Historic Texts
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From The Editor
Ivy is a fashion born of a mindset manifested in a lifestyle. There are values attached: dignity, the value and power of thought, ethics, hard work, aesthetics, appreciation of all things classic, and the dogged pursuit of excellence. While Ivy evolves (I haven’t worn socks since Easter) the values don’t. If you are a …
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Allen Edmonds’ Gorgeous New Acheson Tassel Loafer
Pictured above is a gorgeous new tassel loafer that just landed on Allen Edmonds’ website and hits stores next week. Dubbed the Acheson, I think it’s the tassel loafer of my dreams and here’s why. Tassels are my go-to shoe; I’ve several pairs and wear them 90% of the time. But even though the ones …
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Dateline 1954, The Ivy League Look Heads Across The US
Alison Lurie on Being Rich and Dull
Macy’s Knows Its Yale, 1941
The Aristocrat of Topcoats: Boyer on the Polo Coat
The Ivy League Look In Australia In The ’50s
Dirty White Bucks & An Ivy League Coat
Crashing the Boys Club: The Birth of the Brooks Brothers Woman
Terminal Preppies: Skewered, Stuffed, And Put To Good Use
Somewhere in Time: The Preppy ’80s
“If one more person comes in here and asks for Bass Weejuns, I think I’ll scream,” says an Atlanta saleswoman in a 1980 article from Time Magazine. A more muted but equally frustrated voice can be heard from a Time writer in an article several months later while writing about New York’s soon-to-be-closed Biltmore Hotel: …
The Rights Stuff: The Publication of “Take Ivy”
It’s been nine years since the publication of a mysterious Japanese picture book called “Take Ivy.” The following is our 2010 interview with Wes Del Val, vice president and associate publisher at powerHouse Books, on how the viral phenomenon came about. * * * IS: “Take Ivy” isn’t due to come out for another month, …
There’s Only One Brooks Brothers: Coronet Magazine, 1950
I’ve previously presented two articles on Brooks Brothers from the troubled Marks & Spencer era. This one, from four decades earlier, was featured in the September, 1950 issue of the Esquire-owned digest Coronet, and also reflects a time of corporate management change. In 1946 Brooks Brothers was bought by the Washington, DC department store known …
The College Man By Albert J. Beveridge, 1905
The College Man By Albert J. Beveridge From ‘The Young Man And The World” Go to college. Go to the best possible college for you. Patiently hold on through the sternest discipline you can stand, until the course is completed. It will not be fatal to your success if you do not go; but you …
Bourbon For Breakfast! A Tribute To Mad Magazine
Last month Mad Magazine announced it would cease publication after 67 years. No surprise: humor is dead. Here’s a piece from the olden days, when Mad sought fit to spoof the advertising men of Madison Avenue.
Don’t Call It Collegiate: Apparel Arts, 1933
I found this post sitting on Ivy Style’s server, never published. The only note is that it dates from a 1933 issue of Apparel Arts. * * * The word “collegiate,” now seldom used in speaking of college men, is altogether foreign to its famous meaning of some eight years ago, when the raccoon coat, …
Leading Men: The Princetonians
When it comes to starting fashion trends, there’s Princeton and then there’s every other school. From the three-button suit to its namesake haircut, Princeton has popularized such menswear staples as Norfolk jackets, raccoon coats, tweed sport coats, rep ties, spectator shoes, khaki pants and Shetland sweaters. Princeton’s sartorial influence has been dulled by time, but …
Freshman Blues: Trying Not to Flunk Out of Yale, 1965
What was it like for a public-school kid from nowhere to go to an Ivy League school during the heyday? Sure, you got to wear cool clothes (once you figured out what they were), but even that was fraught with anxiety. At least it was for Timothy Thompson, whose first semester at Yale was full of …
Going Down: Brooks, Escalators, and Marks & Spencer
When Marks & Spencer installed elevators in Brooks Brothers’ Madison Avenue flagship, they only went down. Widely acknowledged for monumental mismanaging Brooks, hastening a decline in quality and the isolation of lifelong customers, the UK apparel firm Marks & Spencer eventually sold Brooks Brothers in 2001 after 13 years and hundreds of millions in losses. This …
J. Press, A Frat House Where Everyone’s Dad Is Rich
I recently discovered this article about J. Press buried in the files on my computer. Richard Press sent it to me so long ago he doesn’t even remember it. He says he believes it’s from 1987 and a magazine called Success. Consider it successfully resurrected. — CC