Do you have an exact date on that ad, Dave?
Late-30's is mind blowingly cool, if in fact. I would've pegged it a decade later judging from the drape on that cat on the left, which looks more akin to what you might expect from the forties to fifties transition. Eitherway, it's a testament to the timelessness of the look, so effortlessly cool!
It's from Esquire sometime between 36 and 39, and I too would love to wear the entire outfit.
http://www.ivy-style.com/connoisseurs-say-theyre-in-style-the-bass-weejun-in-the-late-30s.html
Last edited by Yuca (2015-11-12 01:37:40)
I strongly suspect that at the time such outfits could only be worn by students - on anyone else they would have been considered too youthful, frivolous etc. Which ties in with Holden in Sabrina (1954), who as I recall was not a student but was dedicated to a playboy lifestyle. Also in A Streetcar Named Desire from 51 there is a brief appearance from a student character, who is wearing a 3/2 sack jacket and some other ivy kit I can't recall (repp or knit tie I think).
In 1954 absolutley not.
The Ivy trend was already started.
And in early 50s Ivy sack suits were already linked by Madison Avenue executives.
Last edited by Leer R. (2015-11-15 11:21:24)
Definitely. The bow tie is not my bag but the rest is superb.
Thw bow tie doesn't go well with the brown loafers... And the Western belt puts me off. Other than that it is great...
Finicky finicky. That guy on the left is where it's at.
That kinda looks like yourself and Oli, maybe with Harpo with the bird on his arm?
He's got a new one every week. Tosses em out like rubbish.
Haha. Yeah, what can I say....
/\ ... "college-born fashions ...."
Love it, haha .... you wonder what is so hard to understand about it ....
.... that working men would be thought frivolous if they showed up at their jobs wearing sweaters, mufflers, sport coats with odd trousers, saddle shoes, penny loafers, flat caps, newsboys
.... luckily for us the students were given lots of leeway to dress the way they wanted
Ivy by the students and for the students, the rest of the country wore suits or workwear
Last edited by stanshall (2015-12-11 08:33:08)
^ Fantastic! I love seeing examples of vintage marketing for the pre-"golden years" stuff!
Anyone have the skinny on the flapped chest pocket; was it an English detail in origin? I know technically it was all British import, but it's a detail that didn't appear often. I've had a couple of sack cut sport coats in the past that have featured it and I've always been curious. It strikes me as being very English provincial. I've only ever seen it on tweeds and corduroy.
Last edited by Oliver (2015-12-11 17:03:33)
Yeah. That's good stuff. Too bad that guy is just a figment of an illustrator's imagination and didn't actually exist.