1990-present

New Name For A New Era

Starting tomorrow there will be a major change around here. Your browser will redirect you from Ivy-Style.com to our new home at Ivy-Aesthetic.com. After ridiculing the term for years, I’ve finally decided to embrace it. I believe the extra syllables of “aesthetic” will give this website a more contemporary identity, as well as confer upon


Critics Have Beef With Brooks Steakhouse Plan

A couple years ago, when a guy at Brooks first mentioned they were considering a restaurant next door to the Madison Avenue Flagship, I thought it was a great idea. I still do. I mean, assuming there’s a bar, won’t it be the ultimate place to have a drink among fellow trads? And for guys


Sperry Revamps Gold Cup Collection

Sperry Top-Sider recently announced it has revamped its collection of shoes and accessories called Gold Cup. Quality is promised to be higher, and of course prices are about double the usual, with boat shoes priced at $150. For that you get, in the company’s words, “premium hand-sewn leather uppers, butter-soft deerskin lining, and Sperry’s patented


No Picture

Channel Japan On Kamakura Shirts

This morning Kamakura Shirts alerted us to this recently produced, 11-minute, English-language TV profile of the company. It’s very interesting for its business and manufacturing insight, and if you’ve already become a fan of Kamakura, I think you’ll enjoy learning more about the great value and attention to detail that goes into its shirts. —



Golden Flank: Brooks To Open Steakhouse, Press To Move

As speculated a couple of years ago, Brooks Brothers announced today that it plans to open a restaurant in the space on 44th Street that previously housed its women’s collection. The news was broken today in a New York Post exclusive: Brooks Brothers, the “Makers and Merchants” of fine American suits and ties since 1818,


Take Five: Ivy Style Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

Assistant editor Christopher Sharp takes the reins as we celebrate five years of news and commentary, words and pictures, clothes that make you cheer and clothes that make you cringe.  * * * As Ivy Style reaches its fifth anniversary, we are certainly now post-grads no plans on giving up the old alma mater. Christian


Can The Sack Suit Survive?

It’s time to bring the recent run of Brooks-related posts to a close (if only so we can move on to J. Press), so in this post I’d like to address a few of the more theoretical notions to come from the vibrant discussion in the comments section over the past week. First off, here




Bartender, I’ll Have A Princeton

Last week US News & World Report declared Princeton the best college in the world (alas not for sartorial reasons). Yesterday Slate followed this up with an entertaining article on cocktails of the Ivy League.


Madras Surprise

Pictured above is a madras surprise from Brooks Brothers, seen last week at the company’s Spring 2014 preview. It’s a nice dark fabric with soft shoulders, partial lining, and a 3/2 button stance. What’s the surprise, besides the fact that it’s mid-September and you were expecting posts about tweed and flannel? Can you guess?


New Baracuta Website Unzipped

Today Baracuta, maker of the iconic G9 jacket, announced it has drawn the zipper on a new website with ecommerce features as well as a generous dose of brand heritage. Baracuta was founded in England in 1937 and is currently owned by the Bologna-based company WP Lavori In Corso, which is currently planning a flagship


Goodbye Go-To-Hell: A Summer Farewell In Verse

As the warm days of the year gradually come to an end, we fondly put away the carefree items of summer. As a way of saying so long to the wild fabrics and whimsical embroideries of summer clothing, I’ve composed a little poem. Well, sort of. Today my Google vanity alert tipped me off to


Brown In Town: Allen Edmonds’ New Cordovan Web Exclusive

Hot on the Wisconsin-made heels of its new apparel collection, Allen Edmonds has just announced a new “webgem” offer. A limited number of shell cordovan shoes are being offered in a handsome shade of dark brown. There are four styles available, all of which are priced at $545. With a shade of brown this good-looking,


Brooks Unveils Natural Craftsmanship Collection

Today Brooks Brothers unveiled a new ultra-high-end capsule collection called Natural Craftsmanship, along with marketing materials to support it. In the video above, posted on Brooks’ YouTube channel, a young man who was born rich models the clothing. How do we know he was born rich? Because he’s clearly not old enough to have graduated



Kamakura Shirts Unveils Full Collection Of Oxford Shirts

We just got a note from Kamakura Shirts saying that it has just launched an oxford campaign in celebration of its newly operational e-commerce store, as well as its fully stocked oxford-cloth buttondown collection. Says our contact, “Unfortunately we did not have enough of them for a long time, and we are afraid if we


Tread Lightly: New Survey On What Women Think Of Your Shoes

Yesterday Allen Edmonds contacted me with a sneak peek at a survey they just completed. It is, as you’d expect, all about shoes, with the most interesting parts pertaining to the women who were surveyed. First off, the women all had incomes between $50,000-$200,000, and while there were only about 500 of them, Allen Edmonds