As many readers here know, The Andover Shop was recently acquired by several long-time customers who wanted to see the beloved store continue (and, upon closing, received a firm but smiling admonition from co-founder Charlie Davidson, “Well, it’s yours now. Don’t fuck it up”). As they prepare for the arrival of spring and summer merchandise, …
See these Ivy frat boys? Elvis uses his fists to wipe the smug looks off their faces. After seeming to romanticize fraternity life in a recent post, let’s balance the scales by romanticizing fraternity jerks who get punched out by a greaser from the wrong side of the tracks. Such a greaser is played by Elvis …
You’re probably so desperate for a nice spring day that you would be willing to don pink and green and prance in public in exchange for one balmy day. According to the new Lands’ End spring preview catalog, the notorious preppy combo of pink and green might make a comeback. Time wil tell. — CC …
College fraternities of the past offered male bonding in a stylish setting. The photo above, plus the two below, are from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, 1949. Dig Joe College here in newsboy cap and varsity sweater: The chap in the bottom center providing the smoky atmosphere reminds us that for 400 years it was …
We have one more passing to report, although I was unable to find much information. Perhaps this post will attract some comments from readers who knew the man. Frank Reilly was president of Brooks Brothers during the preppy ’80s, and retired shortly after the Marks & Spencer takeover. He died last October at the age …
Richard Yates was one of those guys who adopted the Ivy look early in life and never let go of it. Whether due to good taste, lack of imagination, or being too impecunious to afford new clothes, Yates’ perennial style was described by Dan Wakefield (author of “New York in the Fifties”) as follows: Yates …
The Ivies are not the same, including when it comes to matters of style. In 2008 Slate posted an article analyzing Fitzgerald’s heroes and whether they went to Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Fitzgerald has Amory Blaine, hero of “This Side of Paradise,” his first novel, offer the following assessment of the three schools: I want to go …
Our next tribute to the recently deceased is Jack Bogle, founder of the investment firm The Vanguard Group and a member of the class of 1951 at Princeton, the influence of which can be seen most evidently in his harircut. Head over here for the Wall Street Journal’s obit. — CC
There was a time (1954, for example, as in these two LIFE Magazine photos) when you could visit J. Press in New Haven and have an old gent like this help you pick out a jacket. He may have been on commission, but he probably knew what looked good on you. You might even bump …
We have several recent passings to catch up on, and the first is prominent Harvard sociologist Nathan Glazer. Glazer burst on the scene in 1950 “The Lonely Crowd” and continued to study and publish on the subjects of the American melting pot and multiculturalism. Here is an obituary in Tablet, and a 2016 profile in National …
Political operative and clotheshorse Roger Stone was arrested this morning in the Mueller investigation. His coat did not lie flat against the back of his neck, possibly caused by posture issues due to a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back. His lawyer plans to mount the negligent collar defense. In spring 2017 contributing writer …
G. Bruce Boyer gave Ivy Style permission to digitize this chapter from his 1985 book “Elegance.” It is based on an article that originally appeared in the May 1981 issue of Town & Country. Brooks Brothers By G. Bruce Boyer When it phased out its custom tailoring department, the story was carried on the front …
Are you a Japanophile, or just like to brush up on your knowledge of world history? Well earlier this season online retailer Bodega ran a lengthy piece on “ametora,” or American Trad in Japan. What’s helpful about it is that it provides a nice cursory overview of Japan’s gradual opening to Western cultural (and sartorial) …
It is said that the winners get to write the history books. One of the now-official effects of the social upheaval of the 1960s was that young people broke down the oppressive conformity of society, including rigid and unimaginative clothes. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (played by Gregory Peck, above, in the film of …
What are these young men doing to the buttondowned man in center? They’re blowing smoke in his face as way of training him to keep cool during civil rights protests. The 1960 photo comes from a Time/LIFE piece you can find here. Best wishes to everyone on this MLK Day. — CC
In 1960, Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Princeton University. Fifty years later, an alumus recalled the visit.
In the spirit of Japanese photo book “Take Ivy,” here are some photographic gifts of Princeton students courtesy of Time/LIFE.
Illustration from a 1959 short story that appeared in Cosmopolitan. Not the short hair of the uptown lady in relation to the downtown gals. The caption reads, “They sprawled about in rapture. The bearded poet read. It was awful, Jim thought.”
Still, perhaps no other 20th-century icon better exemplifies casual American elegance like Fred Astaire. While all Ivy style is American (even when it’s Italian loafers and Scottish sweaters), not all American style is Ivy. Still, few illustrate the crossover better than Astaire. Astaire’s personal style, which he employed in his films whenever possible, was based …