In our last post we discussed Japan and the concept of menswear rules. Let’s pick up where we left off. Now I may have been a bit quick on the draw in the previous post, going off on a tirade about close-minded clothes-minded guys obsessed with dressing according to rules and formulas. The concept of …
It’s always fun flipping through the Japanese magazine Free & Easy and seeing all the botched English, such as “Made in trad.” Having spent a summer in Japan, I can assure you that nonsensical English used in advertising and the media provided hearty guffaws on the hour. But sometimes the Japanese are unintentionally perspicacious, as …
This morning we were alerted to a sportcoat made for Cary Grant in “Monkey Business” for the scene in which a youth serum gives the 48-year-old Grant the tastes and behavior of a college student. The jacket, currently for sale from a movie memorabilia company, did not make it into the film. It was made …
Last week the website Cool Material asked me to contribute to its “Wear This” series and pull together an outfit based on stuff currently on retail shelves. The result is illustrative of how I’ve been dressing lately: a foundation of traditional items spiced with stylish accessories that give off — to me, at least — …
We just got a note from Kamakura Shirts saying that it has just launched an oxford campaign in celebration of its newly operational e-commerce store, as well as its fully stocked oxford-cloth buttondown collection. Says our contact, “Unfortunately we did not have enough of them for a long time, and we are afraid if we …
Do kids still use the term “dope” to describe something cool? Evidently they do, and they’ll even use it to describe stodgy ol’ Brooks Brothers. If you’ve puzzled over who exactly is the target customer for Brooks’ more youthful offerings, I think we’ve found the answer. This week a Cornell-bound teen wrote a piece for his …
The colors of the American flag are almost the same as the traditional choices of oxford-cloth buttondowns. After all, who the heck wears yellow? And so on this Fourth of July Ivy Style bids you Happy Independence Day with this festive “fun” shirt from Brooks Brothers, which is almost as old as America itself. Let the …
Last summer saw the launch of a new US-made shirt company out of Massachusetts called Concord Button Downs. The line began with plaids, but has since focused on oxford cloth in both solids and stripes, including pink. “Our shirts attempt to replicate the OCBDs many men wore in the ’50s and ’60s,” says founder Daniel …
Ivy Style was recently given an exclusive peek at a new startup shirt brand from the UK intent on making bleeding madras shirts the old-fashioned way. In Yankee dollars, Leith Clothing‘s shirts come out to about $140, plus about $20 in shipping, so they’re not the most viable option, save for those with money to …
Although I recently posted a pink Brooks Brothers fun shirt I acquired, I should clarify that it’s for the dog days of summer. This spring, while others were quick on the draw with their pastels, I’ve been clad in the sober Ivy colors of olive and gray, snazzed up with a patterned belt. For example, …
Following hard upon the debut of Red Fleece is today’s Brooks mailer, which plugs a new, possibly temporary, product category called “Retro Style.” The category consists of standard Brooks items, but it’s interesting to see which items Brooks chose to group together, as well as its invocation of the word “retro,” which will sound cool …
Today Brooks Brothers sent out an email unveiling Red Fleece, the new name for what was formerly called the University collection. Brooks now has golden, black and red fleeces similar to blue, black and purple labels. Now before you purists and fogeys cry foul, recall that Brooks has produced special collections catering to young men …
Now blasting off for $49 courtesy of the evil corporation that ripped off KJP. I usually don’t go for critters, and actually just got my first critter tie (cross-eyed owls, gold on navy). This would be fun to wear on the Fourth of July and cause double-takes. If it were a Chipp tie, of course, …
Derek at Put This On has done a wonderful piece on the history of Brooks Brothers’ oxford cloth buttondown: Not to be wistful about days gone by, but there is something uniquely special about these “Golden Era” oxfords. Their particular proportions and collar constructions seem to give them an enviable roll – something like two …
Think I’ll take it for one last spin today. Came across this passage recently in Nelson W. Aldrich, Jr.’s biography of Tommy Hitchcock, Jr.: The polo coat — long, belted, and made of soft camel’s hair — was still for the most part used by polo players, thrown over their shoulders for warmth between chukkers, …
Yesterday the blog Heavy Tweed Jacket put up an epic post on the history and terminology surrounding striped shirts at Brooks Brothers, J. Press, Chipp and others. Head over here to check it out. — CC
My colleague Sven over at Gentleman’s Gazette put up a great post this week on the quilted jacket. I’ve got one from Brooks Brothers, and it’s by far the biggest workhorse in my wardrobe. For probably five months of the year it’s worn virtually every day. I wear it for all outdoor excursions around …
As “Take Ivy” and countless other photographic documents reveal, jackets were worn on the short side in the declining twilight of the Ivy heyday. But the short jacket’s current hold on the marketplace has all the earmarks of a fashion trend we’ll be laughing at years from now, the same way we laugh at the …
One thing’s for certain: You can’t accuse J. Press of being a sartorial mausoleum run by dinosaurs anymore. Like or dislike its new direction (and you can like it on Facebook), today J. Press took a bold step towards recapturing cultural and fashion relevance with the unveiling of a slick new website. In addition to …