historical timeline. Today we examine “Ivy” and “preppy” once again, this time through a politician whose time in the spotlight has ended. Of course, he’d abandoned his trad kit long before that. * …
Never forget the old saying that every cloud must have a silver lining. Although the summer of 2020 has been like none we’ve ever experienced, there was also much to be learned from it. You may have rediscovered the value of quiet time alone in the woods or by a lake, or reconnected with family …
There’s much debate about the difference between Ivy and preppy, but it’s really quite simple: they occur at different points on a timeline. For example, in 1964, when a spirited girl meets a handsome, reserved, all-American, clean-cut kind of guy who gets his clothing at Brooks Brothers, and simultaneously finds herself both attracted and repelled by …
Pipe Dreams: It’s the most ancient method of smoking in human history — and, popular perception would have it, the preserve of modern society’s most ancient members. But is pipe smoking overdue a rebranding? By Christian Chensvold The Rake, issue 22 My grandfather smoked a pipe, so like many who grew up with a pipesmoking …
With summer in the home stretch we revisit this post showing a glimpse of what O’Connell’s, one of the last surviving independent trad clothiers, sold back in the day. A 2012 edition of the Buffalo News carried a story on independent men’s clothiers, including O’Connell’s, which has opened in Buffalo in 1959 and still carries …
Going through our archives, I found this post I originally wrote in 2012 and am pleased to update it for summer 2020, which I think we can all agree is the strangest summer in any of our lifetimes. One year ago I’d decided that 10 years in New York were enough and was planning to …