Remembering Ithaca Campus Shop Browning King

Previous Ivy Style features on Rowing Blazers triggered a memory of a boathouse named after a haberdasher that used to exist at the Cayuga inlet in Ithaca, New York.  The Haskell Davidson Boathouse was built in 1973 and demolished in 2011. When the boathouse was dedicated in 1974, the Ithaca College crew was six years old.


I Frankly Don’t Give A D—N

Recently a copyright lawyer came after me over a shot of Clark Gable I ran a number of years ago. I took that one down, but, undaunted, here’s another one of the Hollywood legend. There are still a few days left in November/Movember, enough to show that a pencil-think mustache goes with a buttondown collar.


Remembering Virgil Marson, Andover Shop Co-Owner— Updated

Due to the scarcity of images about Andover Shop co-owner Virgil Marson, this post from last month is being reposted with a new report from the memorial service, submitted by contributor ANV. The original news announcement can be found at the bottom of the page. * * * “Hi. My name is Nina Marson Roche,


College Miscellany

Above: University of Pennsylvania, 1949. Below: MIT, 1956: Harvard Divinity School, 1955: Two from the University of Illinois, 1956: Brown, 1938: Tailgate party at Amherst, 1958: St. John’s, 1940:


Much To Be Thankful For, My Friends

Happy Thanksgiving, my natural-shouldered brethren. There’s so much to be thankful for, so let’s jump right in. For starters, as a follow-up to our spate of posts on the great RL, you can stop calling him “Uncle Ralphie” (never understood that one) and start calling him Sir Ralph. That’s right, after a lifetime of drawing


Travel Day

Good luck on your travels today. According to reports, you’re going to need it. 


NeoPrep Revival: Polo RL Spring 2019

Shaggy Dog season is upon us in most of the country. It’s certainly here for the Lauren family, as one member was in J. Press this weekend stocking up on brushed Shetlands. And that’s our springboard from winter to spring, as we take a look at the recently unveiled Spring 2019 Polo collection. Neo-prep is



Backward Pass: A Short History of Ivy League Football

In honor of The Game today, Bill Stephenson shares his thoughts on Ivy League football. Stephenson graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1954, but presently lives in Princeton, where he cheers for the home team, which ranks a bit lower. * * * It doesn’t seem possible to have had an exposure to college


Welcome To The Prepocalypse

Are we in the midst of a preppy revival, or its final orgiastic-death throes-supernova? As with everything, there’s reason to believe both. But today let’s look at the notion of a prepocalypse. Last week LA-based designer Greg Lauren partnered with fashion brand KITH for a collection that was likened to a preppy apocalypse. The creative wellsprings


The Seasonal School Tie

Contributor ANV shares this tidbit of sartorial esoterica.  * * * Richard Press had said that the background color for neckties never went darker than navy blue. Similarly, the patrician wardrobe tends to avoid high contrast, except for formalwear. As a result, one rarely sees white or black in traditional necktie designs. But there are


Silicon Valley’s Rebel Menswear Aficionados

As mentioned in the San Francisco prep story recently posted, I’ve been writing for the SF society mag The Nob Hill Gazette, which I did some pieces for many years ago when I lived in the city. My latest is on a few proud peacocks in the Bay Area’s tech industry who defy the unofficial


She’s Kept My Pants Up For 36 Years

Yes, it’s true: back in the day, preppy girlfriends would make needlepoint belts for their beaux. In some cases, the belts lasted longer than the relationship. Prior contributor BC explains. * * * When we met in the fall of 1981, M. had left Georgetown, where she had been studying nursing, and was working as


Left And Right

Looking to the left, hair parted on the right. Drive carefully on your way to the polls. And remember: if two Americans identically dressed in buttondowns, crewnecks and loafers can’t have a civil discussion about politics, then we’re truly doomed. 


Gunn Control: You’re Under Arrest For Promoting Athleisure

We’ve been covering the underworld lately, with con men, spies, the CIA, and now a private eye. This year marks the 60th anniversary of “Peter Gunn,” who was a new kind of TV detective when he made his debut in 1958. With his neat hair and simple gray suits, Gunn could have fit right in


A Leiter Shade Of Gray: Savile Row Versus Ivy League

Recently a blog called The Suits Of James Bond paid tribute to 007’s American counterpart, Felix Leiter. The observations are hardly earth-shattering, but it is worth noting how the two tailoring styles relect the characters. “The colours Leiter wears may be the same as Bond’s,” the blogger writes, “but the styles are an ocean apart.”


All Saints Day

Before he became James Bond, Roger Moore cut his teeth in the spy-crime-thriller genre as star of British TV series “The Saint,” which ran from 1962-69, or the end of the Ivy heyday years in the States. In fact, like Pierce Brosnan decades later, Moore had to turn down the role of Bond due to his


Retake Ivy

  Darkness has fallen, the witching hour is upon us, and the boys from “Take Ivy” have rolled over in their graves, disinterred themselves, and become the walking dead, driven by the unholy urge to retake Ivy. Trick or treat!


College Mandates Gender-Neutral Halloween Costumes

Phanes College, a small liberal arts school in rural Vermont, has taken a bold step forward in the fight for gender equality. This year students attending any on-campus Halloween festivities are required to wear gender-neutral costumes in an effort to dismantle stereotypes and foster a safe environment for everyone. In a campus-wide email, Phanes dean