Why do the prettiest girlfriends always end up being the worst relationships? Years ago I was involved with a striking beauty who was half-Norwegian and half-Chinese. I met her swing dancing, and for one of our first dates we went to a retro event held on the USS Hornet, an aircraft carrier museum located in …
As traditional men in our more seasoned lives, we tend to advance through this age of crisis and uncertainty, longing for the Hegelian synthesis of stability and change, continuing to defy our loftier years through performing sterling, upright deeds to shoulder the burden of worldly progress. To those classic gentlemen who enjoy a good smoke, searching …
Here’s wishing you a happy Valentine’s Day, with hopes there’s a special someone to express your love to. Remember what Oscar Wilde said: a mask is always more expressive than a face.
There’s much to get caught up on since the relocation of Ivy Style HQ from Newport to California, so this will take several posts over the next couple of weeks. By which time, of course, there will be new news. We’ll start with shirts. Simon Crompton at Permanent Style recently did an overview of Ivy …
The wide, wooden floorboards are creaking beneath your feet. You hear the saxophones and stand-up basses — so characteristic of Golden Age jazz — just audible over the bustle of conversation from a few guys in the corner; today’s topic is the latest cricket match, but it could just as easily be the newest café …
Today I begin my journey home after being away for 20 years, and am doing it by train. It should prove quite an experience. In 2008 I did a piece for Ralph Lauren Magazine on chartering vintage railcars, and while I won’t be heading out west in quite that style, I will be in a …
This issue of the late Japanese magazine Free & Easy, which frequently celebrated “Dad’s Style,” showing that respect for one’s elders still exists in some parts of the world, featured an interesting sweater from J. Press Japan with embroidered sheep and shears. The Ivy-prep canon includes critter pants, ties, shorts and sportcoats, but sweaters such as …
In August 2018, J. Press shuttered their legendary Cambridge haberdashery after 86 years of dressing Harvard undergrads, professors, and the North Shore financiers commuting into their Boston offices. Indeed, it was a sad day on Mt. Auburn Street. On the subject of sad, 2020 has been nothing if not, well, sad. Like, really sad. But …
One wonders what will become of all the furnishings from 346 Madison Avenue, such as this amusing blazer chair we posted about in 2012. Presumably the items will be used in stores around the country, which may or may not be located in suburban malls. It would certainly make for quite an auction….
Is there anything more exhilarating and terrifying than trying to launch a business? Perhaps a few things. But what about doing it as a young man full of ambition but no experience? And within the notoriously challenging apparel and footwear industry? But Justin Jeffers is not just a young man, but a “fine young gentleman,” …
The last time there was a hit TV show called “Gossip Girl,” a certain patchwork scarf from J. Press had its 15 minutes as a fashion icon. Now a new version of the show — which centers around kids at an Upper East Side prep school — is being shot for release next year. Time …
Yesterday I awoke with one of those inexplicable feelings of esprit. The energies were flowing, the early autumn weather stimulating in its tension of changing seasons, and life felt good. Soon I realized that despite no particular place to go save where whim might take me, I found myself in a pleasantly drawn-out session of …
On Monday I posted an essay musing on whether we’ve lost the sense of cool, while also arguing that its spirit of detachment, poise and style has been with us at least since the time of Alcibiades. Then yesterday our eminent new professorial contributor took us on a stroll through the Ivy heyday, when Brooks …
Few films for me capture the spirit of the Pax Americana better than Bruce Brown’s “The Endless Summer.” The documentary is probably far better remembered for its wonderful technicolor poster that has adorned many dorm rooms and TGI Friday’s since its release in 1965, yet the film captures a small piece of a lost world …
Around the corner from me at the Newport Art Museum, there’s a new Andy Warhol exhibit that opened last month. It’s a good enough excuse to revisit this post from nearly a decade ago when a chrome statue of the artist was revealed in New York. The Times provided the following quote about Warhol’s conventional …
Big development here at Ivy-Style.com to announce soon. In the meantime, here’s a roundup of the latest news from Tradsville. Above is a reader snapshot of the tragedy of 346 Madison Avenue. Black was never a trad color, except for funerals. It’s impossible not to feels one’s metaphoric sack suit turn from navy to …
Kamakura Shirts, a great friend of Ivy-Style.com, was forced to close its Madison Avenue shop, which was founder Yoshio Sadasue’s longtime dream. Below is a statement from his daughter Nanako, who has taken over the family business. * * * Since opening on Madison Avenue in New York on October 30, 2012, our New York …
College football game with scarf and sweater, no mask. Those were the days.
Our impromptu Madison Avenue series continues with unconfirmed reports that the supreme symbol of the Ivy League Look in New York — Brooks Brothers’ flagship store at 346 Madison Avenue — will not reopen. The building is evidently owned separately from the company and is not part of the deal with the new owners. If …