J. Press Spring/Summer Video Is Out.
2 days ago
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Potter Stewart
The Ohio born Stewart apparently mastered Trad at Yale where he edited the school paper.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Behaving Badly in Africa
Here's a creepy find from the Life Archives. A vast collection of high res color pics of an African Safari taken by Arthur Godfrey and General Curtis LeMay.
Safari Pics at Google Images
Safari Pics at Google Images
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Black Legend
Lafayette College Newspaper, 1957
AAAC Trad Forum Original Link
I thought this ad was interesting because of the color of the chinos. Despite the trad orthodoxy against black pants, black was among the original colors that the "Ivy League" style chinos were offered in, when they exploded as a national fad in 1954.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Harvard Crimson Article on "Ivy League Look"
Posted November 2008
A Brief Guide to Men's Fashions Unravels The Deep Mysteries of All Those 'Looks'
Original Article at Harvard Crimson
Published On Friday, October 04, 1963 12:00 AM
By SUSAN M. ROGERS
...First of all, the erroneous preconceptions of the Ivy League look must be erased. "Ivy League" refers to a bastardized version of the natural shoulder model, first produced on a mass scale about 1938. Prior to that time, only Brooks Brothers and J. Press promoted the natural shoulder. These stores derived the Ivy look from the five button suits with narrow lapels worn by fashionable late Victorians in the 1890's. Since 1950, the natural shoulder model has changed little with the exception of narrower lapels, shorter coats, and slimmer trousers.
.....
Both styles omit waist suppression, narrowing the middle by darts over the side pockets. Unpleated trousers are an important concomitant of the natural shoulder look.
Worn by about nine out of ten Harvard men, the Ivy look is smart and trim. It is supposed to make a man look masculine without the phoniness of padding. However, these effects are attained only by wearing a natural shoulder model which suits you. The Warwick model is slightly clubbier than the Andover model which hints of Madison Avenue. Both are appropriate for almost every occasion the college man encounters.
For dressier wear, however, some men like a suit along the lines of JFK's semi-lounge model (two buttons, longer lapels, some waist suppression, and a bit more shoulder padding). Either the Warwick or Andover models are far better for the occasional suit buyer with a limited amount of interest, time, and money.
Hobsack and Tweeds
A coarse material from England called hopsack will be important again this season. It is woven from a six-ply yarn rather than the two-ply yarn used in most cloth, making a loose but warm weave.
Another popular fabric -- a rich tweed -- comes from the improbably isle of Skye off the Scottish coast. Supposedly this tweed is hand woven on cottage looms, and hence is more "authentic" than the Harris tweed it resembles. Synthetic blends such as sharkskin, and stretch materials have gained popularity because they shed wrinkles and fit smooth.
Colors will be lighter this season. Charcoal is giving way to dark gray, and even light gray. "Bottle green," possibly named after the shade of English beer bottles, promises to be popular for blazers, and there are indications a reddish maroon called cranberry will also find favor. Blue, especially in tweeds, will appear frequently.
Double-breasted blazers, long popular with the international sporting crowd, have not yet made their mark on ivy-laden New England. About 1950 the double breasted suit died, and only a handful of avant-garde types around here have recently picked it up again.
A Brief Guide to Men's Fashions Unravels The Deep Mysteries of All Those 'Looks'
Original Article at Harvard Crimson
Published On Friday, October 04, 1963 12:00 AM
By SUSAN M. ROGERS
...First of all, the erroneous preconceptions of the Ivy League look must be erased. "Ivy League" refers to a bastardized version of the natural shoulder model, first produced on a mass scale about 1938. Prior to that time, only Brooks Brothers and J. Press promoted the natural shoulder. These stores derived the Ivy look from the five button suits with narrow lapels worn by fashionable late Victorians in the 1890's. Since 1950, the natural shoulder model has changed little with the exception of narrower lapels, shorter coats, and slimmer trousers.
.....
