Thanks to regular comment-leaver “SE” for the recent head’s up on the 1969 Davidson College yearbook, from which I took these screenshots. Yearbooks always provide a fascinating look at college life from the past, and you’ll find several things noteworthy here from a dress and deportment angle. Davidson is located in North Carolina, and the …
Within one year of LIFE Magazine’s 1954 feature “The Ivy Look Heads Across The US,” which surely would have caught the eyes of the apparel industry given the magazine’s enormous circulation, Botany 500 was already jumping on the new menswear trend. You can all but imagine the product development meeting. Let’s come up with a …
No, not the couple. The guy’s outfit in this 1959 illustration. Check out the full image: He’s matched light blue socks to his light blue shirt. That’s a matchy-matchy no-no, to say nothing of harmonizing with the drapery. The other items are fine, including what we assume is a navy knit tie, and penny loafers …
It’s been well noted that the South has hung onto classic American attire better than any other part of the country. It’s certainly a region where traditions are deeply valued. Which is why students at the University Of The South did not jump the Ivy ship en masse like their peers in the Northeast. These …
Michigan halfback Tom Harmon doing his sports radio show, in classic combo of button-down collar, knit tie and cardigan, 1940. Below, crew cuts and crewnecks. University of Illinois, 1956: The archetypal combo of argyle socks and tassel loafers. Looks cooler if you’re 20, though. University of Illinois, 1956: Varsity sweater, OCBD, and lovestruck Wake Forest …
Comment-leaver “Old School “offers this appreciation of the bar stripe necktie, also known as Brooks Brothers’ #3 stripe. * * * It all started in my freshman year in college in 1961. My French professor was an Englishman who came to school every day in a black suit, white broadcloth shirt, and a bar stripe …
Midcentury modern fans, as well as guys who are single (or sometimes wish they were), will likely enjoy heading over to our fraternal site Masculine Interiors for a fine article posted yesterday. It’s about Playboy’s architectural and interior design articles of the ’50s and ’60s, and was written by contributor James Kraus. Kraus’ previous articles …
James Kraus, who has authored a piece for Ivy Style on bachelor cuisine, has alerted us to a post from his vintage automotive blog, Auto Universum. The piece centers around Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman, the Matisse and Picasso of automotive illustration. Writes Kraus: These lush images depicted scenes of glamour and sophistication populated by …
It’s the “Jetsons” era and your job is composing imagined music of the future. To put yourself in the proper frame of mind, what do you wear? Like George Jetson, do you wear a high-tech pullover with a collar that looks like rocket wings? If you’re Bob Thompson — composer of space-age bachelor pad music …
As you break out the tartan jacket and red socks to hit the holiday party circuit, take a tip from Tony Randall and watch out for these fellow guests. In 1957 Randall did a photo shoot in which he portrayed various pests typically encountered at cocktail parties. Pictured above is The Jokester, who amuses himself …
Our confrere Matthew Jacobsen of OldMagazineArticles.com recently supplied us with a vintage article from the pages of Gentry Magazine (see “The Gentrified Campus.”) Now he follows up with another one, this time from Gentry’s Autumn 1952 issue, that provides an eye-opening glimpse into how collegiate attire was presented to young men at the time. As …
Our last post was on Warren Beatty’s being named one of GQ’s men of the year for 2016. A perfect excuse to revisit this 2012 post on the book “Hollywood And The Ivy Look,” which includes Beatty, along with many other leading men and character actors who launched their careers during the heyday of the …
What does a pinned collar make you? Why, there’s only one answer: The three-button undarted suit makes you trad, sunglasses worn with a suit make you cool, and the hat makes you retro. Accessorize as you see fit, but once again Ivy Style HQ encourages you to consider adding a pinned collar in your buttondown …
This post from 2009 came up in conversation yesterday and is worth revisiting. What an incredible mix of people. I had great fun writing this and imagining the scene. * * * One of the saddest phrases in the English language is “You missed a great party.” Well here’s one we all missed. In 1957 …
Last night at the wedding reception for our Millennial Fogey columnist DCG, an old Yalie serenaded the two of us with an old song about a student who can’t afford J. Press clothes but he’s got to have his white bucks, which he wears all the time. It was perhaps in response to George Frazier’s …
Herein are scenes from Democratic National Conventions during the Ivy heyday, including 1960, the year of JFK’s famous “New Frontier” speech, as well as 1968, when there were a series of riots. At the bottom of the post is a short video explaining the context of the riots. — CC
Ivy Style herein presents a post both timely and nostalgic: namely, scenes from kinder, gentler Republican National Conventions.* These mostly date from the heyday of the Ivy League Look, as well as 1980, the year of Reagan/Bush and “The Official Preppy Handbook.” Look for neat haircuts, pipes, sack jackets and rep ties, and a future …
Our recent post called “Pucker Up” featured a vintage ad by Norman Hilton. Always inspiring for showing an elegant and sophisticated take on the natural-shoulder look, here’s a gallery of vintage ads we ran in 2012, with new images added. — CC
Pucker up, and we’re not talking to your oxford cloth. Today is International Kissing Day, and somehow we feel that a kiss in this vintage Norman Hilton ad is inevitable.* — CC * Despite what you may have seen in old movies, always ask permission before kissing someone.