Well now, The Ivy Shop, this tiny little shop hidden away at the cheap end of Richmond Hill. So besotted was I with the whole London Ivy story I even lived in a tiny rather grubby little bedsitter in Ellerker Gardens 5 minutes up the hill for 3 years just to be close to the source. Truly I was a highly dysfunctional youth, feeling everything very intensely. Very strung up, very mod in fact. Never got laid, just lived for clothes and music. Ian Strachan and John Simons (and associated figures like John Lally) were the first real grown-ups I'd ever known who cared about clothes a lot, and would happily chat for hours about their favourite style of loafer. They were 20 years older than me, but were never patronising or dismissive. Ian had a uniform - rather austere, but really stylish. I only ever recall him wearing Brooks button-downs, normally white, sometimes blue. His face was bony and handsome in an unusual way, his dark brown hair worn in a severe side-parting. I only ever recall him wearing jeans - Levi 501s (before all the selvedge bollocks), in various stages of blue, and sometimes white 501s in winter. He never wore chinos. Never wore a tie. Knitwear was always heavy, very chunky, perhaps a guernsey in there, Donegal flecked shetland yes. His jeans rode up short, perhaps aided by his very bandy legs. He loved red socks, and particularly a very thick chunky type of plain ribbed sock that Burlington made in the late 80s. I can only ever remember him in Sebago beefrolls, normally dark brown, or Alden plain toe bluchers. And that was IT - period. I thought he was ultra cool and only ever queried his choice of overcoat. His generation revered, idolised, fetishised, the heavy Burberry pure cotton trench coat, the Trench 21, which I hated and still struggle with to this day. And both him and Simons loved their waxy Barbour jackets, which I still think are the unacceptable face of country attire. But Ian was cool, unsmiling but very generous and warm in his repressed way. He gave me a massive bung when I worked there one Christmas Eve. On the train back to spend Christmas with my parents in Liverpool I counted the money - something like £250 - a fortune in 1988 for one day's shop work. I'm vague on dates but I think I worked there from Spring 88 to Summer 90. I have lovely memories of that whole period of my life. Ian was, and hopefully still is, an absolute mensch. Addendum - he liked solid made in France navy blue corduroy strides, and a cashmere scarf in winter. He walked through Kew Gardens every morning on his way to the shop. Random recollections - forgive my waffling… An Ivy mystic was Strachan, he idolised Coltrane.

Sidewinder - yes, Gerry Potter and his lovely wife, just a few doors up. That shop had a lovely vibe. There was a great buzz along that stretch back then. The posh bloke in the camping shop next door was always popping in and Ian had the hots for some posh totty with a clothes shop for ladies that lunch up the hill - think the shop was called Anna? Two gay German guys owned a cafe half way up the hill and Ian used to come back with a few rum truffles for me and Lally. Did you work in Houbens, or Waterstones, or The Lion and The Unicorn? Funnily enough I'm a book rep myself. We must have met at some point. Do you remember the little Glaswegian fellow, very hard, old school Ivy, red hair, G9, Levis and Weejuns - always in there chatting. I think he got caught shoplifting in there once and they let him off and he kind of 'looked after' the shop from that point onwards. I went on a nostalgia trip up there a few weeks ago and it broke my heart actually. The old Richmond was always smart and wealthy but it was also quite shabby in places and the big money hadn't really rolled in. It was genteel and rather old fashioned. Now everywhere is very tarted up, the chains dominate and there seems to be a lack of personality about the whole place. The L'Auberge had gone by the time I arrived. Great spot where that was, right by the bridge. Did you know that's how John Simons found the premises for The Ivy Shop? They used to go to the L'Auberge quite often and they spotted this vacant little shop just a few doors up from it. The rest, as they say, is history…