Both styles omit waist suppression, narrowing the middle by darts over the side pockets. Unpleated trousers are an important concomitant of the natural shoulder look.
Worn by about nine out of ten Harvard men, the Ivy look is smart and trim. It is supposed to make a man look masculine without the phoniness of padding. However, these effects are attained only by wearing a natural shoulder model which suits you. The Warwick model is slightly clubbier than the Andover model which hints of Madison Avenue. Both are appropriate for almost every occasion the college man encounters.
For dressier wear, however, some men like a suit along the lines of JFK's semi-lounge model (two buttons, longer lapels, some waist suppression, and a bit more shoulder padding). Either the Warwick or Andover models are far better for the occasional suit buyer with a limited amount of interest, time, and money.
Hobsack and Tweeds
A coarse material from England called hopsack will be important again this season. It is woven from a six-ply yarn rather than the two-ply yarn used in most cloth, making a loose but warm weave.
Another popular fabric -- a rich tweed -- comes from the improbably isle of Skye off the Scottish coast. Supposedly this tweed is hand woven on cottage looms, and hence is more "authentic" than the Harris tweed it resembles. Synthetic blends such as sharkskin, and stretch materials have gained popularity because they shed wrinkles and fit smooth.
Colors will be lighter this season. Charcoal is giving way to dark gray, and even light gray. "Bottle green," possibly named after the shade of English beer bottles, promises to be popular for blazers, and there are indications a reddish maroon called cranberry will also find favor. Blue, especially in tweeds, will appear frequently.
Double-breasted blazers, long popular with the international sporting crowd, have not yet made their mark on ivy-laden New England. About 1950 the double breasted suit died, and only a handful of avant-garde types around here have recently picked it up again.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Esquire: "A Compendium of Pants." April 1962
August 2008
Quoted in Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashion
I thought this might be of historical interest (on Don Draper's coffee table as we speak), and still very useful for today. Definitive.
Cuffs. The rule here depends on several things: suit style, fabric and –when yome right down to it – preference. British-oriented tweed or a soft flannel looks better cuffed; hard-finished worsteds can take a razor-sharp crease that one may not want to break with a cuff. “Weighting” lightweight summer trousers with cuffs helps them retain their shape. Narrower bottomed trousers are more apt to go cuffless, while the true natural-shoulder traditionalist would never dream of decuffing his trousers. Leaving off cuffs lengthens the line of trousers, helps make a short man look taller. Degree of dressiness is no criterion – sport slacks can go cuffless (why have dirt catchers on the golf course or picnic grounds?) About the only general statement that can be made is that softer and heavier goods look better cuffed; whether or not you choose that more advanced look of cufflessness for your smooth-finished fabrics depends, of course, upon your own taste.
Pleats Trouser fronts are either plain-fronted or single- or double-pleated; the double-pleat is, for the most part, limited to tradition preserving custom tailors. While the single-pleat is still, by far, the most popular, the trimmer look of pleatless trousers is continually gaining favor and is de rigueur for the younger man and the natural shoulder enthusiast. Sport slacks, especially are going the way of no pleats (though the less-confining pleated models are preferred by many active sportsmen: e.g. golfers). While pleats – contrary to popular conceptions- will not hide a “pot,” they will give a heavier-set man more room through the front. The choice, therefore, depends on comfort and the “look” a man wishes to achieve.
Rise. The rise of a man’s trousers is that space from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. In the past few years, slacks with a dungaree-type low rise, usually featuring an extension waist band and side tabs, have found enthusiastic popularity, especially with younger men. These trousers, naturally, fit lower at the waistline, resting on the hips. A slim man who likes the casual effect of such sport slacks, can wear them; a heavier man should avoid a low-rise trouser since a stomach bulging over the top of one’s trousers looks most unflattering.
