President’s Day: JFK’s One Semester In Tigertown
From John F. Kennedy’s one semester at Princeton in the fall of 1935. He would eventually graduate from Harvard. Head over here for a short write-up on an exhibit held at Princeton in 2011. — CC
David Marx Interview With Kamakura’s Yoshio Sadasue
Tokyo-based W. David Marx, author of the recent book “Ametora,” has just posted an English translation of an extensive 2013 interview with Yoshio Sadasue, founder of Kamakura Shirts, as part of his research for the book. Much of the interview centers around Sadasue’s years at VAN and the early days of Ivy in Japan. Sadasue …
Black History Month: A Gallery Of Polo’s African-American Models
His brand image draws largely on WASP iconography, and he himself, of course, is a Jew. But that didn’t stop Ralph Lauren from being a fashion-industry trailblazer in the early ’90s when he hired African-American model Tyson Beckford as the new face of Polo. Since then black models have been a commonplace is the brand’s …
Blue’s Clues
When last I spoke to J. Press, I was told that the whole brand was being brought under one design department, and that department would be based in Tokyo. So what might the new J. Press Blue collection look like when it finally makes it to US stores and e-commerce? These images from J. Press’ …
Press Unveils York Street Replacement J. Press Blue
Today J. Press sent out an email blast promoting its new spring collection. When I landed on the site, I saw that York Street was no longer there. Previously Press had operated two sites, one for York Street and one for the main collection. The site is now integrated, which makes a lot more sense. …
Cracked Shoes And Old Clothes
Yesterday on Ivy’s Facebook group much fun was had over a Daily News article about Jeb Bush, who was spotted with a piece of duct tape holding his shoes together. Nobody at the paper, or in the readership, know where that comes from, but for Tradsville it’s probably Bush’s most Old Money gesture in the …
Rah Rah: How I Built My College Pennant Collection
I have a little more than passing interest in the history of American colleges and collegiate style. I studied them, among other things, as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. I have a master’s degree in higher education, and have also done some work as an illustrator. All this translates into my liking …
Trailer For Miles Davis Biopic Released
Perfectly timed for our Black History Month coverage, the first trailer for Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic has been released. The film has been in development for nearly a decade. When I’d last read about the film, it was going to be set in Miles’ funkadelic period. According to the trailer, while the ’70s constitute …
Battle Of The Wits Contest: Trad Means Never Having To Say… ?
The 1970 film “Love Story” is noteworthy for introducing the term “preppy” to a wider American audience. It also introduced the popular catch phrase, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Yesterday on Ivy Style’s Facebook group I mused, “And trad means never having to say…?” Some clever comebacks followed, and so here we …
Grin And Barrett: Love Story Stars Reunite At Harvard
Ryan O’Neal, who plays rich kid Oliver Barrett IV in the 1970 film “Love Story,” recently reunited with his co-star Ali McGraw on the Harvard campus, where the film was shot and set. Wikipedia offers this bit of trivia: Filming Love Story on site caused damage to the Harvard campus; this, and a similar experience …
Billaxy Blues: Troll Takes Down Septuagenarian Blogger
The web persona known as “Billax” may have been “wearing the Ivy League Look since 1958” — the name of his website — but it only took a couple of years of blogging to get creeped out by a troll and decide to quit. On Sunday Billax announced that he is shuttering the site after …
Japanese Magazine Free & Easy To Shutter
The Japanese trad magazine Free & Easy, which has been publishing since 1998, will cease operations with its March issue. — CC 1998年9月の創刊以来、皆様にご支援いただいておりました月刊誌『Free&Easy』ですが、 3月号(1月30日発売)をもちまして休刊させていただきますことを、お知らせいたします。 発行から17年以上もの間、絶大なご支援をいただきましたことを、この場を借りて厚く御礼申し上げます。 大変ありがとうございました。今後のお問い合わせにつきましては、以下の通りです。 問い合わせ先：info-fe@east-com.co.jp
Squashed! Being A WASP Is Just Bad Politics
Tomorrow is the Iowa caucases and one thing’s for sure: Jeb Bush is going to get squashed. That means his father, pictured above in uber-WASPy squash-themed necktie (albeit not during his presidency) may be destined to be the last WASP president. In a Friday editorial for USA Today, Windsor Mann entitled his column “Trump, Jeb …
Esquire’s Academic Clothes Curriculum, 1947
Yesterday Esquire announced that David Granger is out as editor after helming the magazine for nearly 20 years. His replacement is Jay Fielden, who had been overseeing Town & Country. Will Esquire return to the way it was from the ’30s to the ’60s? Not likely. All the more reason to put your subscription money …
The Longwing And Short Of It: Menswear Market Week Finale
Here’s the remainder of what I saw this week. Apologies for the poor photo quality; everyone was complaining about the harsh lighting. Above, the super-premium longwing from Nettleton, price $795, made in Belgium. Below, tassel loafer. Note French cord stitch on vamp: Tweed slippers from Res Ipsa, founded by two lawyers in Atlanta: The sprawling …
Duck Dynasty: Crittenden & DH At Menswear Market Week
Once again the most elaborate booth inside New York’s Javits Center, where menswear market week is held, belonged to Duck Head and the two other brands in its dynasty, the high-tech outwear brand Gyde and Crittenden. Kentucky-based Critt Rawlings is a menswear veteran with deep Ivy roots, having worked at Norman Hilton and Polo in …
George Will To Sell Bow Ties At Episcopal Church Auction
OK, that an Onion headline. In other words, a joke. It’s the punchline; now for the setup. It used to be that Brooks Brothers was popular shorthand for the establishment, showing up in lyrics for “Harvard Blues” and the libretto for “Guys And Dolls.” Even in the year 2000 “the Brooks Brothers riot” was coined …
Has Japan Run Out Of American Ideas?
Earlier this week, Derek at Put This On posted a lengthy Q&A with W. David Marx, Ivy Style contributor and author of the new book “Ametora” about Ivy, trad and Americana in Japan. It’s a smart conversation that Ivy omnivores will want to check out. Here’s a teaser: It feels like Americana, prep, and denim …
Comfort And Neatness, 1949
From the September, 1949 issue of Esquire. Subscribe to the digital archives here. From the University of Maine to UCLA, college men spend most of their time pounding the books in class, in the dorm, or in the library with Miss Distraction of 1949. Their keynote is comfort and neatness. The fellow in the window …