Sidewinder - did you work with a very pukka chap called Patrick at H.K.Lewis?  Always in full Savile Row drag - his grandfather's Anderson and Sheppard suits, Hermes ties, Gucci loafers. When I started in the book trade at Dillons on Gower Street I was in the medical dept and we had just bought all the old Lewis stock from when they'd closed down and taken on a couple of their members of staff. We talked about clothes a lot, as you can imagine. He understood the Ivy look very well. He was often in pictures in Tatler getting pissed at some Sloaney event. You still in the book world? Anyhow, I miss that old Richmond. I think that wonderful chippy is still there down the side by the Green, though they have ripped out the old interior. I went into Dickens and Jones for a slash when I was in Richmond a few weeks ago and that remains frozen in time. No customers, miserable looking assistants with lacquered hairstyles. Marvellous. Love the old 1930s train station too.

Ha ha ha - The Single Uncles - how I love that name. Sounds like a band on Postcard Records circa 1981. Oh how well you have observed the dress code of the Ivy shopkeepers. Very minimal - what was left out was as important as what was worn. It was a kind of Euro-Ivy look, very understated. The word preppy was rarely uttered. They selected the best and wore it to death. One feels many Ivyists one reads about in this trashy Internet-era just acquire for the sake of it, to fill the existential void. Life is meaningless, I need another Makers. I've been there myself yet have fantasies about the capsule Ivy wardrobe. 7 shirts, a suit, 2 sports jackets, 3 pairs of shoes, an overcoat, plus accessories. Wouldn't it be marvellous? Every item perfect in all aspects and worn to shreds and then replaced. A fantasy I know. I love to consume, but it's a weakness.

What I mean is the beautiful understated style is not just being understated.. I think there is some confusion to what actually constitutes to being beautifully understated.. I see a lot of understated and feel as though people thought well if ive got a beautiful shoe and a great pair of trousers they jist instantly should go together. Its like the equivalent of being a labels whore... without given much thought to watch actually works and approaching it simply... Brownshoe had it down a treat...

Last edited by Bop (2015-05-12 11:01:08)

/\  Surf Ivy is not mythical, Sidewinder, it was real ..... seen many ads for surf jams from the mid-'60s specifically aimed at the Ivy consumer ........

There lies the issue if there is one.

Is this board about Ivy an American style or is it about the UK take on it ?

It would be nice to think it was about both.....

Americentric ?  Ivy is and always will be American.

Surely Ivy is Americentric by definition ?

/\  great post Sidewinder

Last edited by stanshall (2015-05-12 21:41:54)

You'll always have snobbery around clothes because I think for many its quite a narcasistic pursuit... I dont see Sidewinder falling into the trap..but when I read Jims or unfortunately even AC words it might as well just be paragraphs of Me, me, me.. it seems that everything AC writes is built round the theme of why that makes him better, an under lying tone of the London clothing elitisim..or maybe even an after shock of mod still running through.. I think he must be aware of this

And although he can have any opinion he likes on himself and others it doesnt really amount to much.. Im not saying Im the best dresser and or its about being the best dresser but by just owning beautiful things doesnt make you better than anyone else and its a pretty shakey foundation to build an ego on which is why it is so easy to upset these guys when you mention it. Yes you should have pride but this quickly turns into arrogance...Im mot trying to be the morality police but it just wears a bit thin when its in post after post.

Sidewinder or maybe someone else did say one odd thing though about modern Ivy being more like Pokemon with a 'got to have it all' when they then talk about rifling through old shops stateside to find jeans..we are all just enjoying clothes.. some people can obsess some can be a bit more relaxed..I dont think there is a right or wrong way..the essence here is the visual beauty of clothing and they're social conatations...if the social conatation of clothing for you is in order to give you standing over other people...like it appears to be with AC then to me thats a sad place for a man old enough to know better should be..but Ive said this before and it might just be a personal gripe...

I actually enjoy reading people's memories on here whether Stan, or the ones above..but when the angle is so often...and this is why we're better than the rest it's just sad.

The fact that there are (at least) 2 posters called AC doesn't help matters.

Last edited by Yuca (2015-05-13 00:42:23)

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