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#2 2010-06-04 02:30:21
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
Hoping for an Ian update soon - He's still getting well & is with family just now.
#3 2010-06-06 15:43:20
- Gibson Gardens
- Ivy Author
- Posts: 873
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
Ian was, and indeed it appears he still is, an absolute face. A top dresser and effortlessly cool. White Levis, half sleeve madras, no socks and oxblood Sebagos : a great Summer look I think of often. He was a style inspiration. Along with John Simons he made me, no we, realise there was something a bit special about Ivy style, and about some of these original guys too.
g.g.
#4 2010-06-07 00:10:38
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
... And it's elitist to say 'you had to be there', but (as with the old JS shop) there is a divide between those who were there & those who weren't. It's a head Vs heart thing maybe. We can all admire this style on an analytical level but to really fall in LOVE with it you need to get steeped in it & mix with your stylistic forefathers.
Before JS closed my advice to everybody who got in touch was that they should go there just to see it while they could. Just to experience what it was all about.
America also has its divides - Those who went to the old 346 and those who came along later, etc.
I think the job for all us old hands today is to pass on the torch like Ian & John (and others) did. To praise what's good & to question all the rest.
... And if you think that we can sometimes be a bit 'Facey' - you never saw Ian in action! (Brilliant, he was - he'd be there watching customers come in & you could play a little game watching him trying to guess who he'd serve and who he'd just leave...)
#5 2010-06-07 01:22:52
- Horace
- Member
- Posts: 6432
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.
#6 2010-06-07 01:55:17
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
A tad more Ian news - He still has the famous raincoat!
One who has visited him in his retreat has seen it along with numerous shoe boxes (all size nine) full of goodies.
#7 2010-06-07 14:52:58
- Gibson Gardens
- Ivy Author
- Posts: 873
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
I am thrilled he still cares, though I never really doubted it of course.
g.g.
#8 2010-06-08 00:43:42
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
You'd think he might have slobbed out down in the forest, but no - It's all still Sebagos, Alden Smooths, John Coltrane...
#9 2010-06-08 03:17:58
- Gibson Gardens
- Ivy Author
- Posts: 873
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
Does he buy new clothes or are these items from The Ivy Shop days in the 80s? Sounds like. He always took great care of his clothes and enjoyed the real Ivy lived-in look yet always looked sharp. Proper Ivy!
g.g.
#10 2010-06-08 06:26:26
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
He said that when he left the Ivy he took enough clothes & shoes with him to last for the rest of his life - He still has 9 pairs of USA Sebagos still in their boxes unworn lined up for later... Old style Baracutas in each colour (each colour they did back then), London Fog items, piles of shirts, his Alden Smooths...
All old kit well looked after, just as you guessed.
#11 2010-06-09 02:47:47
- Gibson Gardens
- Ivy Author
- Posts: 873
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
His approach was always pseudo-military - a strange kind of asceticism laced with panache. The interaction of personality and dress have long fascinated me ; in Strachan's case especially. 9 boxes of unworn USA Sebagos!!! Fantastic. Insanely logical. The man is the ultimate collection of contradictions. Ugly-beautiful, intolerant-kind, camp-macho, brutish-gentle, mean-generous. He really fascinates me old Strachan. A unique character. It ain't all button-downs is it? It's much much more than that.
g.g.
#12 2010-06-09 03:52:17
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
He's like Ivy itself: formal/down-played, relaxed/'correct', ugly/beautiful (thinking of the shoes)...
It's all paradoxes.
#13 2010-06-09 04:47:54
- Hard Bop Hank
- Ivy Soul Brother
- From: land of a 1000 dances
- Posts: 4923
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
old/young, square/hip, asexual/sexy... you could go on like this for a while!
not sure if it's paradox, or if it's all about "shift of context" (lacking a better term).
“No Room For Squares”
”All political art is bad – all good art is political.”
"Would there be any freedom of press or speech if one must reduce his vocabulary to vapid innocuous euphemisms?"
#14 2010-06-09 09:42:22
- Horace
- Member
- Posts: 6432
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
""This is probably the last Deb season...because of the stock market, the economy, Everything..." - W. Stillman.
#15 2010-07-12 23:32:28
- Taylor McIntyre
- Son of Ivy...
- Posts: 342
Re: The Style Of Mr. Ian Strachan II !
I spoke to Ian last night & he sends his best to all the Ivy crew.
He's still on the mend, but was very interested to hear about all that's going on - Especially about the news from the world of John Simons & John Gall's soon-to-be-with-us Ivy Book.