This edition of Ivy Trendwatch is focused on the United Kingdom, where there are several news items worth mentioning. First off is the February issue of Esquire UK, which carries this article on “Hollywood and the Ivy Look” (the article evidently has an accompanying fashion shoot; if someone can scan and send to us it …
Yesterday I rode up to the sixth floor at 346 Madison Avenue for a preview of Brooks’ next season. The spokesmen admitted the company hasn’t been playing up their heritage quite as well as it could, and the fall 2012 collection full of clever self-referencing.
The Ivy Trendwatch and prep-for-the-masses have been hit with a massive setback as JC Penney has finally pulled the plug on its disastrous budget-prep collection American Living, created in partnership with Ralph Lauren. When the collection launched in 2008, I was living in Los Angeles and went to the department store to have a look. …
J. Press (or “J. Squeeze,” for old-school guys in-the-know) is finally getting into the heritage and slim-fit game with its new 110th anniversary collection. Here’s the skinny: Svelte guys will now be able to get a pocket-flap oxford in a more streamlined cut. How streamlined? I asked J. Press’ general manager for specs, but he’s …
Last weekend I met up with Ivy Style contributors Zachary DeLuca and Jason Marshall for two of the smaller menswear trade shows. The highlight was a long session with Crittenden Rawlings, a longtime business associate of my girlfriend’s. “Critt,” as he’s known by friends and colleagues, is a menswear industry veteran who came out of …
Time fo a Tradsville news roundup. First up is Rugby, which currently has buckle-back chinos on sale for forty bucks. We’ve previously written about these several times (most recently in Christopher Sharp’s piece on the h.i.s. brand, which has been largely credited with the buckle trend circa 1955), and I’ll admit to an inexplicable hankering …
Hollywood’s status as an epicenter of impeccable sartorial taste is long gone, but there was at least one guest at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards who gave a nod to the well tailored days of yore. That man was talent agent Ben Press, son of former J. Press president and Ivy Style columnist Richard Press. Company …
This weekend I received an email from Brooks Brothers with a surprisingly terse subject line. No long-winded winter sale announcements, such as “plus free shipping on orders over $200.” This one simply said “Be Radical.” Was Brooks introducing a line of X-Games-inspired athleticwear? I opened the message and found that the mailer was a plug …
On Thursday evening writer-director Whit Stillman, auteur of the Preppydämmerung film “Metropolitan,” will host a screening at “online movie theater” Constellation.tv. Through online chat the fillmmaker will answer viewer questions and will also present the trailer from his upcoming movie “Damsels In Distress.” The viewing costs $3.99 and the Wall Street Journal has this handy …
The Daily Mail recently reported on Franklin & Marshall — no, not the liberal arts college founded in Lancaster, PA in 1787, the Italian fashion brand. Seems a couple of designers found an old college t-shirt, and, without bothering to research its origins, decided it would make a cool name for a logo-driven sportswear brand. …
Last night Brooks Brothers held its annual Christmas party, which benefits the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, at its Madison Avenue flagship. My third year in attendance (but my first one in brown flannels), the event seemed larger than usual and there was revelry on every floor. I took a few snapshots of guys who …
It’s easy to bemoan the death of American manufacturing, but much harder to go and discover historic facilities that still exist. That’s exactly what Bill Thomas did when he set out to produce an American-made Shetland sweater and made an illuminating discovery. “When we set out to introduce a fully fashioned American-made Shetland sweater, we …
Allen Edmonds has just unveiled a new collection of higher-end shoes priced at $445. Dubbed the Independence Collection, with models named for signers of the Declaration of Independence, the shoes feature a sole detail called wheeling (pictured above) that had remained locked in the archives, unused, for the past 30 years. Pictured below is an …
Much news in Tradsville over the past week. First up is the “Take Ivy” movie, which I’ve just finished watching. A DVD of it is included in the current issue of the Japanese magazine Oily Boy. A friend in Japan ripped and uploaded it, but asked that I not share. Sorry, guys. The film is …
The handful of 50-somethings who comprise the UK Ivy style tribe put on their best wide lapels and skinny ties (the unfortunate result of buying vintage clothing from different decades) and gathered last Thursday at trad shrine John Simons to celebrate the launch of the book “Hollywood and the Ivy League Look” by Graham Marsh. …
If you’re a trad on a budget and want some “Take Ivy” jacket details but can’t afford RL/Rugby prices, take a look at these two jackets by Lands’ End with a student/professor vibe and cheap tuition. Above is a herringbone sportcoat that was on sale last week for about $165 (it’s currently back up to …
I’ve been working at a magazine for the past few weeks and today my first issue came from the printers. The magazine is called Quest and is basically New York’s last Society magazine — capital S. We cover the Upper East Side/Hamptons/Greenwich/Palm Beach crowd. They were closing the November issue when I started and I …
Brooks Brothers has historically taken its inspiration from across the pond — England, to be precise. Now it’s looked across a smaller, home-grown pond and found an amphibian celebrity to outfit. Today the company announced that in addition to its roster of presidents, captains of industry and rogues and gentlemen, it has now dressed a …
Rest in peace Andy Rooney: writer, humorist, striped-watchband wearer. — CC