Tab again (second from left, at rear). He makes an interesting contrast with the other young men.



Pat Boone, entertainer (known for his white bucks). One book I read mentioned in passing that he was a prime example of the "Ivy League Look", but I think they probably meant the "clean-cut look".

Terry Lean wrote:

I like Tab.

Tab was definitely serious in his style.

Terry Lean wrote:

I find Belgian Shoes a bit Fem. for my taste... They lack heft.

I agree entirely.
I liked the statement "...or if not, he'd be looking for a woman who did".
I look for girls wearing grey flannels, cardigans, and pearls.
But I don't find any.

TV

Tab Hunter photos, various dates.



Tab with Stan Rofe and the Everly Brothers (1956).



Recent photo of Tab with Debbie Reynolds, his co-star of many films.



TV

Boyer from his book Elegance (1985) on khakis:

On college campuses in the 1950s they were often called "chinos" (because much of the cotton drill cloth came from China), and they were sometimes "polished", that is, given a dull-finished sheen. Occasionally there was a strap-and-buckle in the back. They were neat and respectable and uncomplicated. There was no snobbery or status associated with them. They were standard equipment.

Very interesting, that mention of "polishing" khakis.
I'm trying to imagine what it must have been.

TV

Sorry,

I have only just found this thread, spent an half an hour reading it straight through.... excellent!!

Anyway with all those loverly pictures of the 'English Ivy Style', the Yardbirds etc from the early 60's.. I thought I'd bung a few up...

By the way, I think Chris Farlowe and Long John Baldry should get a mention as these two pioneers of British R&B
were wearing 'the look' from around 62" onwards.

I can't find any decent internet pics though. Anybody got any?






A young Mick Jagger playing with 'Blues Incorporated... Nice cardi!






Jagger again... Early Stones 1963!! Nice Jacket!








The real deal!!     Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry







Chris Barber, Jack Teagarden, Ottilie Patterson and Harold Pendleton.

The Style Council wrote:

Anyway with all those loverly pictures of the 'English Ivy Style', the Yardbirds etc from the early 60's.. I thought I'd bung a few up...

Outstanding finds!
Lots of nat shoulders, I like the chinos on the right in the first photo.

See, Terry?
The images for the book are out there, it's just a question of finding them.
You like talking to people...

TV

I agree, the images are def out there...this thread along with DocDamage's finds on AAAC are proof of that.

at least we have threads like this (and that) to peruse, which is better than nothing.

Great pics StyleCouncil, that's the stuff I love seeing!  I appreciate that when they wore "the look" back then it was so natural and unforced, unlike the way it can be interpreted in this day

re: buckleback chinos....anyone know if these still exist, as reissues?

Boyer from his book Elegance (1985) on khakis wrote:

On college campuses in the 1950s they were often called "chinos" (because much of the cotton drill cloth came from China), and they were sometimes "polished", that is, given a dull-finished sheen.

Boyer is in error.


Chinos refers to the color (= toasted), not the fanciful origin of the cloth.

Last edited by Nemesis (2007-05-01 18:17:02)

Nemesis wrote:

Boyer from his book Elegance (1985) on khakis wrote:

On college campuses in the 1950s they were often called "chinos" (because much of the cotton drill cloth came from China), and they were sometimes "polished", that is, given a dull-finished sheen.

Boyer is in error.


Chinos refers to the color (= toasted), not the fanciful origin of the cloth.

Chino did have, since 1588 (its first recorded usage at least) the meaning of someone who is Chinese or of Chinese origin (and later, in 1889, to be used as a combining form like Anglo or Russo or Franco or Sino, etc), but OED concurs with your definition of color starting in 1943, and that was chiefly an American usage.

1943:  "Living as we did, mostly in a life belt and a filthy pair of chinos, the one thing we needed most was a st
strong blast of Chanel No. 5

1957:  "Chino cloth, cotton twill fabric of combed yards dyed khaki color, mercerized and sanfordized.  Used for uniforms"

and this recorded usage from Jack Kerouac (1958) -- On the Road:  "wearing only my chino pants"

1961:  "Her skirt was nicely tailored of some fine khaki material, or maybe the stuff is called chino when its joins the aristocracy"

Last edited by Horace (2007-05-02 01:38:56)

Terry Lean wrote:

Horace wrote:

Get Smart wrote:

re: buckleback chinos....anyone know if these still exist, as reissues?

"I loved the Ivy League look, the chinos with the little buckles in the back, the white bucks, the brown-and-white saddle shoes, the Oxford button-down shirts, which only came in white, pink, blue, yellow, and a blue-and-white stripe." -- Ralph Lauren from <<Genuine Authentic>>

Buckle-back chinos...
Rear buckled Ivy League Sports caps...
Even Saddle shoes with buckles at the back (Girls wore them unbuckled to show they were unattached)...

I feel a thesis on the Ivy back-buckle is needed.

Any thoughts on where this detail came from?

It's not English (or if it is it is fabulously archaic, surely?) so I'm guessing it's something like the button-down 'Polo' collar - An American invention more English than the English?

Any buckle historians out there?

It's a good question.  Not knowing the correct answer, my guess is that it's a carryover from when jeans had bucklebacks to cinch the waist, before it was standard for them to have belt loops (around the mid 20s jeans started having both loops and a buckleback).  The buckleback on jeans stopped during WW2 as the metal was needed for war efforts, but perhaps after the end of the war some garments re-adopted the buckleback as a sign of the new postwar prosperity.  And chinos, being the obvious alternative to jeans, may have adopted this feature from its denim cousin.  Just a guess....

Does not appear to be Yale or Brown (except for that gate), the only Ivies at which I've spent any time.  Watch it be either and show how much I know, ha.

Reminds me of Bowdoin!

Last edited by Coolidge (2007-05-02 16:30:18)

I only know Harvard & that's not Harvard (I don't think).

Details, details, details - I love all this stuff!

Thanks.

Get Smart wrote:

Terry Lean wrote:

Horace wrote:

"I loved the Ivy League look, the chinos with the little buckles in the back, the white bucks, the brown-and-white saddle shoes, the Oxford button-down shirts, which only came in white, pink, blue, yellow, and a blue-and-white stripe." -- Ralph Lauren from <<Genuine Authentic>>

Buckle-back chinos...
Rear buckled Ivy League Sports caps...
Even Saddle shoes with buckles at the back (Girls wore them unbuckled to show they were unattached)...

I feel a thesis on the Ivy back-buckle is needed.

Any thoughts on where this detail came from?

It's not English (or if it is it is fabulously archaic, surely?) so I'm guessing it's something like the button-down 'Polo' collar - An American invention more English than the English?

Any buckle historians out there?

It's a good question.  Not knowing the correct answer, my guess is that it's a carryover from when jeans had bucklebacks to cinch the waist, before it was standard for them to have belt loops (around the mid 20s jeans started having both loops and a buckleback).  The buckleback on jeans stopped during WW2 as the metal was needed for war efforts, but perhaps after the end of the war some garments re-adopted the buckleback as a sign of the new postwar prosperity.  And chinos, being the obvious alternative to jeans, may have adopted this feature from its denim cousin.  Just a guess....

Good thoughts.

Buckles on the front & sides of shoes and on knee britches/Plus Fours would be English. As would buckles on the backs of waistcoats.
Buckles on the backs of casual trousers may be an English 20's thing - Cricket Whites & all that.  I'm not sure.
On Saddle shoes & sports caps they must be pure Americana?
Who knows?

Funny how these little things can hold your attention...

(Forgot to also mention buckles on side adjuster tabs as English)

Last edited by Terry Lean (2007-05-03 05:14:35)