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#1 2022-12-14 10:18:05
- AlveySinger
- Member
- Posts: 799
RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
There's currently a podcast of Richard Press being interviewed. You'll find the link on Ivy Style.
I enjoy RP's anecdotes immensely. For a guy his age he manages to tell a great story.
Sadly the recording isn't the best quality but it's still highly enjoyable.
I think it also highlights the difference in origins between the guys in the States who adopted the collegiate look following the introduction of the GI bill and the growth of American business and the UK guys who adopted it without any of the cultural baggage.
Same clothes, different associations and different meaning.
#2 2022-12-14 15:57:02
- Tim
- Member
- Posts: 289
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
What is the new Mr IS like as an interviewer? I gave up reading IS as it became unreadable gibberish 99% of the time.
#3 2022-12-14 20:38:26
- Dulouz
- Member
- Posts: 196
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
^His prose style for a copywriter is dreadful.
J.Press is the last hold out of the original Ivy style. Currently in rotation from them I have a blazer and a green herringbone sports jacket stored upstairs which is a proper winter one that I should dig out as it will be ideal in the current weather.
I stopped buying from them when the import duties became a couple of hundred Euros each time.
#4 2022-12-15 01:41:27
- Tworussellstreet
- Member
- Posts: 599
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
He's quite an interesting old duffer isn't he? Frosty-Mellor always claimed he wore a wig, but it looks like a weird old school combover to me. I'd like to get hold of his Threading The Needle books but the cost of postage is outrageous. In the age of absolute availability of any thing, any time, any where, it's almost comforting to come across a situation where there are obstacles to consumption. It's like going back to the 70s and 80s. As ever, J.Press only survives in their purist mode because of Japan. If it was left to Americans and Brits they'd have closed down years ago. Richard Press is good on old Prep School/Ivy College PR marketing stuff, but his Papa's name is only kept alive by advanced Japanese taste and business acumen.
#5 2022-12-17 06:45:10
- Yuca
- Member
- Posts: 8544
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
'What is the new Mr IS like as an interviewer? I gave up reading IS as it became unreadable gibberish 99% of the time.'
And that's a charitable assessment. I can't answer your question as I'm also put off by the dreadful quality and tone of IS since Chens left and have yet to listen to the interview in question. Mr Press does have lots of good tales though so I certainly wouldn't tar him with the same brush as the present IS guy.
I notice that Mr Press used to comment on most of the IS threads, back when it was both readable and focused on ivy style. Then once the new guy took over he stopped. For obvious reasons, I assume.
some sort of banal legitimacy
#6 2022-12-23 20:53:45
- Dulouz
- Member
- Posts: 196
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
''I enjoy RP's anecdotes immensely. For a guy his age he manages to tell a great story.''
All the old timers had/have good stories and anecdotes. All my grandparents and great aunts and uncles are dead now, but they lived with memories from the 20s, 30s and forged in WWII. Immense respect for that generation.
Whilst Mr Press is not that generation, I liked his Frank Sinatra anecdote. Great!
#7 2023-01-13 00:46:18
- Horace
- Member
- Posts: 6432
Re: RICHARD PRESS ON IVY STYLE
Chums,
Have read through both vols of the Ivy books by
Dick Press. What he hasn’t written on, and if he’s commented
please point it out, is the ins and outs of the story behind the
Japanese buying Press. Was it just money? Did Press lose interest?
I bet there’s some interesting stories about why the family gave it up.
I remember when Press seemed at a low point. Around early 90’s.
Quality had fell in my experience. Not on everything. But it was
noticeable on some stuff. Then those horrible Canadian made super padded
shoulders on the tweeds. Then came McNairy who injected another ethos. Interesting but not everyone
liked it. And now I think some very good stuff at reasonable prices in USA at least. And a return to form
invoking earlier days.
I think the old man has some interesting stories. And he’s a good storyteller in the conversational style.
But I’m curious in the things he doesn’t talk about: the Japanese, some of his contemporaries, the decline
in manufacturing (if he was involved with company at that time). There’s probably even some interesting stories
about Sero shirt factory in New Haven and Troy Guild in NY.
At one point they were doing very well in the US. It’d be interesting to hear what he has to say about after this period.
""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.