Hi Jim,

Thanks for agreeing to take part in a feature for my blog.
OK, here we go...
1. What was the first Ivy look you seen that really excited you, and why.
2. Would you say theres been a "golden age" of the Ivy look? If so when?
3. We often hear the term "trad Ivy", what are the differences between trad and modern Ivy?
4. How much, if any, do you think Ivy has taken from British and european fashion?
5. Whats your favorite item(s) in your wardrobe?
6. Out of the labels that are known for Ivy design is there any one that you'd say has been more consistant in leading the market?
7. Vintage or new?
8. Your one of the faces behind the IVY LEAGUE STYLE site, what was the main purpose of the site in the beggining? How much has it gone beyond your expectation s?
9. What is your favorite shop, both in the street and online?
10. Ivy and preppy, just what is the difference?


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Hi -

You ask some very good questions & it's a pleasure to me that you are so interested. Please ask more and if I answer anything below that you'd like more on - Just ask !


1)  You're asking me to go back 34 years in time now to 1978 when I was 13... For me that still seems like yesterday - The freshness of Ivy has never grown stale for me. First image that really packed a punch was not just an image but also a sound and it was Art Blakey quite literally drumming up a storm. It was primal, raw and yet wonderfully controlled. Masterful stuff. I heard the guy before I saw him. What on earth could a wild man like him possibly look like? And so I checked out the LP sleeve and saw... A composed, elegant black man in a dark, softly tailored suit, white shirt and slim, dark tie. So that's what all this energy looks like? Fantastic! That's for me.


2)  The golden age of the Ivy look in America runs roughly from '55 to '65 with a couple of years leeway either side. Its golden years in London & Paris ran later, absolutely informed by the advances that America had made in refining the style.


3)  'Trad Ivy' is actually a new one to me!  Can I be a prick and say that Ivy is Ivy & that the tradition is the tradition? It's either Ivy or it ain't. Things can be Ivy influenced, but the core style is a classical one with certain rules... So maybe what you call 'Trad Ivy' is just hardcore classical Ivy & Modern or Updated Ivy is what came later - Fashion trends like 'Preppy' which took Ivy as a part of their inspiration?  The word 'Trad' currently has so many problems anyway - Its current use on the internet is far from traditional when it comes to Ivy.


4)  Everything! And it mixed it all up and shook it all up and gave it an amazing new life filled with a freshness and a vitality, when you compare it to the stuffy 'Old Word' clothes that were its source material. And then the new American fashions got to influence English and European fashion in return. Fair's fair!


5)  The basics. The original Blue Brooks Brothers buttondown and the dark, slim knit tie.


6)  Brooks dropped the ball in '89. J. Press dropped the ball in '02. John Simons has stayed constant since 1955. If we are talking Ivy then we are talking something very specific. Ralph Lauren must have made the most money, but very few of his clothes are Ivy.



7)  As I run a vintage clothing line with a nice turnover for a hobbyist like me (Smoking Cat Vintage) I obviously love vintage - But it's not enough. We need new designers, brands, lines, products. John Simons is the best designer of new Ivy clothes in my experience. Van in Japan also fascinate me. Part of what I do as a grandly titled 'Menswear Consultant' (In reality I just talk about clothes a lot)  is to get involved in new projects with an Ivy connection. Some will succeed, some will sink, but if I can encourage anybody to try to produce new Ivy clothes then I'm there.


8)  In all modesty I was the only 'Face' behind "Ivy-Style.com" if you are using the term in a London sense! I'm never satisfied, I always want better. The site started  with the intention of being the best possible. By the time the first article was online that had changed to it being a blog for 'the general reader'. I walked. I'd done my bit & made it happen. I'd no interest in the 'general reader'. The specific reader is my interest. Not in an elitist way - In fact quite the opposite. I want the best for everyone, that's why I've no interest in promoting anything but that. Present people with the best like "The Ivy League Look" blog does and let them rise to it. Don't churn out drivel about Preppy fashions if you say you're doing Ivy. Then again, when you have advertisers to please...  Pah! 


9)  John Simons. Always has been. I've flirted with Brooks & J. Press & have ultimately been disappointed. JS always delivers. For online, I guess the new vintage guys out there - More of them every day. Newton Street Vintage I'd count as absolutely amongst the very best.

10)  Preppy is fashion, Ivy is style !


Best -

Jim.