A couple of weeks ago we posted a collection of vintage Dexter advertisements, and now here’s an interesting follow up. In 1968, as the Ivy League Look was plummeting in popularity, the shoe that would cement itself as a preppy staple in the 1970s was gradually garnering greater attention.
The above ad is from The Palm Beach Post and plugs the Squire Shop, the in-store campus shop of Florida department store chain Burdine’s. Here Dexter bit loafers are paired with Gant buttondowns and a Hunter Haig three-piece sack suit in the ’60s Ivy palette of gray and olive.
Philly Trad, thanks for the link. I have to admit that bit loafers have been growing on me. When I told my girlfriend that, she replied, “You don’t wear jewelry.”
Haven’t been to Florida for at least 20 years, but I recall being in a Burdine’s in Miami in 1973 while visiting my uncle. I bought a wool gray tweed hat, similar to a Hanna Irish Walker, for the astronomical price of $ 3. I thought it quite odd that a winter hat like that would be sold in such a warm climate. Maybe that’s why it was $ 3.
Just found my patchwork Hanna Walker that I bought 30 or so years ago. Smashed and bent up, I wore it playing golf today. I think I’ll wear it for the winter, if I don’t get too many negative comments, I’ll order a new one next winter.
There was a Hunter Haig store in New Haven in the late 60’S – early 70’S which specialized in sport jackets and trousers – no suits, at least in the beginning. The store was almost exactly half way between J Press on York St and the Yale Coop on Broadway. No one I have asked in New Haven seems to remember this store although I thrifted a beautiful Shetland tweed jacket a while ago which has all the trad bells and whistles.
I grew up in West Palm Beach. In the 80s and 90s, I remember going to the “JC Harris Prep Shop” downtown, where you could find Weejuns, navy blazers, khakis and all the colored polos and ties for the area private schools. At that point, Burdine’s was at the Gardens mall.My siblings and I went to cotillion in the ballroom at the Beach Club on Palm Beach, so proper clothes were a must. I think there was also a separate JC Harris men’s shop, but I was just a wee lad at the time, so their Prep Shop was the store for me.
Details about the Gant “Hugger” (slim-fit):
http://www.theweejun.com/index.php/more-vintage-ocbds-gant-the-hugger/
Some would argue that it was the bit loafers and the slim Hugger shirts that marked the decline of Ivy League style.
Philly Trad, thanks for the link. I have to admit that bit loafers have been growing on me. When I told my girlfriend that, she replied, “You don’t wear jewelry.”
Haven’t been to Florida for at least 20 years, but I recall being in a Burdine’s in Miami in 1973 while visiting my uncle. I bought a wool gray tweed hat, similar to a Hanna Irish Walker, for the astronomical price of $ 3. I thought it quite odd that a winter hat like that would be sold in such a warm climate. Maybe that’s why it was $ 3.
Just found my patchwork Hanna Walker that I bought 30 or so years ago. Smashed and bent up, I wore it playing golf today. I think I’ll wear it for the winter, if I don’t get too many negative comments, I’ll order a new one next winter.
Cheers!
Readers will have noticed that the Gant shirt was polyester/cotton, not even cotton/polyester.
There was a Hunter Haig store in New Haven in the late 60’S – early 70’S which specialized in sport jackets and trousers – no suits, at least in the beginning. The store was almost exactly half way between J Press on York St and the Yale Coop on Broadway. No one I have asked in New Haven seems to remember this store although I thrifted a beautiful Shetland tweed jacket a while ago which has all the trad bells and whistles.
I grew up in West Palm Beach. In the 80s and 90s, I remember going to the “JC Harris Prep Shop” downtown, where you could find Weejuns, navy blazers, khakis and all the colored polos and ties for the area private schools. At that point, Burdine’s was at the Gardens mall.My siblings and I went to cotillion in the ballroom at the Beach Club on Palm Beach, so proper clothes were a must. I think there was also a separate JC Harris men’s shop, but I was just a wee lad at the time, so their Prep Shop was the store for me.