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#1 2007-01-11 03:07:14

Horace
Member
Posts: 6432

The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Sartorial Note.  Commonweal magazine (9 Aug 1957)

The phenomenon has been there to be seen for quite some time, no doubt, but it was just the other day that we fell to musing on the triumph of the Ivy League style in fashions for men.  Natural shoulders and narrow lapels, somber colors and dignified cut are the now ubiquitous hallmarks of the Ivy mode, and what used to be the special garb of a special breed of northeastern American is now accepted dress of John Doe all over the nation.

What is curious about this fact is that the Ivy look is traditionally the mark of the Harvard type, the intellectual, the sophisticated Easterner.  And, as we are assured continuously by writers who claim access to the general will, this type is either an object of fun or a sinister figure in the popular imagination.  He is an egg head, probably a "pinko," more than likely a "bleeding heart" internationalist.  He is clearly not a one hundred per cent American.

But if the Ivy League egg head is a figure of mixed suspicion and derision, how is that his working clothes have become prestige symbols for the nation at large?  Why, if he holds the type in such contempt, does the average citizen now wear his emblematic short haircut and gray flannel suit?

We read too many papers to deny the existence today of anti-intellectualism or the prevalence of the anti-Harvard animus, yet merely to say paradox is to explain nothing.  All we can offer is the observation that in cultural values, as in everything else, things are seldom as simple as they seem.  Opposing attitudes can and do exist simultaneously in the minds of men, and we think this is the case here.  The Ivy Leaguers's place in American life is not to be seen in black or white; it is as darkly gray as his famous flannel suit.

edit:  title of publication corrected.

Last edited by Horace (2007-01-13 04:11:30)


""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.

 

#2 2007-01-11 03:31:30

Terry Lean
Member
Posts: 2440

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Fantastic find Mr. H. - Words fail me!

Now how can we get our 'Trad' brothers to read it?
A lil' education never hurted no one.

I love big-picture Ivy!


"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing"

 

#3 2007-01-11 04:12:09

Terry Lean
Member
Posts: 2440

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Now there's a name from the past!
Good to see you around again, Sir.
The quote has been popped onto StyleForum just to add to the conversation over there too.


"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing"

 

#4 2007-01-11 06:32:57

bosthist
Member
Posts: 220

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

 

#5 2007-01-11 15:23:46

Tony Ventresca
Member
Posts: 5132

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Isn't it a very democratic act to appropriate the "uniform" of the elites and give it to everyone? It educates the elites that they don't exist in isolation from the mass of the population, it reminds them that they don't have the power to enforce class barriers as much as they think, and it's also a quiet way to let them know we're keeping an eye on them.

Or maybe not.

Ivy for everyone.

 

#6 2007-01-13 04:10:26

Horace
Member
Posts: 6432

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Speaking of everyman, Terry, I think you'll like this.  I'm seriously thinking of buying (and reading) a copy.  It's only one penny (US coinage to boot) on amazon's used list.

http://www.mgross.com/books/genuine-authentic/genuine-authentic-excerpt/

It looks like a fascinating story.


""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.

 

#7 2007-01-13 04:14:55

Horace
Member
Posts: 6432

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)


""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.

 

#8 2007-01-13 05:09:33

Terry Lean
Member
Posts: 2440

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)


"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing"

 

#9 2007-01-13 05:14:06

Terry Lean
Member
Posts: 2440

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)


"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing"

 

#10 2007-01-13 05:32:19

Terry Lean
Member
Posts: 2440

Re: The Ivy Look for Every Man (1957)

Only a PS -
This quote popped up on SF & AAAT as mentioned above.
Oddly it sank like a stone on both forums...

I think they're right.
Reality isn't very interesting when you have your dreams to keep you warm.

Night-night!


"One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing"

 

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