David Mercer is simply a great, great guy. And has the bona fides: “Not being a math major, I figure it’s always safer to say I was born in 1946. My Mercer&Sons designs and manufactures shirts and boxer shorts. I was fortunate to enjoy a classical secondary education and studied the liberal arts and …
Emails came in (thank you ALL) in large volume about the Ralph Lauren initiative with Morehouse and Spelman. First, thank god and finally. Second, I need a deeper understanding of the way that WWD handles the subject. Here is a typical headline of the coverage: In contrast, WWD starts with the line, …
Had lunch with G. Bruce Boyer and Eric Twardzik last week. It was fantastic. Wine, pizza and two hours plus of conversation. We covered a ton of ground, and I learned so much from these two veterans. But first, the mountainous challenge of what to wear to that. I mean, it is Boyer and Twardzik. …
We are still struggling to get the world back in ties. It isn’t as hard as it was a year ago, two years ago, but the battle is far from over. I got sent articles (plural) yesterday (and thank you) about working denim into your office portfolio. I have done you the service of reprinting …
First, the WOCBD review is working out. Next up is Eagle. If you have not heard of Eagle, they are a line Macy’s carries. There are plenty of readers here who know the business better than I, maybe you can get us some history of the brand. On the Victor post we got into a …
Editor’s Note: There were some questions about sleeve length and measurement here. For a guide on how to measure shirts and convert between European and American measuring, Mr. Bresnard published this piece. From his email response to me this morning: “I have noticed that Americans measure sleeves differently than Europeans. We measure from the top …
“The distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” – Albert Einstein Einstein and J. Press are both… pretty Ivy. In his theory of General Relativity Einstein submits that there really is no past, present and future. J. Press’s Spring Book is an exhibit thereof. You can check it out here. …
Editor’s Note: Dylan Arnold is a certified fitness trainer, and when I say certified, I mean elitely so. Not sure elitely is a word. You can read his credentials in the article. He will be offering up tips and nutrition advice, and will answer questions in his column here. You can email me any questions, …
Victor Besnard is a brand that may be unfamiliar. I did a review of the shirt, but thought you should get to know the creator behind it first. The shirt is very much like the man, old school European artisan standards with classical DNA. Here’s Victor. Me: Tell me the story of the shirt. Well, …
Editor’s Note: Happy Monday – back from a short staycation here on my side. First, from our friend James Taylor at Waterhollow Tweed, a brief history of the classic LL. Bean Chamois Shirt. Introduced by L.L. Bean in 1927 after L.L. Bean himself had worn the prototypes while hunting the Maine woods the Chamois …
Uniqlo has a navy blazer out that was brought to my attention from Jakob in an email. You can check it out here. Jakob wrote: To my admittedly novice eye for Ivy, it looks like this checks most of the boxes for the ideal Navy Blazer: sack-cut, undarted, swell stitching, patch pockets, and even brass …
Editor’s Note: This article is by James Taylor of Waterhollow Tweed fame. If you are in the FB group you know him and his wares. If you are not, you are missing out. He offers one of a kind Ivy items, every so often. You can see his listings in the group. And you should. …
“Seriousness is stupidity sent to college.” – P.J. O’Rourke Out my window this morning are trees shedding snow. In Bedford we are three inches deep but it is already starting to warm. Today will be in the mid 40’s. The trees will shake the snow the way a dog shakes the rain. You get to …
Editor’s Note: All shirts were dry cleaned with light starch at an eco-friendly dry cleaner and delivered on a hanger, not folded. The same ties and suit will be worn across the board so that you can compare apples to apples. All images were, to my tremendous humility, posted without a filter so you …
In Bedford today, it is supposed to reach 56 degrees. We started out at 27 this morning, but by 11… … blue blazer. My first exposure to the respect – that’s not the word. Esteem? That’s not the word. Recognition of iconic status? Clunky phrase. The first time I understood that the navy blazer was …
Thank you for posting the article yesterday. I have this to say about Easy Pants. I wore a drawstring to the office too – when I taught meditation at a temple. Am I the only one aghast at the notion, in this article and the other I cited, that men have put on pounds working …
Thank you Tom for sending me this article from Mr. Magazine, and the rest of you can thank me for sparing you from reading it. I can’t wait to read the comments today, I am not good at conspiracy theories but there is an agenda for media to continue to push the no-one-gets-dressed-up-anymore narrative, to …
Yesterday Sarah from Fewer And Better told us about The Laundress which is a line of cleaning products. They have a decent blog over there too covering how to care for your clothes. Worth a spin. Their products got a few endorsements here. I’ve never tried, but Sarah has and I trust her. I got …
In Pompeii around 79 somebody urinated, somebody else took the ammonia out, and dry cleaning was born. Why? Because they were wearing a lot of wool (seems like a heavy fabric to me when you are beneath a volcano) and wool shrinks in water. Imagine you take a week or whatever to weave your Pompeiian …