While I’ve been told I’m conservative in my dress, I certainly don’t consider myself orthodox. I’ve got darted suits with pleated pants (from J. Press). And this depravity will almost certainly ignite the torches among the trad inquisitors: I’ve been known to wear blue oxford-cloth buttondowns with contrasting white collars. I make no apologies, as …
One of the more interesting books I read during my fascination with cultural decadence in my twenties posited that there is no progress or decadence, only change — change interpreted as good or bad. Today I think we can all agree that change is a good thing. As we approach our seventh anniversary, Ivy Style …
Last week saw the deaths of two accomplished men. They came from very different backgrounds, but both would have crossed paths, metaphorically speaking, in the society pages. One as subject, the other as reporter. Frank Zachary (pictured above) was the editor of Town & Country during the WASPy ’80s. The son of Croatian immigrants and …
This week I heard about a prime-time drama on Fox called “Wayward Pines” featuring a preppy with a wayward-fitting school blazer. Apparently the show has a sci-fi theme. I’ve actually been on a sci-fi kick lately since watching a movie called “Predestination,” based on a story by Robert Heinlein. I got a collection of his …
J. Press windbreaker currently on eBay with Buy It Now of $250. Wear it to the Yale Club and see whether they let you in. — CC
Yesterday the New York Post’s gossip column Page Six reported on the annual meeting of the Yale Club, where some members aren’t too happy about all the tatterdemalions running amok. Writes the paper: One member wrote in a letter to the club, “A horrifying example of this denouement, this sad decline in the atmosphere and …
Yesterday saw the e-publication of phase one of Richard Press’ memoirs, which he has been hard at work on for the past couple of years (and which is why you haven’t seen as many Golden Years columns). The lengthy stand-alone essay, entitled “Rebel Without A Suit,” is available from Amazon for $2.99 and can be …
Take a look at the illustration in this vintage advertisement: would you like pants like that? Recently I’ve been in talks with a menswear manufacturer about making a batch of khakis with a very specific cut: full rise with a leg that tapers to a relatively narrow opening. It’s a very heyday kind of look …
This post originally ran this week in June of 2009. Since then I have referenced it regularly. The novel in question dramatizes what it was like for a young man of the 1950s to leave the netherworld of the West Coast for Princeton and learn the nuances of proper dress from his peers. * * …
Turnout for yesterday’s Seersucker Thursday on Capitol Hill was a modest nine, down from previous years. It was also predominantly, though not exclusively, Republican. In the interest of balance, here’s a brief history of political seersucker, courtesy of NPR. — CC Update: There are some quotes from me in this article at The Daily Caller. …
Jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman has died at the age of 85. Here is the Wall Street Journal’s coverage. I don’t know what the guys are wearing in this photo, but for me it’s always been the epitome of ’50s-“Talented Mr. Ripley” suited-up blacks-and-whites making music together jazz cool. — CC
Yahoo! Finance talks to Federica Marchionni, formerly an executive at Dolce & Gabanna, who became CEO of Lands’ End in February. This makes Lands’ End another in the list of American brands to come under foreign leadership. “My mission is to transform this incredible American iconic company into a meaningful global lifestyle brand,” Marchionni says …
On May 23, The New York Times ran a story called “Catching A College’s Eye,” based on an open call the Times holds for college application essays that address the subjects of money and class. One of the high school students featured is Jon Carlo Dominguez, pictured above in a Times photo by Bryan Anselm. …
National Seersucker Day is a week from today. To get the festivities started, see if you can guess the maker of the jacket above, which is currently for sale by an American retailer. The jacket has a 3/2 roll, patch pockets, and no darts (though obviously some shaping). — CC
June arrived with a letter of introduction in my inbox from Logan Szidik, a young style entrepreneur looking to corner the market on preppy dog collars. No kidding: Szidik, a 23-year-old who graduated last year from the University of Vermont, has launched a collection called Logan Richard featuring collars for canines and belts for humans. …
Today Jay Walter, longtime head of made-to-measure at J. Press‘ New York store, has reunitede with the company, working out of a suite located at 3rd Avenue and 40th Street. — CC
Did designers at Ralph Lauren find a fountainhead of inspiration in the Rand-reading, madras-clad scoundrel from “Dirty Dancing?” This outfit from the Spring/Summer 2015 collection, at least from the waist up, echoes the screen shot in our last post. — CC
Yesterday was the birthday of John F. Kennedy. Here are a few pictures of him while a student at Choate, submitted by a reader a couple of birthdays ago. Above Kennedy is pictured in buttondown collar, which he would abandon during his presidential election — the first to reach a mass audience via television — …
“Blood lust” describes my passion for Daniel Horowitz’s engrossing saga, “On The Cusp: The Yale Class Of 1960 And A World On The Verge Of Change.” Dan Horowitz grew up around the corner from me in New Haven. We haven’t been in touch for over 50 years, but his visit to the Ivy Style Exhibit …