Film Noir Buff Style Forum / Americana/Trad

familyman · 2006-10-10 14:36:39

Trad, ivy, TNSIL, it's all the same clothing wise. It's largely business and collegiate wear from the 40's to the 60's that has for some reason stood still. It's proven to be a bit timeless I suppose. Khakis, OCBDs, sack jackets, shetland sweaters, repp ties, penny loafers, tassell loafers. All of it good.
There are other bits of clothing from this same period that are equally iconic but aren't from the same social strata that trad came from. I'm not talking college kids and business men, I'm talking farm kids and blue collar workers. These clothes are no less significant and have proven to hold just as tight. Levis, plain tee shirts, white socks (wool back in the day) crewneck sweatshirts, baseball caps, barn coats, work boots, Converse All Stars. The clothing that made up the whole Monday through Saturday wardrobe of a working class/farm kid from WWII until all hell broke loose in the 70's. These clothes are as classic and timeless as TNSIL and surround us to this day, just in a different context than the business wear that makes up ivy today.
What do you remember (either real or implanted memories) clothing wise from the time when ivy was king (if it was) for some. What were the rest of us wearing.

Miles Away · 2006-10-11 01:07:34

I'm thinking of the old John Simon's (You know John Simons - The man who IS Ivy in Europe) quote about how 85% of all clothing sales in the US back in the day were in the Ivy style & how huge money was turned over... the style must have been much less self conscious back then, you'd just go to your local menswear shop, someplace like 'Reubens' of Idlewitch, Ohio (I just made that up!), and buy a suit. It wouldn't be Brooks it wouldn't be Press but it would be in the then popular style: Ivy League. It would just be clothes and not a badge of faith or anything...

To answer familyman's question:

I've always liked Pendleton shirts. imported into London as early as 1949 (Not that I go back that far). Very Americana.
LL Bean also has always been a weakness of mine. 'Woolrich' I discovered later along with Filson. Royce socks used to be good when they were beefier. Russell Athletic sweatshirts back when they didn't have a fetish for making their shirts all about the logo and less about the shirt. Golden Bear jackets were always expensive & I never had one - they were very Americana. Baracuta G9s or any one of the countless lookalikes have the look in spades. Proper American Levis, of course... Desert boots... Hanes 'Beefy' white T shirts... All things with that 'American' look to my eye.

And all real memories from around 1979 onwards when I first got into clothes. English approximations at first and then the real McCoy 1985 onwards. My first Imported American purchase was a Blue Hathaway BD from Simpsons in 1982. Up till then I'd worn English BDs. '85 I found J.Simons and started to visit the States. Wish I had a fancy made-up story to tell you all... but I don't.

Boola Boola -

Miles.

Miles Away · 2006-10-11 01:22:11

And how could I forget Carhartt jackets?
Blanket lined and tough as old boots. They stood up on their own. I used to wear the Detroit model non-stop at one time instead of a G9 in the winter. A nice look with cords & a shetland. Tough & funky.
Dickies workwear was tough & funky too... Not as good as Carhartt tho'.

Edit: https://www.carhartt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=10051&productId=32120&langId=-1&categoryId=10928

Last edited by Miles Away (2006-10-11 01:28:38)

Miles Away · 2006-10-11 10:25:03

My Detroit is J.Simons from '88. No external logo patch back then, other than that same jacket as the link. £89 I think, back in the day. Steep compared to the current $60-whatever. I'd never seen them before - Carhartt was far from trendy for skateborders back then. It was a welder's jacket in the US and unknown in the UK.

A bit like a chambray shirt with a tweed jacket, a welder's jacket with a BD & Shetland works in its unexpected out of context juxtaposition.

London Americana/Ivy style. J.Simons style.

Miles.

familyman · 2006-10-12 06:45:44

Miles,
You're right about che Detroit, perfect jacket. Alas, they've never looked right on me, I was always too skinny. By the time they came close to fitting me in the shoulders the sleeves were too short. Very sad. Classic jacket.
Still something about that mid century blue collar look. Sporting a version of it today. Heather grey tee shirt from my alma mater (state school of course) Levis 501 and a pair of Russell work boots. Just feels right. Good stuff.

Woolrich has always been classic. I've owned a bunch of their stuff. The plaid flannel shirt before the grunge movement got ahold of them. Champion reverse weave sweatshirts are supposed to be as good as they always were with only a very small logo on the sleeve. I might have to pick one up.

It's occuring to me that the basic wardrobe was so basic that there's really not that much to remember. Sort of like ivy. Once you get through sacks and button downs and repps and khakis and shetlands you're grasping at the last litte bit. Those things are 95% of the wardrobe and could easily be 100% if we weren't clothes hounds.

Miles Away · 2006-10-12 06:52:01

And all clothes you can just LIVE in.
Dress up in Ivy for whenever.
Kick back in Woolrich to play with the kids.
I spend most of my time in the evenings on my hands & knees on the floor with my daughter playing 'Papa Dragon'. I've an old worn-out pair of Duck Head khakis I keep for those times & a moth-eaten Pendleton shirt I wear.
The great thing about Americana is the freedom that the clothes give you.
IMVHO.

Film Noir Buff · 2006-10-12 06:58:16

Back in the day, you could rely on your clothing store or haberdasher to have the "right" items so it was never something we thought about too much. Most stores today seem to have people selling or buying for the store who havent a clue what theyre doing. That's why Brooks is dead as far as the Ivy league look or Trad is concerned. Case in point, someone running Brooks mtm may defend it's purity up and down but a few months later will be gone and insisting that the new place is (and has always been) the bees knees. To a certain extent this is the exigency of American life where everything has to be the best or it's nothing, and as a result nothing ever is. Last time I was in Brooks it was a little better but it was still closer to old navy than old boy.

#1 2006-10-10 14:36:39

Americana/Trad

#2 2006-10-11 01:07:34

Re: Americana/Trad

#3 2006-10-11 01:22:11

Re: Americana/Trad

#4 2006-10-11 10:25:03

Re: Americana/Trad

#5 2006-10-12 06:45:44

Re: Americana/Trad

#6 2006-10-12 06:52:01

Re: Americana/Trad

#7 2006-10-12 06:58:16

Re: Americana/Trad

Board footer