On the Ivy Style Facebook group, we started a playlist of songs that were Ivy for one reason or another. Click here for the playlist as currently constituted. The reasons varied. The artist dressed Ivy. It was jazz. The artist attended an Ivy school. It reminds one of an experience one had at an Ivy …
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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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Today is International Pipe Smoking Day. You don’t need to be a young fogey or Republican to celebrate it, though it probably helps. Pictured above is a photo that originally appeared in LIFE Magazine in 1963. You can buy a print of it at AllPosters.com where it bears the title “Pipe Smokers Listening to Speech …
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It would be an understatement to say F. Scott Fitzgerald was an arbiter of the Ivy League Look. A former student at Princeton who, having become absorbed in writing dropped out to write several critically acclaimed books, Fitzgerald helped chronicle the Jazz Age and the clothing styles that came to define it. Though Fitzgerald was …
Recently I purchased a 1926 yearbook for my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and was pleasantly surprised to see a Brooks Brothers advertisement on the first page of the ad section. Flipping through, I also discovered ads for a few local establishments, including a campus menswear shop called Gommy. It seemed like Gommy may …
As Richard Press has written here, J. Press’ Princeton store didn’t last long after Pearl Harbor. It was still around in April of 1942, however, when Princeton held a wartime blackout. The idea was to practice turning off all lights so that if there were an enemy bomber, they wouldn’t have anything to aim at. …
This is a 20-minute clip, so watch it over lunch if you’re the kind of schlub who eats lunch at his desk. And if you’re at home, pour yourself a drink and get comfortable. Love the towel worn as a scarf in the opening. Great chinos and sweaters in action at 2:28. Jackets and ties …
I found this post sitting on Ivy Style’s server, never published. The only note is that it dates from a 1933 issue of Apparel Arts. * * * The word “collegiate,” now seldom used in speaking of college men, is altogether foreign to its famous meaning of some eight years ago, when the raccoon coat, …
AldenPyle of Andy’s Trad Forum, one of the most diligent ransackers of the LIFE archives, recently dug up some photos of the 1936 National Amateur Golf Championship at the Garden City Golf Club. The winner was John W. Fischer, who took the cup not only for his fine form on the fairway, but for being …
Here are some more early collegiate images from the Hart, Schaffner & Marx archives. Check out the nonchalance of the guy in the chair above: college sweater with formal pumps — now that’s a juxtaposition. Below, “prep” clothes: Back when college men were fastidious consumers of clothing.
When it comes to starting fashion trends, there’s Princeton and then there’s every other school. From the three-button suit to its namesake haircut, Princeton has popularized such menswear staples as Norfolk jackets, raccoon coats, tweed sport coats, rep ties, spectator shoes, khaki pants and Shetland sweaters. Princeton’s sartorial influence has been dulled by time, but …
This week I met with the new owners of The Andover Shop. First off, they can report that Charlie is hanging in there at the ripe age of 93. The team that took over has only modest upgrading plans, which mostly include a new website and perhaps some store events. Certainly no collaborations with Urban …
The first vintage costume event I went to — way back in 1996 — was the Bay Area’s Gatsby Summer Afternoon. Held at the Dunsmuir House, an estate in the Oakland Hills, the event features music and dancing, vintage cars, and a contest to see who can create the most opulent picnic spread. The event draws …