What to say about George Costanza? Everyone knows him. No one was supposed to like him, but somehow, we’ve all seemed to find a soft spot for him in our hearts. When thinking about the character from the ’90s hit TV sitcom “Seinfeld” (the so-called “show about nothing”), one typically thinks of him creating some …
First off, apologies to everyone who’s had trouble logging on the site for the past few days. Apparently we’re under attack by robots and are working to block the little devils. In the meantime, what better move than to send you to another website! Well, it’s my duty to report the news. So a couple …
One of the most salient characteristics of the Ivy League Look is the hook vent on suits and sportcoats. Though primarily associated with J. Press — where it became a brand signature along with the combed Shetland sweater and the button-flap oxford shirt — the hook vent was also a common feature on jackets from …
I actually had no idea how generous LL Bean has been for the past century with its return, exchange and replacement policy. It took our Millennial Fogey to explain that for a certain kind of consumer, a one-time purchase was a lifetime guarantee of replacements. New England kids would even source old Bean Boots and …
Pictured is Andrew Bridier of Castaway Clothing, snapped at the menswear trade shows earlier this week here in New York. He’s wearing and holding two tartan jackets made for Castaway by the Hardwick factory in Tennessee. The words “castaway” and “jacket” set one to speculating. So if you were a castaway on a desert island, …
After months of teasing on Facebook and unveiled here in a sneak peek last week, we are pleased to unveil the latest Ivy Style product offering! As a follow-up to the Ivy Style Club Tie (of which there are about five left, grab yours here before they’re gone), we now pay tribute to Ivy history …
Recently a most unusual email landed at Ivy Style headquarters. Seems a new reader of the site has converted to trad and now wants to build an entire wardrobe and needs advice on what he should get. Naturally I had a few questions by way of clarification. He says by “entire” he pretty much means …
This young lawyer was a lost soul until he found his way to Ivy Style, the website and the clothing genre, and joined the online trad brotherhood. * * * Twenty-seventeen is the year I found my style. Prior to this year, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Although I am in a …
A handful of shots of Ivy Style readers celebrating the holiday in their finery. Merry Christmas to all!
Here’s an Ivy Style reader busting out his polo coat with, he admitted, “lapels wide enough to land a plane on.” Note the timeless four-ingredient combo of polo coat, blazer, OCBD and Argyll & Sutherland tie, here rendered as a bow. Now how about what’s unseen: namely belt, trouser, sock and shoe? What should the …
As a longtime admirer of Jack Carlson’s “cryptic menswear brand” Rowing Blazers, I felt a pang of injustice when his New York pop-up emerged in October. When would Boston, the seat of the Head of the Charles itself, receive its turn? Turns out I didn’t have to wait too long. At the start of the …
‘Tis the season for holiday parties, culminating in the biggest one of the year: New Year’s Eve. So if you’re the kind of die-hard insouciant prep who wears his everyday white (or pink) oxford buttondown with black tie, and who can’t bear to be shod in anything but penny loafers, Bass might have just the …
“Brooks” (note shortened name and quotation marks) was known and respected in many of the best schools and colleges, according to this ad circa 1940. What else would have been known and respected at the time? The high button stance, with the bottom of the three buttons above the hip pockets, and the top button …
Back in the heyday of the Ivy League Look, when a boy was going steady he’d remove the locker loop on the back of his oxford-cloth buttondown, signalling to other females that he was spoken for. And how did a female student signal she was taken? By wearing her boyfriend’s college scarf. The practice was …
One of the characteristics of traditional clothiers across the years is how many of them were family businesses passed down through the generations. That’s how Brooks Brothers began nearly 200 hundred years ago. And J. Press went through three generations. There aren’t many businesses like that left, but one of them is R. Hanauer (aka …
Speaking of khakis, as we were recently with Duck Head (BTW, the company reached out to me and I should have some interesting info to divulge in a follow-up), Ivy Style contributor Eric Twardzik alerted me to current offering from Ralph Lauren depicted below. It’s called The Iconic GI Khaki Chino, and comes with a …
In light of our last post about the re-relaunch of the Duck Head brand, here’s Chris Sharp’s 2014 piece on the last company to try and resuscitate the dead duck. It includes much company history and how the brand became a favorite among college students. * * * Some time later today, according to the …
Duck Head has been sitting on the bench since the last time the heritage brand fowled out. Now it’s back in the apparel game with a new coach, or rather owner: Oxford Industries, which also owns the Tommy Bahama and Southern Tide brands. You can see by the newly relaunched Duck Head website that they’re …
With a Ph.D. in history from Oxford, a World Championships medal, and books authored since the of eleven, Jack Carlson would seem poised to do just about anything (I didn’t even mention his global network of distinguished contacts, including myself, of course). Which is why it’s a bit surprising he’d want to dive into the …