Yeah, but then no one expects him to get it. He made a valiant effort though... even if the effort was only to better put Ivy outside the US down.
A straight review with no pontification might have been very good.
Last edited by Armchaired (2013-02-04 07:58:04)
lol there's quite a bit of that sort of stuff coming from here too, lest we forget. Only the digs that come from here are fairly blatant.
Last edited by THOR !!!! (2013-02-04 13:50:27)
I think HWATIL is a much better book, TIL is like a glorified printed blog. The author himself seems to have u-turned on some of his 'rules'. I think it set a very narrow vision. Where as HWATIL really gave a broader look at the subject. I love that book!
Last edited by THOR !!!! (2013-02-04 15:44:43)
I like both books very much. They both include stuff that's just mid century Americana, but then Ivy in the UK does doesn't it? I think that's one thing Chens has right, but unlike him I don't think that's a bad thing. Ivy is different in all the countries it's taken hold in. Yes it was WASPS, old money and the college campuses at a point in time in America but it never was here, the style filtered through from different sources. I don't think anyone here is denying those connections, but there are other connections too. The style did become widespread fashion in the US which is common knowledge, so can you still claim the style as elite and just about those connections? Who cares about what point in Ivy's history is more important and what the clothes mean to the individual anyway? I see people online who claim the style as having all sorts of different meanings but if they're dressed well and with the details I like I can appreciate their style, whether they call it Trad, Prep, WASP, Ivy and whatever the way they dress means to them.
The "classic" look in clothing really should be "a quality period of fashion". The 20s and 30s had it, the 50s and 60s (most of) had it. The rest leaves me cold.
It's clear that Chenners looks over the pond with curious and envious eyes: the passion and the discipline to work within the confines of the cool i.e. the boom period is alien to his pysche.
One does indeed have to work hard to find the goodstuff in Europe, it's hidden from the mainstream and may be sourced only through earnest contemplation of the rules of the style and seeking out the sources of the goodstuff be it Zach, John Simons or trawling the internet in search of one more magnificent Rooster tie.
We call it being sussed and you have to work at it, so why not celebrate it?
I think Mr. Chensvold also fails to know what Ivy actually is. He likes to say that we dislike modern brands, but what he's missing is that we are Ivy fans and there are very few brands producing Ivy clothing today. We don't care about 99% of what's out there simply because it isn't Ivy. It lacks the classic details, proportions and silhouette that define The Look.
This is why so much of his blog isn't of interest: Because it simply isn't Ivy. Just because J. Press & Brooks Brothers produce it doesn't mean it matters to Ivy fans.
Of the very few good modern Ivy products out there we're very supportive, but still not unquestioning. There is no one brand that we like, in fact there aren't any brands we like - We just cherry pick a shirt here & a shoe there from various sources because we know what we're after: Ivy.
So the idea that we're stuck in the past falls apart. What we are committed to however is the classic Ivy look which we regard as timeless and to be got wherever you can find it.
Classic Ivy when you actually know it is a very broad spectrum within it's defining style. There's nothing narrow about it at all. But you do have to actually know Ivy to know that. Making a study of The Ivy League Look blog is one of the best ways to do that too !
J.
I hate the sussed word because it smacks of the sad kind of eltisim you see from people like andy b and jp. you either care about it or you dont.
From what I read he was a good choreographer. The dancing is about the only thing that gets praised in that film he worked on.
I wonder where he would have been now if he had stuck with that.
Last edited by Russell...Street (2013-02-05 04:34:53)
I once tried & failed to get all 'profound' with KR over all this - His honest answer was that he just liked the clothes. Gets my vote !
Why is Warren Zevon in that photograph of Dexy's above? Lee Ho Fuk's anyone?
some photoshop job, I guess...
Maybe made because they used a riff from a Zevon song on DSMD?
http://bongojazz.blogspot.de/2008/11/one-of-those-things-dexys-midnight.html
Last edited by Russell...Street (2013-02-05 07:43:26)