Your memories seem pretty spot on. Great to hear the website was enjoyed by some people. I did it without even checking with John and then just popped into 2 Russell Street one day and mentioned to him that he had a website. He smiled, said thanks and gave me a knitted tie. The old stuff has all gone I'm afraid. I let Jean-Paul Seculaire have his wicked way with it all as he was going to design John Simons a really nice website for the new shop. Sadly this didn't happen, for numerous tedious reasons. I think it's gone, but that's the web isn't it? It's on a screen, it's not in your hands, its existence is fleeting and curiously unsatisfying. Anyway Hank has done wonders over here with his fantastic Ivy archive. Systematic and thorough old Hank is, unlike yours truly!

GG

Yellow, or various shades of it, looks ok with other clothing depending on the way it's thrown together, however yellow and it's variations can be decidedly dangerous against the skin. Especially as the shirt collar etc frames the face and neck. Can make certain skins tones look like a badly managed junkie with Hep C and jaundice and yellow fever on a bad day.

Pale yellow or one of those nice, seemingly rare candy stripes might work.  Hidden by a lot of wool.

You can be on dodgy ground with ecru.

Why so?  Besides, what precisely is 'ecru'?

Beige...  the sequel...  A superb old thread for any curious lurkers with some spiffing contributions.  You'll just have to mentally fill in the blanks.  Of course some looking in will sigh, yawn, tell themselves it's all been done to death before posting another selfie of themselves on IG or 'liking' someone's frog pockets or high rise.  This attitude is simply heaping disrespect on the former MM, the late puppetmaster of this show, not to mention Mr.Simons and a good many others (who might or might not have had their tongues shoved into their cheeks - as I said elsewhere, 'playful': take it or leave it).  I adored that old website.  And still wear white Brooks when feeling outlandish.

I very much do, AFS.
I confess. I like the blue Levis jeans, white OCBD and Loafers look.
There´s that one pic of JS somewhere in South France late 60s. And the one of YSL in Marrakesh.
But don´t forget to sport a little bit of tan.
And i like the sophistication of the white 501s.
(Maybe not on a Tuesday night in Grimsby.)

Tongue in cheek as much of this thread might be, it still contains a message from the now dim and distant past When Russell Street Ruled The Earth.  Study, think, consider.  It led me to the 'limited pallet' and I've never ceased to be grateful.  It takes some doing.  But, as our Gibson has said elsewhere, Ivy is 'a mood'.  Perhaps that is what some of the chaps on 'Ivy Style' fail to be tuned into (although I admit to sharing their interest in the Ivy League establishments themselves): coffee, well-chosen food, jazz, graphic design - knowledge acquired and curiosity never fully satisfied.  I think the original Mods called it 'topping up'.  'The Syllabus' provided a first-rate example of this: you never quite knew what you were going to get.  The IG images are good but not quite as good. 
It all marks us - you - out.

Rumour had it that the Russell Street trio would always size up a potential customer's footwear before making a move...

A glance, an immediate assessment and then JS "Just have a look around. We're there if you need any help". In the meantime John's instincts and experience come into play - serious about clothes? Taste? Affluent? Been in before? In need of 'correction'? I saw some amazing sales stuff/customer interaction in there over the years. My favourite days were when the big delivery vans came over from Heathrow and John started opened the boxes "What you think Ken? They got this colour right?" I got there just before American clothing was all outsourced. 80% of stock was American. Within 10 years it was around 20%. I have a picture of him in a white BB Makers somewhere... And I still have hours and hours of recorded interviews with him.

^ I was 'in need of correction'.  No doubt about that whatever.  He looked at my desert boots: wrong toe shape.  He looked at my jacket: totally wrong.  We weren't flush at the time and my daughter was very young.  I had to choose between loafers and desert boots.  I chose loafers.  Back home, I weighed it all up and knew I absolutely had to have those desert boots.  Talked to Jeff, who was bemused that I was willing to buy before trying.  They turned up, perfection, with a little note from John inside.  That was it.  Hooked on 2 Russell Street.  John would not simply sell, he would dress me, make suggestions, pass on little nuggets of information.  He sent me back to Derbyshire with my heart singing, wanting to spread the good word (which I still do).  On one occasion he pointed at me and said to another customer, 'He's come all the way down from Derbyshire to see us'.  As Jimmy once said, I was a very happy boy.

Robbie, an particular poster on here - not Hepcat - was a colour-wheel obsessive.  I bought a book on holiday in France about shades of blue: the 'perfect' colour.  Navy is good for a corduroy jacket, for knitwear, possibly for a shirt (the jury may be out on that one); certainly for a polo shirt.  Jeans of course.  Varying shades of blue.  Socks.  I even have a pair of mid-blue Topsiders.  There's something in the colour-wheel theory, I think, but not as much as that chap insisted on.  Most matching/teaming is done quickly and via instinct, is it not?  I almost always go for navy as a default colour.