You mean to tell me Betsy Ross did not make the first flag? Stand by. The story of Betsy Ross goes a lot like the story of me approaching Jay Butler to make some Ivy Style shoes. Washington comes up to Ross and says, “Can you help me make a flag?” (That is SO hands …
Trend is a dopamine hit, an understandable one. Who doesn’t like new, the zap you get from a change, a piqued curiosity? Trend serves us in a number of places. The markets (the markets love volatility). Social progress (where a trend leads to a more permanent evolution). Etc. My least favorite word is trend. There …
Before this, I ran the FB group for a few years. That job was/is an exercise in a few things – the hardest of which was to pick the right level of snark with those who disagreed with me. I wanted to be funny, but also get the point across, but maintain dignity. Right? So …
Give an Ivy Classicist the rules about when and where to wear sneakers and they are shod for a day. Make the rules together and they are shod for a lifetime. That’s shod – twice in one paragraph. Hang on. YES. It means what I wanted it to. Let us begin the session with common …
Editor’s Note: These are in stock. record needle scratch No, for real, in stock. No waiting until Thanksgiving, no only-size-we-have-fits-your-kid. In stock. Now. For real. These are khakis that you can build your entire wardrobe around. My first professional writing gig was for an investor relations company, which, in a branding blown tire of the …
The idea of a handsome young man with an Ivy uniform entering public life when they have other, more lucrative options. Remind you of anyone? I met James Darley at a J. Press event. I mean, I knew who he was before that. He had posted some really good images in the Facebook Group, hereafter …
Editor’s Note: DEFINITELY NOT including how hard it is to transfer, how hard it is to incorporate a decade of content into a redesign, the fact that Women’s Ivy is confusing to me so I can’t write it, and how much it costs to host. It’s coming up on a year. I LOVE THIS WORK. …
Editor’s Note: Like we did on Memorial Day, if you have a photo of you and your child that you would like me to post here, please email it to JohnBurton@Ivy-StyleMediaGroup.com. I will post them today, tomorrow, and Saturday as they come in. That’s my daughter, Gramercy, asleep a few days ago after one …
There was a period of Ivy marketing where you couldn’t determine much about how any product was different from any other product because the photography looked… the same. And then a decade passed and you couldn’t determine much about the product, or even what decade you were looking at because the photography looked… the same. …
This is my day today, started at 3:15, did the pages (I write three handwritten pages every morning, first thing – you know how you dump out the old grinds before you make new coffee, some of them hug the sides of the filter because it is wet and you have to rinse the filter …
The first line of the Origin Story on their new website is, “Original Madras Trading Company is a family business with a checkered past.” I am friends with Prasan. I didn’t make that joke on our site before this, but I should have. The Original Madras Company is The Source. For madras. Not surfing. Their …
Here are your choices. It is nonsense to care THIS MUCH about how you dress (you’re on an Ivy site friend) and still argue that you don’t care about packaging. Rhys Moore, the CEO of St John Bay Rum, may have found that perfect middle ground between historic preservation and cultural relevance. Layered is a …
“Out of all the pearls I can buy in the world, I need my college best friend’s two dollar necklace.” – Vaishali College is not the given it once was. I am fashioning this divining rod for college as my daughter graduates her freshman year in high school. And I am struggling. She has the …
So the WOCBD OCD thing is kinda worked out, I got a bunch of blue shirts, and when I wear them I don’t itch or walk in circles. One must always pursue growth. Not wearing a repp tie though, that was Lithium-Withdrawal- Hard. But this tie from Mountain & Sackett: Here it is, …
If you have a Presidential Memorial Day quote you would like us all to see, please post it in the comments and I will find a photo to go with it and post it between now and Tuesday morning. Tuesday is our review of Mountain & Sackett’s Spring/Summer ties, but until then have a safe …
What’s that cover image? It is the St. Leonard’s Women’s Lacross Team, 1890. Why is it here? Two reasons. First, it is a cool image and lacrosse is Ivy. Four Ivy League schools in the final eight for national title this year. Second, got my butt beat doing a boxing training with a female trainer …
I would like to think that if Roger Angell were a guitar player with a teen daughter, he would wear an earring. He definitely combined worlds. As a word-by-word best-in-class editor whose mother married E.B. White (and didn’t tell him), Angell could have written anything, and he chose to focus on a game. Baseball. Roger …
Next week we will be moving the site, AND signing off on final design changes. Last call for thoughts, contributions, etc. A few ideas still kicking around. First, that you would have to subscribe to comment (not a paid subscription). That would take a few months to implement, just verifying the subscriptions, but the …
Thank you to J. Press for hosting a wonderful evening. A number of great things happened. First, I FINALLY got to meet Laura Arnold in person. Mountain & Sackett, the company that is 3rd generation family owned and makes their silk-on-both-sides ties, has their spring collection out. I am going to review it later …