Taper. With the whittling down of clothing to trimmer proportions, all trousers have begun to be more emphatically tapered (decreased gradually in width from top to bottom): from a 23”-19” knee-to-bottom ratio of not too many seasons ago, the average pair of trousers today measures 21”-18”. Some sport slacks and young men’s suit trousers measure 17” – and even narrower – at the bottom. Esquire feels that the extreme taper of pipestem trousers deserve no more place in the wardrobe of the well dressed man than the baggy look of yesteryear. Trousers must also be proportioned to a man’s build – more taper will help a shorter man look taller but will only exaggerate the height of a tall, slim man.
Length. Proper length for trousers follows an absolute rule: they should just touch the tops of the shoe – with only the barest suggestion of a break if at all. (There should certainly be no break at all at the time of the fitting, since trousers will inevitably sag a bit.) The very-high fashiontrend of ankle length trousers is a skimpy look that goes along with tight pants – the tight pants that are worn by many young men, but which are no more advisable for the well dressed man than the too-long trousers that slop over the shoes (April, 1962, pp. 94-95).
Quoted in Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashion
I thought this might be of historical interest (on Don Draper's coffee table as we speak), and still very useful for today. Definitive.
Cuffs. The rule here depends on several things: suit style, fabric and –when yome right down to it – preference. British-oriented tweed or a soft flannel looks better cuffed; hard-finished worsteds can take a razor-sharp crease that one may not want to break with a cuff. “Weighting” lightweight summer trousers with cuffs helps them retain their shape. Narrower bottomed trousers are more apt to go cuffless, while the true natural-shoulder traditionalist would never dream of decuffing his trousers. Leaving off cuffs lengthens the line of trousers, helps make a short man look taller. Degree of dressiness is no criterion – sport slacks can go cuffless (why have dirt catchers on the golf course or picnic grounds?) About the only general statement that can be made is that softer and heavier goods look better cuffed; whether or not you choose that more advanced look of cufflessness for your smooth-finished fabrics depends, of course, upon your own taste.
Pleats Trouser fronts are either plain-fronted or single- or double-pleated; the double-pleat is, for the most part, limited to tradition preserving custom tailors. While the single-pleat is still, by far, the most popular, the trimmer look of pleatless trousers is continually gaining favor and is de rigueur for the younger man and the natural shoulder enthusiast. Sport slacks, especially are going the way of no pleats (though the less-confining pleated models are preferred by many active sportsmen: e.g. golfers). While pleats – contrary to popular conceptions- will not hide a “pot,” they will give a heavier-set man more room through the front. The choice, therefore, depends on comfort and the “look” a man wishes to achieve.
Rise. The rise of a man’s trousers is that space from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. In the past few years, slacks with a dungaree-type low rise, usually featuring an extension waist band and side tabs, have found enthusiastic popularity, especially with younger men. These trousers, naturally, fit lower at the waistline, resting on the hips. A slim man who likes the casual effect of such sport slacks, can wear them; a heavier man should avoid a low-rise trouser since a stomach bulging over the top of one’s trousers looks most unflattering.
Taper. With the whittling down of clothing to trimmer proportions, all trousers have begun to be more emphatically tapered (decreased gradually in width from top to bottom): from a 23”-19” knee-to-bottom ratio of not too many seasons ago, the average pair of trousers today measures 21”-18”. Some sport slacks and young men’s suit trousers measure 17” – and even narrower – at the bottom. Esquire feels that the extreme taper of pipestem trousers deserve no more place in the wardrobe of the well dressed man than the baggy look of yesteryear. Trousers must also be proportioned to a man’s build – more taper will help a shorter man look taller but will only exaggerate the height of a tall, slim man.
Length. Proper length for trousers follows an absolute rule: they should just touch the tops of the shoe – with only the barest suggestion of a break if at all. (There should certainly be no break at all at the time of the fitting, since trousers will inevitably sag a bit.) The very-high fashiontrend of ankle length trousers is a skimpy look that goes along with tight pants – the tight pants that are worn by many young men, but which are no more advisable for the well dressed man than the too-long trousers that slop over the shoes (April, 1962, pp. 94-95).
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