Greetings gentlemen, and I hope your little corner of Tradsville — even if it’s only in the mind — is opening up. There’s been a big uptick in activity here in the tourist town of Newport as businesses are released from lockdown and people take to walking the streets in t-shirts and flip-flops alternating between …
The sun is setting on the Golden Fleece, as least as far as domestic manufacturing goes. Recently Brooks Brothers announced it will close its Garland, NC shirt factory. Now an anonymous source has revealed that the company will close its other two American factories, the Southwick tailored clothing factory in Haverhill, MA, and the New …
Brooks Brothers is shutting down its Garland, NC shirt factory, where its iconic oxford-cloth buttondowns are presently made. Local media reports: Brooks Brothers is shutting down its shirt factory in Garland, a move that will eliminate nearly 150 jobs in the small Sampson County town where the clothing maker is the largest employer. Brooks Brothers …
Today is World Cocktail Day which, according to Wikipedia, is “a global celebration of cocktails … [marking] the publication date of the first definition of a cocktail on May 13 in 1806.” The word “cocktail,” to my mind at least, conjures up images of city lights, Nick and Nora Charles, and cosmopolitan urbanity, the preface to a …
Yesterday Bloomberg reported the following: Brooks Brothers Inc., the two-century-old menswear company that set the standard for aspiring Wall Street bankers, is seeking to sell itself. The retailer has extended a sale process begun last year, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it wasn’t public. Depending on …
On Sunday the New York Post reported that Peter Elliot, an Upper East Side menswear shop (referred to erroneously as a “tailor,” and then repeated by other media), has reopened despite orders from the governor. During my years in the city I enjoyed very much browsing the shop, which has trad appeal especially in the accessories …
As time creeps to a standstill under the virus lockdown, I’ve taken to going through my email inbox. People have been sending me random Ivy stuff for over a decade, and there’s a lot I still haven’t gotten to. So going forward I’ll start mixing it in with the news. Cue the soundtrack, which comes …
A few nights ago I realized that I should probably get a mask to wear when I go grocery shopping, so I looked online for something I could buy, but everything I found was either too expensive, sold out, or had a long wait time. The recent Ivy Style post about Kamakura’s oxford-cloth masks made …
Like many other Americans, I am willing to adopt whatever measures I can to stop the spread of COVID-19, and that includes wearing a face mask in public for the foreseeable future. Just so long as said mask is not black and not made from synthetic materials. Fortunately, Kamakura Shirts has announced that they are …
What role does clothing play in an epidemic, where we’re supposed to be distancing from each other? On one hand, traditional clothing is inherently about signaling. But without an audience, there is no need to signal – no need to establish allegiance, aspiration, or identity when one is home alone. On the other hand, on those brief …
So there’s actually some news from Tradsville to distract you from all that other news. But speaking of that, should we start a post with a thread of helpful services offered? We all have to stick together like they did in olden times, and if we all volunteered just a bit of our time to …
Recently I was perusing a 1979 Brooks Brothers catalog and this image caught my eye. I liked the contrast of the patchwork tweed cap with the otherwise “correct” clothing. This has always been the WASP approach to sartorial whimsy. I’d been on the lookout for a new cap for this fall/winter season, and decided to seek …
We close out February with this fine example of what Ralph Lauren was doing back in 2011. The collection’s press release included the following copy: Polo Ralph Lauren presents a world of vintage preppy dressing inspired by the iconic Northeast, from a rugged Maine expedition to an urban Ivy League campus to charming New England …
InsideHook is really banging the Ivy Trendwatch drum, with more than one scribe working the beat. The latest piece is entitled “Take Ivy 2.0 is the next great movement in American menswear.” Well let’s hope they’re right, but this one seems like a stretch. Check out the link and judge for yourself. The article features …
Five years ago I asked the members of Ivy’s Facebook group if they’d like to have their uploads shared here. They agreed, and as February zooms by, I’d like to share this post once again. I’ve always particularly like the above photo. As I wrote back in 2015, you’ll notice that when it comes to dressing …
There’s so much news in Tradsville it might take a couple of posts to get all caught up. First off, never doubt the evergreen nature of the Ivy League Look, as even a repost here from a decade ago can make news again. Our recent revisit of Christopher Sharp’s fine history of the Yale Co-op caught …
Over the past week devoted readers have left comments suggesting that something was going on at Southwick. I can now confirm the disheartening news. In November, shortly before leaving New York, I met with a Southwick representative. Oddly enough, it was in the new cafe Brooks Brothers opened on the first floor of its Madison …
Distinguished gentlemen, the first month of 2020 is over and over the course of January Ivy Style featured no less than seven different contributors. Alas some of their articles were reposts, which is why today I’m putting the call out for fresh voices to contribute. I’ve spent 12 years at the helm here and I’d …
I recently discovered the movie “White Squall,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Jeff Bridges. Set in 1961, it’s a coming-of-age film crossed with maritime adventure. The story centers around a group of prep-school flunkies who get to redeem themselves in a kind of nautical reform school, doing their studies at sea while they learn sailing …