Ivy Style in Europe

By Matthew Longcore

I am very much enjoying a three-week stay in Poland, the country where my wife grew up. We visit her family here every two years. So much of this place inspires me – the architecture, the food, the music, the history. I consider myself fortunate to have married a European woman who can share all of this culture with me.

On this visit, we have spent some time looking at old family photos. My wife’s maternal grandparents were an especially good looking couple. They have a movie star glamour about them. I can see from these photos where my wife gets her beauty. Fair skin, dark hair, light blue eyes. She is a looker, and her grandparents were, too.

In addition to being quite handsome, my wife’s grandfather was known as a sharp dresser. So often when I wear something very “Ivy style” my wife will say to me, “My grandfather had something just like that.” I came across this photo of her grandfather and noticed the three-button jacket. He looks like a perfect model of Ivy style.

Poland, of course, is a long way from the campuses on the East Coast of the United States where the “Ivy League look” first emerged. And yet, it is clear to me that the classic style of menswear we celebrate as “Ivy” has had transatlantic appeal.

I decided to go purposefully looking for Ivy style here in Europe. I found some good examples on visits to two capital cities: Vilnius, Lithuania and Warsaw, Poland.

Dom Bow Ties

On a trip to Vilnius in Lithuania, I came across Dom Bow Ties. Tucked away in a medieval underground space in an historic area of the city known for craft workshops, Dom Bow Ties was established in 2014 and is the first and the only specialized men’s accessories shop in Lithuania. The shop features a photo gallery telling the history of old Vilnius and local personalities who have worn bow ties over the years.

Dom Bow Ties uses a wide range of materials to create their bow ties, from traditional silk, linen, and cotton to innovative use of wood and concrete. For those unfamiliar with how to tie a bow tie, the shop offers demonstrations.  All of the bow ties are handmade in Lithuania and each is carefully packed into a box. Custom orders are available, making Dom Bow Ties an ideal place for gift shopping.

Here is an English translation of a message from the shop about the significance of bow ties:

To us, bow tie is way more than accessory. It is a topic for conversation. It is about style and image. About elegance. About people you want to cheer up. About occasions you prepare for.

Madison Avenue 346

Madison Avenue 346, an elegant store located at Plac Bankowy No. 1 in Warsaw, Poland takes its name from the former location of the Brooks Brothers flagship store in New York City.

Fittingly, the store carries clothing items from Brooks Brothers, along with driving shoes from Tod’s and fragrances from Santa Maria Novella. A window of the store is emblazoned with the caption “Brooks Brothers: The Original American Brand.”

The store features dark paneling, oriental rugs, and all of the visual merchandising that one associates with a traditional Brooks Brothers store – vintage Ivy League pennants from Harvard and Yale, wooden tennis racquets, antique trophies, ship models, straw boaters, and black and white images of students at boarding schools and colleges.

The store has a framed cover of LIFE Magazine from August 29, 1949 featuring “College Fashions.”

Another framed print of an advertisement celebrating the Centenary of Brooks Brothers (1818-1918) with the caption “Messrs. Brooks Brothers announce the completion of their One Hundredth Year as Merchants in the City of New  York. April 7, 1918.”

Brooks Brothers stores in the United States carry fragrances from Royall Lyme of Bermuda. The store in Warsaw carries fragrances from Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, a European heritage brand with over 400 years of history. Santa Maria Novella was the first company to patent perfume. In 1221, Dominican friars moved to Florence and began cultivating herbs near one of the region’s most important churches, Santa Maria Novella. The friars patented a recipe for combining alcohol with herbs and accidentally discovered the process of making perfume. The brand has achieved worldwide fame thanks to its perfumes, which have been produced at the special request of the Queen of France.

Poland even has its own version of Ivy Style, a website known as 4Gentleman.pl from Albert Borowiecki. In 2016, 4Gentleman.pl posted an article about the Brooks Brothers store in Warsaw. Borowiecki states that “Men’s fashion in Poland, according to my observations, has recently undergone an incredible renaissance.” He is shown in the photo below in an interview with Leszek Korwin-Piotrowski, the founder of the only Brooks Brother store in Warsaw, Madison Avenue 346, located at Plac Bankowy No. 1.

According to the article:

“It’s hard to find an American today who isn’t familiar with Brooks Brothers. To this day, Brooks Brothers shirts are a wardrobe staple in many gentlemen’s wardrobes. The company is a prime example of how it connects generations. If my grandfather used their clothes, and my father, why shouldn’t I?”