I remember being a poor college student and picking up a cheap bottle of bay rum at the drugstore. No doubt many of you had the same experience. Now that we’re older, wiser and richer, we also want to smell better. St Johns Bay Rum is the original purveyor of the “scent of Madison Avenue,” …
When Marilyn Monroe steps onto the screen in “Some Like It Hot,” wearing elaborate furs and gowns, her soft blond curls swept into an elegant chignon, she spends much of her time pretending to be a wealthy, well-to-do Vassar student. She is a classic example of Hollywood’s vision of the Vassar Girl: the stereotypical rich, …
Last Thursday, to a standing-room-only crowd at the Town Stages venue in Tribeca, Simon Crompton of Permanent Style, in partnership with menswear company Thomas Mason, kicked off their New York stop in a series of talks on menswear they have been running called the symposiums. This event had a focus on the distinctly American Ivy …
In the 1950s, what I call “shirt jewelry” — i.e., collar pin, tie bar, and cuff links — was taken for granted. A man, regardless of his age, would have worn all three items if he wanted to create an impression. Even young men in high school wore shirt jewelry. The most popular collar style …
You may have heard that HBO has produced the first-ever documentary on Ralph Lauren. “Very Ralph” airs on November 12. Check out the trailer below.
OK, you just read the headline, saw the embedded video, and you’re snickering. Let me explain. When I founded this site, I vowed never to post the Smirnoff “Tea Partay” video, which had become infamous in the online world of Tradsville. But I recently began covering digital marketing for Yahoo!, and found myself chatting with …
It’s been nine years since the publication of a mysterious Japanese picture book called “Take Ivy.” The following is our 2010 interview with Wes Del Val, vice president and associate publisher at powerHouse Books, on how the viral phenomenon came about. * * * IS: “Take Ivy” isn’t due to come out for another month, …
Last week I visited Ralph Lauren’s Madison Avenue flagship, known as the Rhinelander, and took some shots of the mannequins. Apologies for photo quality as lighting was exceptionally bright. There were logos galore — the final shot exemplifies the rule that all fashion ends in excess — even in the Purple Label collection. Speaking of …
If there’s one character in “The Official Preppy Handbook” who could be singled out for derision, it’s the skier. Wearing mirrored sunglasses and a cocky sneer, he looks like the kind of guy you’d hate everything about. Everything, that is, except his ski cap from Moriarty of Stowe, Vermont. For five decades the Moriarty cap …
Yesterday’s post on the LL Bean Norwegian sweater drew a helpful comment from a genuine Norwegian in our Facebook group. Although I’m sitting in a new deadstock sweater from Dale of Norway, the member told us about another storied knitwear brand called Devold. That’s a pretty good nickname for me, as in Da’ ‘Vold, though …
In the 1980s, I would stroll through the oak grove of my small college campus clad in a well worn pair of chinos, cream-colored turtleneck, a pink Brooks oxford and an LL Bean Norwegian Sweater. I was confident in believing I had found the perfect sweater that would be around forever. Boy was I wrong. …
This post from 2013 sheds a different light on the made-in-China issue explored in our last post. * * * James here is holding out my latest sportcoat to wear today. It’s the same one I’m wearing in the previous post, which a reader inquired about. It’s actually this jacket from Brooks Brothers; I’d been …
For years Tradsville has lamented how many classic items are now made overseas, and so, in the wake of the China-NBA story this week, I asked Ivy Style’s Facebook group if anyone had become inspired to engage in a personal embargo on items made in China. Here’s what some members said: Interesting question. However, it …
The archetypal preppy jerk has returned to take his place of privilege in the pop culture pantheon. Netflix has a new show out called “The Politician” which features twin brothers and a Southern California setting whose style is inspired by Slim Aarons, Wes Anderson, JFK, and ’80s Ralph Lauren ads. The brothers are played by …
Menswear writer Stuart Husband, whose credits include The Rake, has a new piece at FashionBeans.com called “How ’60s fashion still puts swagger into menswear.” The piece focuses on the UK and ’60s styles in general, but there is some mention of our cherished style here: The prime look, for [Michael] Caine and his working-class-made-good peers, …
As a follow-up to our last post, a circa 1950 video on Princeton’s crew team, here’s another vintage gem from the Princeton Campus Life YouTube channel: a 25-minute, professionally shot and scripted orientation film from 1962, dead center of the Ivy heyday. It’s all here: “Princeton” haircuts, stretched-out Shetland sweaters, white socks and no-break trousers, …
This is a 20-minute clip, so watch it over lunch if you’re the kind of schlub who eats lunch at his desk. And if you’re at home, pour yourself a drink and get comfortable. Love the towel worn as a scarf in the opening. Great chinos and sweaters in action at 2:28. Jackets and ties …
Legendary menswear historian G. Bruce Boyer offered this piece to Ivy Style ten years ago. Much has changed since then, most notably that Bill Thomas is no longer at his eponymous label, and presently works for Duck Head. * * * Khakis and jeans are the iconic American work pants, both having been around for …
Ivy Style reached its 11th anniversary on Monday, which means its time to inject some fresh blood into the site. A transfusion comes via Peter E. Lavelle, who recently became a friend and neighbor here in the lovely New York City neighborhood of Astoria, which is trad central — at least east of the East …