“People Will Talk,” one of Cary Grant’s lesser known movies, boasts some interesting outfits for the sartorial historicist. In order to portray a medical professor at a small Midwestern college in 1951, Grant was costumed in one double-breasted suit, and three suits and jackets that feature a 3/2 roll, but still have the overall cut …
Our last post featured Yalies from the 1910s wearing grey suits with simple shirts and ties. Now here’s another dose of sobriety, though from a very different source. Pictured is fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent from the late ’50s and early ’60s — in other words, contemporary to the heyday of the Ivy League Look. He’s …
Ivy Style’s Facebook group recently reached the dubious milestone of 5,000 members. I say dubious because social media is about as health-neutral as alcohol. I’ve cut back considerably, but if you can partake and still keep your wits about you, then do consider joining the fun. You’ll get to see the variety of outfits your …
Merry Christmas everyone! Special thanks to the many supporters and contributors, and God bless one and all. — CHRISTIAN CHENSVOLD
Here’s an update on a post from four years back, in light of a loyal reader who recently emailed asking where to get boxer shorts with numerically sized waists. Can’t say I’d ever heard of that, but I checked in with Mercer & Sons. Sure enough, David Mercer assured me that with stretch in the waistband, …
As we’ve repeatedly been told, WASP nonchalance is merely an affectation, a performance that renders its mannered marionettes ever anxious about committing some cred-crushing gaucherie. And if it’s like that for members of the tribe, just imagine what it’s like for Jews. Tobias Wolff’s 2003 novel “Old School” belongs to the prep-school-coming-of-age genre, while its central …
Eminently suited menswear author G. Bruce Boyer has opined eloquently about the Old Money Look. But now with the economy completely FUBAR, both old and new money can finally schlep around together in the Lost-Money Look. To get the look, simply stop buying new clothes for the next five years. Wear your shirts until they’re …
Going into London’s J. Simons store is like stepping into a time machine. You’re immediately transported into an era of jazz, of illustrated advertisements, and good clothes. But for those that can’t make it into the brick and mortar store, the 2018 film John Simons – A Modernist, is your next best hope at getting the …
Astute readers will recall the Ivy Style high-rise/tapered leg project we had in development several years back. It was with Bill Thomas, founder of Bills Khakis, and right before the first sample was to be cut, things went a little haywire internally. Bill ended up at Duck Head, after the previous team, shall we say, fowled …
In addition to meticulously researched vintage reproductions, plus the regular dispatching of photographers and reporters to capture American collegiate style in its native habitat, the Japanese have long used illustration as a way of expressing their fervent admiration of Ivy style. From stark line drawings to realistic paintings and silly cartoons, the Japanese continue to …
Our last post, on the topic of Ivy in Japan, had a touch of defensive jingoism, to be sure. But it also left open the question of whether or not the Japanese do take American inventions and make them better. To wit, this tweed jacket found by Ivy Style correspondent Trevor Jones at J. Simons in …
During my first two of years of college, I worked part-time as an English as a Second Language tutor to immigrants and exchange students. One guy on my roster was a slightly cocky fellow from Japan who preferred we conduct our lessons in the student union over the billiard table, which I was more than …
Ivy Style’s Facebook group hit a milestone last weekend, surpassing 5,000 members, half of which want to strangle the other half by their necktie. And I don’t mean for not having a dimple. Or rather for having one. You get my point. Anyway, the imperturbable souls able to brave social media in 2018 (too strong …
Many of the storied New England boarding schools were founded during a particularly tumultuous period after the Civil War, when the established order of older money families was threatened by the growing prominence and wealth of war profiteers and fortunes made during the Industrial Revolution. All the boarding schools embodied New England’s Anglophilia, and it …
Here’s a cool short video on the iconic Blue Note jazz album covers, which overlapped with the Ivy heyday. Cats abroad learned about Ivy clothes this way, and even some right here in the States. More on that when I get a big interview posted, hopefully by the end of the month. By the way, …
In 1962 Life ran a group of photos of American authors. Pictured above is James Baldwin, while below is Philip Roth. John O’Hara: Herman Wouk: Peter De Vries: Harrison Salisbury:
Today a conservative New York Times columnist waxed poetic about the virtues of the former WASP establishment. You can imagine how well that went over. Looks like their most lasting contribution to American culture will be their clothing. — CC
Last Friday Richard Press, the team from J. Squeeze, DCG aka The Millennial Fogey, and myself gathered at the Rowing Blazers shop in downtown NYC for a shindig celebrating the latest RB collaboration. It’s with none other than J. Press, and consists of what you might call a postmodern branding of the iconic Shaggy Dog. …
A friend forwarded the following from Greenwich County Day School, regarding President Bush: Honoring President George H.W. Bush GCDS Class of 1937 From Adam Rohdie, Headmaster On November 30, America and the global community lost a leader and statesman whose life is a testament to the power of service and an enduring commitment to …