Give Ivy
In the spirit of Japanese photo book “Take Ivy,” here are some photographic gifts of Princeton students courtesy of Time/LIFE.
Historic Images
Squares Among The Hip
Illustration from a 1959 short story that appeared in Cosmopolitan. Not the short hair of the uptown lady in relation to the downtown gals. The caption reads, “They sprawled about in rapture. The bearded poet read. It was awful, Jim thought.”
Joe College
J.C. Leyendecker’s first initials stand for Joseph Christian, but they might as well stand for Joe College. In a career spanning from 1900 until World War II, the American illustrator painted 300 covers for the Saturday Evening Post, as well as advertisements for products like Kuppenheimer Clothes and Interwoven Socks, that featured Harvard Rowers, Princeton football …
Domestic Cat: Remembering Clipper Craft, Main Street Ivy Clothier
During the heyday of the Ivy League Look, Clipper Craft was a brand that explicitly touted its Ivy authenticity in advertorials placed in mainstream magazines. In 2009 a short thread was started at the Ask Andy Trad Forum in which a member dug up some info on the origins of the brand, which was founded in …
Here’s To A Tradly Year Ahead
Ages ago in 2014, the blog Oxford Cloth Button Down shared a selection of calendar images by the Japanese artist Hiroshi Watatani, whose most recognized image in Tradsville is probably the one above. We used it here in our post on the Gucci loafer’s 60th anniversary. In case you missed the calendar, here it is. …
Sack Suits Of A Century Ago
Ivy Style’s Facebook group recently reached the dubious milestone of 5,000 members. I say dubious because social media is about as health-neutral as alcohol. I’ve cut back considerably, but if you can partake and still keep your wits about you, then do consider joining the fun. You’ll get to see the variety of outfits your …
Scenes Of Christmas Past
Merry Christmas everyone! Special thanks to the many supporters and contributors, and God bless one and all. — CHRISTIAN CHENSVOLD
The Lost-Money Look
Eminently suited menswear author G. Bruce Boyer has opined eloquently about the Old Money Look. But now with the economy completely FUBAR, both old and new money can finally schlep around together in the Lost-Money Look. To get the look, simply stop buying new clothes for the next five years. Wear your shirts until they’re …
Arts of Asia: A Japanese Ivy Illustration Gallery
In addition to meticulously researched vintage reproductions, plus the regular dispatching of photographers and reporters to capture American collegiate style in its native habitat, the Japanese have long used illustration as a way of expressing their fervent admiration of Ivy style. From stark line drawings to realistic paintings and silly cartoons, the Japanese continue to …
Writers Block
In 1962 Life ran a group of photos of American authors. Pictured above is James Baldwin, while below is Philip Roth. John O’Hara: Herman Wouk: Peter De Vries: Harrison Salisbury:
Remembering Ithaca Campus Shop Browning King
Previous Ivy Style features on Rowing Blazers triggered a memory of a boathouse named after a haberdasher that used to exist at the Cayuga inlet in Ithaca, New York. The Haskell Davidson Boathouse was built in 1973 and demolished in 2011. When the boathouse was dedicated in 1974, the Ithaca College crew was six years old. …
College Miscellany
Above: University of Pennsylvania, 1949. Below: MIT, 1956: Harvard Divinity School, 1955: Two from the University of Illinois, 1956: Brown, 1938: Tailgate party at Amherst, 1958: St. John’s, 1940:
Travel Day
Good luck on your travels today. According to reports, you’re going to need it.
Left And Right
Looking to the left, hair parted on the right. Drive carefully on your way to the polls. And remember: if two Americans identically dressed in buttondowns, crewnecks and loafers can’t have a civil discussion about politics, then we’re truly doomed.
Pattern Recognition
Recognize anything on the two boys in the center? Sure everyone looks cheerful, but those boys seem to be channeling a kind of inner joy. Could it come from wearing bold patterns? Or is the kind of fellow who’s drawn to bold patterns naturally jovial?
Prep Rally
Ah, the halcyon days at an all-male prep school, mid-century. Here we have two future lawyers shining their shoes while debating the merits of the various Ivies. The Hill School in Pottstown, PA, 1942. Argyle socks and cuffed flannels: Pants so short they go up to your knees when you cross your legs. The Hotchkiss …
Image ‘Stache
Our last post starred Scot Meacham Wood and his rakish mustache. By wayt of follow-up, here’s Ivy Style’s first-ever mustache gallery, featuring many military men from America and England, including my dad! — CC Like this post and want more like it, more often? Help keep Ivy Style going for another decade.
Building A Wardrobe: Mid-Century Architect Style
Architects are generally an international type, the sort who work in minimalist offices with Scandinavian furniture. But during Ivy’s heyday, many of them wore soft-spoken and soft-shouldered suits, even while radically remaking urban skylines. Above, at the 1957 International Building Exhibition in Berlin, Hugh A. Stubbins relaxes while articulating his vision, the epitome of nerd-chic. Below, Architect …
Fount Of Inspiration: Phillips Academy, 1969
Tying together our latest posts on The Andover Shop with recent scans from ’70s-era Polo catalogs comes this charmingly hirsute set of images. Frequent comment-leaver “SE” recently posted a set of links — held in moderation so as to be revealed now — to pages from the 1969 Phillips Academy yearbook. The school is based …