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 …
Level Up: The Art Of Living
Forum is a privately circulated men’s lifestyle title produced by the company that puts out the menswear trade pub MR. I’ve been writing essays for it for over a dozen years, many of which I’ve shared here. What follows is my second piece from the current fall/winter issue. It’s based on a wonderful recent interpretation …
Honor Your Ancestors: Charcoal Trouser Edition
Classics become so for a reason. Grey trousers are pretty much unbeatable, which is why they’ve been the default for wearing with patterned jackets for almost a century. So honor your ancestors with charcoal trousers and an odd jacket — it’s a combo that works for me. You might also consider a tab collar for …
An Evening Of Tweed
Last night J. Press hosted a tweed-themed event at its New York store. It was the first with Richard Press in his new role as columnist and what you might call brand ambassador. Richard shared tales of J. Press’ 50-year partnership with the Irish tweed mill Magee, along with Magee CEO Patrick Temple. The chat …
What A Difference A Week Makes
Since then I’ve trimmed my beard down, but the supercilious smirk remains. Check out the event in question here. — CC
Putting The “Con” In Conservative Attire
Being a con man doesn’t necessarily preclude having conservative tastes. In fact, since the devil uses the guise of virtue to spread evil in the world, it makes perfect sense for a grifter to don the vestments of the establishment. Men’s Journal recently ran a fascinating piece about a writer’s father who had passed away …
Pattern Recognition
Recognize anything on the two boys in the center? Sure everyone looks cheerful, but those boys seem to be channeling a kind of inner joy. Could it come from wearing bold patterns? Or is the kind of fellow who’s drawn to bold patterns naturally jovial?
Rowing Blazers/Noah Collection Benefitting Row New York
Rowing Blazers is on a roll. Smooth sailing, you could say, though I’m sure Jack and company would say it’s actually crazy currents, wild but exciting. The brand has been “dropping” new collections left and right, and garnering an amount of press that any fashion startup would envy. In doing so, the brand is doing …
Kamakura’s “Sport” OCBD: A Hybrid Of Nostalgia And Modernity
Kamakura recently unveiled a new unlined OCBD called the Sport model. Here’s the description: The traditional button-down shirts of America from the 1960s captured the hearts of so many in the past. Now, those button-downs have been reproduced using all the techniques available to Kamakura Shirts. It is said that the button-down shirt was born …
Expansion And Contraction At J. Press
Last week I met with Robert “Squeeze” Squillaro, the new exec at J. Press, to learn about Richard Press’ new column. After that, talk turned to the new fall collection and where things are going. You could say it’s a story of expansion (“press”-ure, perhaps?), and contraction (that is, squeezing). As soon as the fall …
Golden Years: Introducing The Richard Press Column
As a follow-up to the announcement of Richard Press’ new column for J. Squeeze, here’s his inaugural Ivy Style column from 2011. * * * I remember well the Yale-Harvard weekend of 1962. It was during the time of the War Between the Tailors. In his coverage of the annual football contest, Sports Illustrated scribe …
Hot Off The Press: Richard P. Rejoins Squeeze As Columnist And Archival Consultant
Ivy Style is proud to present an exclusive news announcement coordinated with J. Press. As of this moment, Richard Press, grandson of founder Jacobi and former company president, has officially rejoined his family’s business. He will write a weekly column for the J. Press website and will hold the title of archival consultant. The 80-year-old …
Polo Fall 2018 Encore: 45 More Mannequins
Last month Ralph Lauren’s store in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo reopened after a remodel. If the uptown Rhinelander mansion is a sartorial Disneyland, then this store is Six Flags. But whereas the Rhinelander features other RL labels such as Purple Label and RLX, the SoHo shop is devoted almost entirely to Blue Label. And …
Forty-Two Fall 2018 Polo RL Rhinelander Mannequins
Last week I stopped by the Ralph Lauren Madison Avenue flagship, where the collegiate trend was out in full force. I quickly and stealthily took some iPhone snapshots, and then chatted with what you might call the chief decorating officer. Together we expressed our curiosity as to how the fashion-consuming public will respond to the …
News From Head To Foot
OK, much to catch up on here, so let’s jump right in. You could say it’s like building an outfit from head to foot. Starting at the top in hat news, check out the caps by Rowing Blazers. My dad picked one up to keep the sun off his nose while visiting New York just …
Fall 2019 Trend Forecast: Cardigans, Khakis, Club Ties, Collar Pins, And Blue Canvas Sneakers
Tom Hanks will play Mr. Rogers in an as-yet-unnamed biopic scheduled for release in October 2019. Fashion trend may result. Begin preparations now either to ride along or avoid entirely.
Here’s A Good Chap
Last we looked at Brits donning American duds, and today we seem them in their native English garb, albeit often anachronistically. If you’re an Anglophile and a bit of a young fogey, there’s a magazine for you — which covers such topics as tweed on film — that’s finally being distributed in the US. Of course, maybe it’s …
A Night At The Movies
Our last post showed how Ivy’s done in Japan, and here’s how it’s done in Manchester. From Ivy Style’s Facebook group, three English blokes at a summer screening of the John Simons documentary “A Modernist,” which you can watch on Vimeo here.