Read through the comments yesterday, and while this is throwing the editorial calendar a little bit out of whack, it got so interesting I thought the conversation should continue. If you disagree, go back to the Andover Shop post, and apply for a job. They are really hiring, fyi. To submit your candidacy, please contact Tucker …
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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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You’ve probably seen the recent trailers for “Monuments Men,” in which George Clooney and Matt Damon play a special unit during World War II assigned with recovering works of art stolen by the Nazis. The movie opened this weekend, though the rating at Rotten Tomatoes is rather low. If anyone’s seen it, let us know. …
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In yesterday’s Old Money post, I left a comment referencing the concept of the dandy as self-made aristocrat. Although in the digital style world “dandy” has the connotation of foppish peacocks at Pitti Uomo, in its original conception it was something quite different. The title character in Louis Auchincloss’ “The Rector of Justin,” a staple …
What is the future of dressing up? Has the pandemic, as many have suggested, killed off proper attire for good? Back in January I published a storybook of “apocalyptic menswear fiction” in which I assembled the entire history of men’s fashion in one place, lit a match and burned it to the ground. And just …
It is remarkable how many references to Brooks Brothers appear in discussions of mid-century American poetry, most of them critical. As the discipline of creative writing grew, more poets found work in the academy. Critics of this new system and the poetry it produced liked to describe these poet-professors as dressed in Brooks Brothers, a …
As American democracy comes to a close and citizens prepare to act out the pantomime of “voting” with a choice between Communism on the one side and Fascism on the other, historic American menswear brand Brooks Brothers is ensuring that no matter what the outcome it will end up on the right side of history. …
“Your wedding day will be the second happiest day after you beat Yale,” Coach told the team in the locker room at Harvard Stadium before The Game. John Phillips’ novel “The Second Happiest Day” may not be great literature, but if you want to experience the heyday of Ivy at Harvard, go find this book. …
I like to teach the essays that the poet Donald Hall wrote in his eighties, beautiful, moving and often funny reflections on literature, aging, and mortality. Before leaving academia, Hall worked as an English professor at the University of Michigan. One summer he retrieved his mail at the department, dressed (as he recounts) in “plastic …
“I’m afraid to ask,” I said woozily, “but where does Trump fit in all of this?” Oldman shook his head with contempt. “A petty Caesar drowning in the swamp. And he will not be joining us here.” He and Mark shared their first amicable glance, and, in perfect sync, intoned together, “His tie’s too long.” …
Traditionally April 1st is the day of the year when Ivy Style makes attempts at being funny. This year the online consensus is that under no circumstances should April Fool’s Day be “celebrated.” After a great deal of pipesmoking deliberation, I have selflessly decided to share the complete prologue and first act of my new …
It would be an understatement to say F. Scott Fitzgerald was an arbiter of the Ivy League Look. A former student at Princeton who, having become absorbed in writing dropped out to write several critically acclaimed books, Fitzgerald helped chronicle the Jazz Age and the clothing styles that came to define it. Though Fitzgerald was …
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I was reclining on the sofa listening to Fred Astaire’s album with Oscar Peterson leading an all-star sextet and floating on a stream of reveries. Astaire cut the album in 1952, and swung his way through songs he’d introduced to America a generation before in those glorious black-and-white …