Recently I was asked to participate in a new side project from Christian Barker, my former editor at The Rake. Barker founded a site called Men’s Top Tens, part of which consists of style commandments from his colleagues in the menswear, media and luxury goods industries. The piece gives me an opportunity to talk about …
Our recent post on the new business casual dress code at JP Morgan and PricewaterhouseCoopers inspired this quip in the comments section: So glad Weiner ended ‘Mad Men’ so I never will have to watch a 60-year-old Don Draper wear a size large OCBD with Top-Siders and chinos to the office. Which got me wondering: …
Not me, though. We’re in the middle of a heat wave and I’m miserable without golf and tennis. I’ll take a polar vortex any day. OK I can’t play golf or tennis then either, but at least I don’t sweat just sitting at my desk. Playwright Arthur Miller liked ’em hot — women, that is. …
A new Samsung commercial running during the Olympics features Christoph Waltz, the Austrian actor who rose from obscurity in his fifties to win the Academy Award for his portrayal of the SS colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” Many critics called his performance the greatest portrayal of a villain in cinematic history. Fans …
This post may seem like it’s preaching to the choir, but in any given month about 50% of Ivy Style’s traffic consists of first-time visitors. So this is one is for those who are logging on for the first time. And for all you regulars, here’s something to pass along to your coworkers to help …
A couple of nights ago I attended a cozy media event sponsored by Allen Edmonds. Not much news to report, though there may be some coming: I made two suggestions on shoes they should produce. Afterwards I realized I was just a few blocks away from my favorite source for Levi’s: JC Penney in Herald …
When it comes to choosing a fragrance, I steer clear of anything citrusy. Sorry, but I have no intention of smelling like a fruit salad. I like heavy fragrances exuding leather, wood and tobacco. Or rum and spice. That I like them is the most important thing, but I think women find them compelling as …
Is it me or is this the least exciting Olympics ever? I hadn’t paid attention to when it was starting, but tonight is evidently the opening ceremony. Perhaps it would be more enjoyable to watch the Cary Grant film “Walk Don’t Run,” which is set at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with a plot contrivance that …
And you thought bit loafers were polarizing? Precocious menswear buff Al Castiel III, a Boston University student spending his summer interning in New York in the Paul Stuart custom department, herein offers an ode to the dainty, delicate footwear specimen known as the Belgian Shoe. * * * Just off the corner of Park Avenue …
I’d just chatted with Alden president Robert Clark a couple of weeks ago at the big menswear trade show here in New York. He didn’t mention this developing news story, but he confirmed it yesterday via email. Apparently following a request from Gucci, Alden is discontinuing its bit loafer. “Gucci did ask us to stop …
The popular fashion website Racked has a lengthy feature on the future of the Ralph Lauren brand. The reporter interviewed me extensively, and I must admit my pessimism shows. Here’s an excerpt: Ralph Lauren is going through operational struggles during not only a tumultuous period in the retail industry, but also a time that’s seeing …
On Monday we reported on “Indignation,” the Philip Roth adaptation that opens today. Well another movie is hitting theaters as well, a documentary on comedy in the age of perpetual outrage called “Can We Take A Joke?” As a tribute to the gentle art of making people laugh, here’s a mini-gallery of comedic actor Leslie …
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about the DNC, here’s a style tribute to collar-pin devotee Adlai Stevenson, onetime Democratic presidential hopeful. In 1952, Richard Nixon called him an egghead (a pejorative term for an intellectual, for younger readers unfamiliar with the term). His baldness may have also had something to do with it, which …
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
The late ’80s and early ’90s brought us several coming-of-age films set in elite prep schools, such as “Dead Poets Society,” “School Ties,” and “Scent Of A Woman.” They don’t make movies like that anymore, save for once in a blue moon. Well, that blue moon is here. July 29th sees the opening of “Indignation,” …
I’m pretty confident that my personal style reflects, at least in part, a subset of Eastern dress that could be called Annapolitan Trad. It’s not thrifty, scratchy-wool, down-east Yankee. It’s not pressed khakis and bow-tie ACC tailgating, either. And it’s certainly not Upper East Side Belgian shoes or Prince Albert slippers. But, like those styles, …
Yesterday I stopped by J. Press’ location in the West Village to visit DCG and see the latest displays and merchandise. Let’s have a look. Above, collar pin with fastened buttondown and skull and bones lapel pin. Below, braces and ball cap: And speaking of ball caps, the one on the right spells out “got …
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 …
This weekend a political coup was attempted in Turkey, leaving many dead and the country in turmoil. In the interest of levity, Ivy Style presents the style icon Ahmet Ertegun. Ertegun (above left) was the cofounder of Atlantic Records and is responsible for helping launching the careers of Ray Charles, Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, …