We’ve had such a steady stream of newsy material that the menswear trade shows have been put off for months. So for the rest of this week I’ll be posting photos from shows in January, springtime, and just a couple of weeks ago. In other words, there will be a seasonal mixture. Check back on …
I was on a film set with Robin Williams once, working as a dance extra on his movie “Bicentennial Man.” It was a disastrous night of shooting. Already behind schedule, the lighting set the sprinkler system off at San Francisco’s City Hall, where we were filming. It flooded the set and delayed us yet hours …
Nick Hilton just sent over photos of the new Norman Hilton sportcoats we posted about recently. Made in the US, they will be priced at $695-$795, or about the same as last time around. They are scheduled to arrive in Hilton’s Princeton shop in the next few weeks. — CC
We’re long overdue for an update on Kamakura Shirts. A couple months ago I had coffee with the NYC store manager and a a member of the founder’s family visiting from Japan, and they said the New York store is doing just great. In fact, they’re currently scouting for a second NY location, likely in …
Following the mention of Paul Fussell’s pinpoint-accurate and hilarious book “Class” in our last post, faithful reader “Old School” sent us a reminder about another entertaining class theorist, Russell Lynes. The above chart comes from Lynes’ 1949 book “The Tastemakers.” His 1953 Esquire article on the shoe hierarchy at Yale, which we presented several years …
This ad from a 1959 issue of Sports Illustrated is interesting for a number of reasons. Most obvious is the ad’s premise of dressing young. From our perspective 55 years later, the men in the ad could hardly look more mature. Yet such were the small distinctions of suit-wearing at the time. Then, in the …
In a previous article, I mentioned that native prints are not common among Ivy retailers today. This possibly overreaching assessment prompted me to make a more thoughly investigation of current offerings. I approached O’Connell’s, the purveyor of all things traditional and known for its expansive collection of old stock. I struck out in finding any …
A few weeks ago, on a short jaunt to Westchester County, I passed a sign for Ossining and immediately thought of John Cheever. Now it turns out the former house of the author nicknamed “Ovid in Ossining” is for sale. Newsweek has a great story on both the author and the property. — CC
Was batik really worn by college men, or was it a marketing ploy by clothiers, as one reader recently suggested? Evidence courtesy of Lehigh University yearbooks from 1961-65. — CC & CS
Some examples of ads from campus newspapers during the Ivy heyday. In the next post, we’ll show you some examples of batik in 2014. — CS & CC
As we reach the heart of summer, I sense a deprivation. It goes virtually unnoticed, and yet it is there for any Ivy enthusiast to investigate. The stores are full of the requisite madras and seersucker, but little else. Compared to the Ivy boom years, or even the golden age of the 1930s, it appears …
In a 1973 issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Richard K. Rein wrote about P-Town’s legendary clothing shop Langrock. “Princeton’s oldest and most successful men’s clothing store,” he wrote, “is a curious mix of effete snobbery, highbrow intellectualism, and small town warmth and personal service that remained singularly unruffled by the sweeping sartorial changes occurring …
This morning a small new collection called Tracksmith launched. It’s the first thing in a long time we’ve felt should be categorized under Ivy Trendwatch. The founder, Matt Taylor, you see, is a Yale grad and the Ivy League is referenced as a style wellspring in the running-wear company’s marketing material. For example: Tracksmith offers …
Choir boys going to hell.
Actor James Garner has died at the age of 86. In 1963 he donned 3/2-roll suit to play opposite Doris Day in the Atomic Age sex comedy “Move Over Darling.” Garner is pictured above in the book “Hollywood And The Ivy Look.” Click here for the New York Times write-up. — CC
From The Daily Princetonian, 1949.
We return to the topic of Langrock, the lengendary Princeton clothier, with these two ads from the 1970s aimed at the campus community. Together they illustrate how the shop viewed itself following the fall in popularity of the Ivy League Look. In the top ad, Langrock touts itself as a noble knight defending the …
When we change the clocks twice a year, we remember the direction with the mnemonic device “spring forward, fall back.” But these days retailers bring out next season’s clothes earlier and earlier, and as soon as July 4th was over there were already signs of fall. Yesterday Brooks Brothers sent out an email blast plugging …
Our last post was on Nick Hilton’s blog post about Langrock, and today he sent out a mailer announcing the return of the Norman Hilton sportcoats he recently produced. More info as we get it. — CC