As one grows older and presumable wiser, one should come to the realization that everything in the world that evokes a strong reaction — whether positive or negative — is a reflection of something within oneself. One can only be sure that an object or person is not symbolic of something that arouses unconscious feelings …
Today we revisit this 2010 Japanese interview with Arthur Tarlow, then president of Alden. In it Tarlow talks about how immigrant craftsmen from various European countries brought their own styles and techniques to the US, the confluence of which became a distinct style of shoemaking he calls “American Traditional.” — CC
A few days ago I met Tom Davis in Central Park to snap a few photos. I’m planning to share some of his spiritual wisdom at Trad Man (please chip in if you can; the Kickstarter campaign ends in a week and we’ve a ways to go), and needed a shot of him. We did …
With this post Ivy-Style brought our 2010 Preppy Week to a close, which we herein revisit for some hearty chuckles. Click here to have the Dead Kennedys’ “Terminal Preppie” play in another browser window as you rejoice in the demise of Biff and Muffy. Every trend carries within it the seed of its own negation. …
We wrap up the workweek with a roundup of recent news items. First off, today is the anniversary of JFK’s assassination. I didn’t know that there had been an earlier attempt in 1960, which was foiled by the Palm Beach Police Department. Ivy Style’s plentiful posts on the former president can all be found here. …
“If one more person comes in here and asks for Bass Weejuns, I think I’ll scream,” says an Atlanta saleswoman in a 1980 article from Time Magazine. A more muted but equally frustrated voice can be heard from a Time writer in an article several months later while writing about New York’s soon-to-be-closed Biltmore Hotel: …
Here’s a fine example of the value of the library of information we’ve built up over the past 11 years. This morning I awoke to a text message from Ivy Style contributor Trevor Jones, showing me how he’d taken inspiration from our recent “rich and dull” repost. Trevor was too young to pull off the …
A terrific vintage illustration, presumably late ’40s to early ’50s judging by those lapels. You’ll likely wish to copy everything but those. Update: original source found:
In celebration of the Ralph Lauren HBO special that aired last week (chime in if you saw it, as I didn’t), here are some vintage images recently posted to Ivy’s Facebook group. Most of these are new to me and might be to you, too. At the risk of sounding like someone who works in …
Update: As requested in light of today’s news, we revisit our interview with Roger Stone for you to bemoan or celebrate the verdict on his trial. After the publication of Friday’s story on political supervillain Roger Stone, contributing writer Eric Twardzik received an unexpected call from Stone, leading to an exclusive interview in which the …
Today WWD reported that Brooks Brothers has hired the investment bank PJ Solomon with eyes on a possible sale. As heard through the grapevine, there was talk that Claudio Del Vecchio would get through the 200th anniversary in 2018 and then perhaps look into unloading the brand. WWD content is blocked by a paywall, but …
This is a long one, but worth watching in full. Students in jackets and ties make their first appearance at 4:26, and return repeatedly, so be patient during the long science-lab scene. — CC
I went to William And Mary, graduating in 1974, the second Watergate summer. My Richmond, Virginia public high school was a sea of Ivy style dress, as was the city itself, served by incredible downtown department stores and specialty men’s stores in the heyday. As the ’70s arrived, I drifted from the Ivy style I’d grown …
We’ve previously written on how the Ivy League Look was the perfect garb to gain approval from a girl’s father. Even though a boy had wolfish intentions, in white bucks and a crew cut he might convince her parents to let her stay out past 10. Now here’s a tune that makes the same case: …
There are several big media pieces worth our looking at. As they came across my desk one by one, a certain theme emerged. The three pieces in question concern WASPs, men’s magazines, and finally a men’s magazine’s view of WASPs, among other things. First up is City Journal, which reports on the end of men’s …
Several Ivy-Style readers have left interesting comments recently, mentioning how they’ve been wearing button-downs and Weejuns for 50 years, and stuff like that. Here’s a comment on the Brooks Brothers novel post from a reader who worked at Brooks at the time: I took a year off from college and worked at Brooks from fall …
The rolls of shirt collars are as subtle as the taste of hops in beer and identify their maker just as quickly. Shirtmakers and merchants distinguish their wares by the stitch along the front of a collar, how far from the placket the collar buttons are attached, the collar’s height and shape, and an arcane …
Update: Kamakura has just edited and uploaded a longer version of its interview with me: * * * Kamakura Shirts took a big risk when it opened a shop on Madison Avenue in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. After all, no one had ever heard of them. But it was the dream of owner Yoshio …
During the Taisho era (1912-1926) and the preceding Meiji era (1868-1912), Japan confronted rapid Westernization while traditional Japanese ideals were being challenged and altered for the changing times. A product of the times was Taisho-era writer Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892-1927) whose epitomic works include “Rashōmon” (1915) and “In a Grove” (1922), which later became the basis …