As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, which featured a bespectacled gentleman in tortoiseshell frames, here are some new glasses by Warby Parker released earlier this month. The new shapes are called the Buckley (above), Bates (below) and Oxley (bottom). I ran them by David Wilder, longtime salesman in J. Press’ New York store and known …
In the Put This On article about the rise and fall of early 21st-century neo-prep, I was quoted saying that perhaps the next stage will be a rediscovering of the sober side of the trad-Ivy-preppy genre. After all, “all fashion ends in excess,” as the old adage goes, and once this stage has been reached …
On Friday it was announced that Alpha Delta, the Darmouth fraternity that partly inspired the film “Animal House,” had lost its appeal to maintain recognition by the college. The fraternity lost its official recognition for allegedly branding its members. According to a report on the Huffington Post: College officials have declined to provide details, but …
Last night I attended an event held at “the lodge,” a funky townhouse in the distinguished Upper East Side environs of Fifth Avene and 77th Street. It’s the showroom for the brand VK Nagrani, which caters to “alpha males,” or jet-setters with money to burn. But it also caters to another jet-setter whose aircraft was …
Yesterday I had a long discussion with a writer from Put This On about the waxing and waning of Ivy and prep over the decades. One of the topics was how watered-down the term “preppy” has become in the mainstream media. Emphasis on water. Yesterday Bloomberg.com put up a video segment on what it called …
This spring Sebago will unveil a new premium collection called Crest. Here’s what the company has to say in a press release: This collection for men reinvents Sebago’s iconic styles with new polished details and rich materials. The handmade collection features beautiful leather hide selections and supple sheepskin underfoot for incredible comfort. Crest represents the …
The PITA tree — that’s preppy-Ivy-trad-Americana (haven’t used that in a while) — is a century old. Its roots are deep, and now matter how hard the fickle winds of fashion blow, the tree stands strong. Without belaboring the metaphor, the PITA tree’s branches bend and twist with each new generation, and future historians of …
Two weeks ago, the Polo flagship on Fifth Avenue, which opened last fall, created a new section in the store called the Haberdashery. It’s where you’ll find all the ties, dress shirts and cashmere sweaters — and all in the spring colors you’re anxious to wear. There are also plenty of sportcoats in spring fabrics, …
Yesterday, while we were posting about Brooks Brothers’ home collection, another publication posted about the brand in a much more far-reaching way. Billionaire.com presented an interview with Luca Gastaldi, CEO of Brooks for Europe, The Middle East and Africa. As far as the big picture goes, this is the choice passage: “It’s a good thing …
Last night I put up a post on Masculine Interiors entitled “The Man In The Brooks Brothers Home.” It featured a selection of home items offered at Brooks, including shirting-inspired bed sheets. The post also included rep-striped pillows, and soon after I received several messages from guys who didn’t even know they existed. They do. …
We start the week off with a rather motley miscellany. Above, a 1958 novelty tune called “Ivy League Clothes” from a little-known doo-wop group called The Gaylarks. Damned if I can tell what the hell they’re singing about, save for “why, oh why?” Something about Ivy for girls. It’s from a time when the trunk …
Last week Bass unveiled some new models of Maine-made Weejuns. Priced at $295, they are made from Horween leather and come both with and without beefroll. I’d attended a Bass spring preview back in October, but I don’t recall these shoes being ready then. But here’s what else caught my eye, which should be …
Today Town & Country’s website posted a humorous piece aimed at female readers that dissects the no-less-than-six distinct types of preppy guy that a preppy girl is apt to date in her twenties. Apparently by 30 she’s either had enough or actually gotten hitched with one of them. You might find the piece’s sartorial and …
I was unable to attend last week’s Brooks Brothers preview as I was battling a virus — a computer virus. So I’m falling back onto Women’s Wear Daily for the coverage. Writes the paper: At Brooks Brothers, Harris tweeds, soft tailoring that enables layering, an “into-the-woods” color palette and unorthodox pairings are some predominant messages …
Recently I was investigating manly candles (mandles?) because that’s the sort of important thing you do when you start working the home accessories beat. I discovered an apparently now-discontinued line of scented candles that were sold at Neiman Marcus. Although the brand had the silly name of Many Indulgence, the different scents had fun names …
I think I’m not the only one here who has a fondness for the art of fashion illustration, from the legendary work of Laurence Fellows for Esquire and Apparel Arts to the Japanese artists who fill each issue of Free & Easy. This afternoon Town & Country magazine tweeted a post about artist Patricia van …
Daniel C. Greenwood’s debut Millenial Fogey column on Brooks Brothers certainly stirred up discussion. It especially stirred up Chris Sharp, Ivy Style’s normally circumspect and disinterested assistant editor, known for his well researched historical pieces. He found himself inspired to lay his heart bare to the brand so dear to him that he recalls shopping …
Yesterday afternoon Ivy-Style.com held an editorial meeting at The Polo Bar, Ralph Lauren’s new restaurant. In attendance were Golden Years columnist Richard Press, Ivy Style founder Christian Chensvold, and Daniel Greenwood, who was filled with bourbon and coerced into becoming a more regular contributor to the site, based on his passionate interest in the wares …
0 When I was two-and-a-half years old, my father finished his Air Force commission and we left Berlin. We initially landed at my grandparents’ place in San Francisco, and there, while walking up the stairs of this strange new building, as my mother would tell me many years later, I uttered one of my earliest …