http://www.reelartpress.com/catalog/edition/44/the-kennedys
Those guys must never sleep !
Great,im very interested,but the suits of JFK were not "Ivy League",but British/mid-atlantic (two buttons,darted,not central vent,pleated trousers).
Mid Atlantic I accept but British? Really?
Do you have any photographic examples of JFK wearing what you would consider a British style of suit, Carpu? I'd love to see them.
http://forums.filmnoirbuff.com/viewtopic.php?id=9977&p=1
The mother of JFK threads. Little bit of everything...
Yes, I see what you're saying here. Thanks for these pics. Really nice.
The question I have now is, was the style you see on Prince Philip and Sean Connery here not also a mid Atlantic look rather a British one?
Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2012-05-31 03:39:38)
I'm hoping for off duty 'Ivy' snaps. On duty he was quite a different kettle of fish.
I remember reading somewhere that it was Kennedy who pretty much killed off the hat wearing fashion in the US.
On the day of his inauguration, which was watched by millions of Americans, he chose not to wear a hat, which was apparently a bold fashion statement at the time.
Does this sound about right to anyone?
I've read something like this, too. Though I think he did have a hat for the inauguration, and as far as I know hats were already on the way out.
"Hatless Jack" probably din't like something on his head because of his hairstyle. It's a little bigger than the typical Ivy/ Princeton styles. Way longer on top!
His style is certainly not prototypical Ivy. The long hair, the #2 style suits, usually with two buttons, front darts and a little bit more shoulder padding (his shoulder line is still narrow but higher than the typical Ivy shoulder) and with side vents or no vents at all.
He would wear straight point collar shirts (what Brooks calls the tennis collar), probably because this was much more acceptable on an international level than a button-down shirt (and of course, the bd is not the only Ivy collar style).
Nevertheless, he was theee "Ivy president". His family, his friends and his consultants etc.... When he became president the look went to the White House. During his presidency Ivy style was at the peak of fashion.
Another JFK quirk was closing both buttons. He does that most of the time. On some pics he only closed the lower button. I recall vaguely that this was discussed here or at some other place (AAAT?) some years ago. Someone tried to justifice JFK's habit with the cut of his jackets. That there's a rule that you can't close anything below the waist and that Jack's button placement would have been higher.
I don't think so. I think the fucker just didn't give a shit!
Just irdered a similar chunky navy shawl cardigan like the above from Barbour.
On the dicsussion of American versus UK and Continental stylings (nothing to do with Kennedy) where does the single button closure fall in?
Also a big look in the US c~'58/'62
I've always been curious about the slim lapeled single-buttoned slack with single button cuffs, often flapped or jetted pockets. I'd like to eventually have something made up.
Not sure exactly, but I guess at least for dinner jackets, the single button peak lapel style goes back to the stone age!
I think you could find these styles in the US, UK and in Continental Europe.
Especially with jetted pockets it sounds very Italian...
Lots of soul vocal groups would wear stage suits/ tuxedos with single buttons, too. Check some Miracles or Temptations clips! Often very short "bumfreezers". These styles were sold as "Continental" in the US.
But where did this look originate?
I imagine it's ancestry/genetics are mixed in with the dinner jacket.
Is this purely an American look at it's core though?
Craig Stevens wore a perfectly draped sb sack cut style in most of the 1958 S2 eps. It's a beautiful thing, frumpy, casual and unconstrained yet sharp as a tack with Gunn's trademark pocket square peaking out of the slit breast, and crisp ironed french cuffs poking out of the armholes from the end of his tailored shirts. The single button look here is smart ivy for dimly-lit jazz dens; it comes off as effortlessly cool in a fistfight as it does mixing pretty dolls and martinis. Almost like a draped over Wash N Wear with single button and slimmer lapels.
This is not in the tux/dinner jacket context, nor the mid-fifties stage look worn by most East Coast vocal/doowop groups and black performers.
Think the original Brooks sack in a long drapey single button cut, which somehow lends it a more tailored continental look.
I haven't seen examples of this in any older photos from the '50s, outside of the US.
Last edited by Oliver (2012-05-31 11:18:23)
Last edited by Liam Mac (2012-05-31 13:30:24)