Nobody told Frank Sinatra the heyday of Ivy was dead when he steered his entourage into J. Press on a January afternoon in 1969. “Dressing The Chairman,” an upcoming off-Broadway play scribed by Joseph Cosgriff, tells the story of an unexpected and fascinating odyssey that began when Sinatra commanded, “Lemme see all your 38 Regulars.” …
Whether you’re out playing golf today, or dressed up in a bespoke jacket… …. with a collar pin … have faith in our great nation, which was founded on freedom. And as the ancient Greeks taught, pursue everything in life with a touch of moderation. Happy Presidents’ Day. — CC
Tomorrow is International Pipe Smoking Day, so if you don’t have a pipe and tobacco, you can spend your Sunday afternoon procuring them. And you’d better hurry before it’s illegal. Pictured here are two undergrads with tobacco-colored tweeds as depicted in a 1936 issue of Esquire. Here’s to our fellow men of the pipe. — …
Although we’ll be examining 1967 throughout the year as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of the Ivy League Look, this post comes from 10 years later. It landed in my inbox a month or two ago, and if I recall it was an archive piece reposted by The Washington Post. Written by …
Michigan halfback Tom Harmon doing his sports radio show, in classic combo of button-down collar, knit tie and cardigan, 1940. Below, crew cuts and crewnecks. University of Illinois, 1956: The archetypal combo of argyle socks and tassel loafers. Looks cooler if you’re 20, though. University of Illinois, 1956: Varsity sweater, OCBD, and lovestruck Wake Forest …
Part of our yearlong series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the year 1967, which brought an end to the heyday of the Ivy League Look. * * * I was still in grad school and a teaching assistant in 1967. In grad school we were reading “Beowulf” and Chaucer, Alexander Pope and John Donne. As …
A couple weeks ago it was menswear market week here in NYC. The Millennial Fogey tagged along and enjoyed inspecting everything. Here he is in the Alan Paine booth: Yes, Bills Khakis is still alive and still using the same US factories, according to a spokesperson. Zip-up Norwegian sweater with Nantucket red trim from Castaway. …
In the spirit of tolerance, I’m posting saddle shoes on the website, despite a strong personal allergy to them. But they’re part of a campus-inspired outfit formula from 1940, courtesy of this vintage Brooks Brothers ad recently posted to our Facebook group. The formula consists of corduroy jacket, grey flannel trousers and saddle shoes. You …
Back in 2009 in the early days of Ivy Style, I wrote this slightly tongue-in-cheek post about the movie “Dirty Dancing,” and how it showed Hollywood’s bias against clean-cut, Ivy-clad guys on the path to success. In other words, the kind of characters who used to be the good guys. Flash forward to 2017, and …
“My kinda clothes” is a delightful little phrase coined by the legendary Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop. It’s also a regular series here in which men discuss their favorite items of apparel. If you’d like to contribute, please use the contact button above. * * * I grew-up in Grosse Pointe, MI and my …
Welcome to the first post kicking off Ivy Style’s yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the year 1967, which brought about the fall of the heyday of the Ivy League Look. Pictured is Dustin Hoffman in what is presumably a publicity shot for “The Graduate.” Released in 1967 near Christmas and partially set at …
This weekend the New York Times Magazine ran a feature story entitled “The Esquire Man Is Dead; Long Live The Esquire Man.” It centers around the magazine’s new editor and its search for relevance in 2017. There’s a lot of interesting history in the piece, though one thing’s for certain: the magazine won’t be going …
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the year 1967, the year we’ve come to refer to around here as the end of the heyday of the Ivy League Look. We plan to make it a theme throughout 2017 as we gather photographs and anecdotes about this pivotal transition year in American social history. It’s …
We haven’t had a story to classify under Ivy Trendwatch in quite a while, but here’s a positive sign that classic American style is still thriving at home and abroad. These great photos were posted to Ivy Style’s Facebook group by Anton Miranda, who does visual merchandising, PR and marketing for a men’s retailer in …
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on vests, let’s take a look at a micro-fad that struck a group of Yale students in 1950. We’ve used some of these photos on Ivy Style before, but not the whole batch. The shots come from an April 1950 issue of LIFE Magazine, which reported on the …
Keeping the bottom button undone on a vest is the sort of information that fathers used to pass along to their sons, along with how to flush a public toilet with one’s foot rather than one’s hand. But as I am older than most readers of this website, allow me to offer a bit of …
It seems like only yesterday we hoisted our leather botas at the 1959 running of the bulls in Pamplona. It still goes on every July 6th, maiming an occasional drunk, catching a celebrity moment, and every couple of years there’s a fatality. My best friend and Loomis prep-school roommate Gene Mercy and I celebrated our …
Over the years I’ve thought about doing a post on Dick Van Dyke, as his television show was immensely popular during the heyday of the Ivy League Look. In many ways he is the pop culture personification of the Atomic Age man in gray suits, white shirts and black ties working in a field like …
Every once in a while — say, a few times a year — a commercial comes on the television that actually informs you of something worth knowing. Last night I saw the trailer for “Z,” a new series by Amazon starring Christina Ricci as Zelda Fitzgerald. But there could be no story of Zelda without …