Black is the verboten color of Tradsville. It is castigated in “The Official Preppy Handbook,” even though Lisa Birnbach at the time wore black Lacoste polos while working at The Village Voice, just to show that she could be preppy and Downtown, too. In “Try For Elegance,” the 1957 novel centered around a men’s shop …
In celebration of Hanukkah, Ivy Style once again pays tribute to the pivotal role Jewish clothiers have played in helping craft preppy style. Here’s a snippet from a 2016 piece in The Atlantic: From the beginning, American style was synonymous with WASP culture. Sportswear was the uniform of the prep school, the Ivy League, the …
“Miles, I have holes in my pockets and no one useful on speed dial. I’m built for hiding in libraries.” “I’m not going to lie to the police so you can ponce around in a f*cking cape for the rest of your life!” The Riot Club (2014) * * * Earlier this month, Nylon magazine …
You probably never thought of yourself as a holiday-tie kind of guy. But don one of these ties by Paul Winston/Chipp2 and watch your coworkers at the virtual office party snigger, “Nice Santa tie,” followed by, “Hey, waitaminute… “ From the witty clothier who gave the world Kama Sutra suit linings in conservative sack suits comes …
The backstory: Brooks Brothers is ironic. As a flagship merchant for what is perceived to be the upper class, it has been empty-billfolded for a while now. A few owners, then finally, a covid tipping point bankruptcy, followed by a $325 million acquisition by the Authentic Brands Group, and The Sparc Group, in a venture …
In 2011 Josh Sims released a coffee-table book entitled “Icons of Men’s Style.” The icons in question are not well dressed men but rather clothing items, and include such trad staples as khakis, buttondown shirts, tweed jackets and sack suits. The section on shoes includes some interesting facts about penny and tassel loafers: The origins of …
The much anticipated Todd Snyder x LL Bean capsule collection was released this month, pairing an award-winning American designer with an iconic brand whose name is synonymous with traditional, American-made quality. Like Snyder’s past collaborations with heritage brands such as Thomas Mason and Alden Shoes, the TS x LLB collection reinterprets the classics with slimmer …
Those of you who spend a lot of time on Facebook or who have a large network of office worker friends who email humorous ephemera to lighten the day may have stumbled across a certain kind of meme known as WTF, which compare the past to the present, rather unfavorably to the former. Now it’s time …
This sponsored post is brought to you by UK-based Niccolò P. The Structured Polo Shirt combines bespoke-level details with the world’s best materials and combines them with stand collars that sit perfectly under a jacket. A polo smart enough to take you from relaxed meeting to the rooftop bars of the city and from airport lounge to poolside. Based …
Autumn style from the late great Japanese magazine Free & Easy. What say you, ungentle reader: stylish or sacrilege?
Several years ago I called my brother for his advice about which ties would work best with different outfits. I was a graduate student preparing for one of my first academic conferences and wanted to make a good impression on the scholars I would meet. My brother, a lawyer, patiently answered several of my questions …
Recently I played golf for the first time in Newport, and having lost my golf shoes in the move from NYC, played in desert boots. A good enough excuse to revisit this post we did back in 2011 honoring the death of the death of Nathan Clark, great-grandson of the founder of English shoe company …
GQ’s Style Guy advice column once had the following curious exchange apropos of our collar of choice. A reader asked columnist Glenn O’Brien the following: I heard somebody refer to a button-down-collar oxford shirt as “middle-management” the other day. I always thought the oxford was the great American shirt. Have I been sending the wrong …
I like to teach the essays that the poet Donald Hall wrote in his eighties, beautiful, moving and often funny reflections on literature, aging, and mortality. Before leaving academia, Hall worked as an English professor at the University of Michigan. One summer he retrieved his mail at the department, dressed (as he recounts) in “plastic …
Last week, after a Zoom call for work, I noticed that my closet door was ajar. This is in my home office where I keep my casual clothes, whereas my suits and dress shirts are in the closet adjacent to our bedroom. Usually, the casual closet is accessed only on weekends, but during Covid, I …
Did you know that nine out of 10 men prefer chemically treated non-iron shirts that feel funny and look artificially perfect to pure unadulterated cotton? And I’m not talking about the general population, but specifically shoppers at that bastion of traditionalism, Brooks Brothers. Some years ago Ralph Gardner had an interesting write-up in the Wall …
After Ivy Style founder Christian Chensvold announced his 12-year anniversary on October 1, two associates came forth with an offer to take the site into a whole new direction. Ivy Live, in partnership with Ivy-Style.com, has bold plans for 2021, positioning itself as a broad-reaching men’s lifestyle brand and media outlet geared towards guys with …
Recently I again found myself swimming in a sea of sneakers and t-shirts that cost unholy sums. You may be thinking I was pillaging a Neiman Marcus Last Call in the wake of its financial woes, but you would incorrect. In fact I was reacquainting myself with the college campus I call my own as …
In 1958 Larry Elliot, fellow Chi Phi at Dartmouth and trombonist leader of the Dartmouth Indian Chiefs Dixieland Band, wrote the music and co-authored the book and lyrics with me for “The Chuck Sturdley Story,” a one-act musical. The theatrical event won a college award for best presentation at the inter-fraternity theatrical contest sponsored by the …