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#1 2021-10-01 11:40:40
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Oblivious?
I've just picked this up from one of the interviews with John Simons. What a wonderful way of phrasing something. No-one else would have thought of that - or at least been capable of putting it into words. 'Oblivious to your own look'. That truly builds on the notion of paring down, of taking that crucial step backwards. It's a discipline. I'm too new to this game to really pull it off, but others may feel themselves able to. Your thoughts?
Jimmy would have had something constructive to say about this. How cool not to care about being cool.
#2 2021-10-01 11:58:46
- Uncle Ian
- Member
- From: North London
- Posts: 224
Re: Oblivious?
I very rarely wear anything that could be remotely conceived as Ivy League anymore, but I was at a wedding a couple of years ago, all Anderson and Shepparded up, in best "Silk Stockings" style.The father of the groom, who was about my age, complimented me on my turnout, to which I naturally thanked him, and he responded - "but you know it don't you?", and I said , well yeah, it's not just thrown together, to which he rejoined: "But you wear it easy", which is probably the greatest compliment anyone could pay me!
#4 2021-10-01 14:22:01
- woofboxer
- Devil's Ivy Advocate
- From: The Lost County of Middlesex
- Posts: 7959
Re: Oblivious?
People talk about someone being ‘comfortable in their own skin’ and of course clothes are a second skin. Staying with the wedding theme; you always see men in the church who are slightly ill at ease wearing a suit for the first time in ages. By the time you get to the speeches at the reception, they’ve had a couple of drinks, relaxed, loosened their ties and look 100% better.
The ’oblivious’ dressers know their wardrobes, know what works best with what, know what they like and are not really worried whether other people like it.
'I'm not that keen on the Average Look .......ever'.
John Simons
Achievements: banned from the Ivy Style FB Group
#5 2021-10-01 17:18:14
- An Unseen Scene
- Member
- From: Nottingham, UK
- Posts: 1275
Re: Oblivious?
Reading books such The Look and Day of the Peacock today between calls at home for the first time in years, John Michael Ingram was revered for his 'middle way' approach that went past fashion, between Saville Row and the High Street, between Italian and Ivy style, Modern but not Mod, quality not quantity sold. Not seeking attention, subtle...unseen even. Good reads today.
#6 2021-10-01 17:24:44
- Tworussellstreet
- Member
- Posts: 599
Re: Oblivious?
Anderson & Sheppard - Uncle Ian must have a few bob. Must feel great strutting about in that stuff. You go for the classic DB?
#7 2021-10-02 01:40:56
- Uncle Ian
- Member
- From: North London
- Posts: 224
Re: Oblivious?
Well I did have a few bob, but now I have some nice suits instead! Both DB and single - not to everyone's taste (or budget) of course, but they do make you feel pretty good. And when I saw the prices people are prepared to pay for garish, synthetic, sweatshop crap in Brown's, I no longer felt any pangs of guilt at paying bespoke prices.
#8 2021-10-02 09:51:57
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Re: Oblivious?
'Oblivious' seems to me to be a very long way from 'peacock'. The other side, in fact, of a very shiny coin. Almost 'anti-Mod' in a very specific, benign way and the fiefdom of few. Those shots of JS taken around a dozen of years ago: sometimes toting a shoulder bag. Wearing a very, very plain-looking jacket (Vetra?). One is still learning. Though traitors scoff and cowards sneer, Beatnik Ivy's still spoken here. And - as someone once said - John is John. Evolutionary.
#9 2021-10-02 12:15:35
- An Unseen Scene
- Member
- From: Nottingham, UK
- Posts: 1275
Re: Oblivious?
The old Hardy Aimes statement about dressing said it all.
Let's not make this whole forum just reverence for JS, its already getting a bit much.
#10 2021-10-02 12:18:05
- A Fine Sadness
- Member
- Posts: 3009
Re: Oblivious?
Point taken. 'Talk Ivy' can sometimes seem like 'The Friends of John Simons'. I'd be the first to admit it. But the thread was launched by something he said in an interview and which I found intriguing. We'll move on, though.
#11 2021-10-02 12:38:56
- An Unseen Scene
- Member
- From: Nottingham, UK
- Posts: 1275
Re: Oblivious?
Re. Day of the Peacock, have you read it? It covers the early places such as Vince, Austin's, Cecil Gee, Blades, John Michael and yes JS, including pictures of his early window displays. It is far more than you may infer from the title. A lot of working young adults wanted to look modern but not gauche. Oblivious then comes into it.
Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2021-10-02 12:41:22)
#12 2021-10-02 18:04:11
- Tworussellstreet
- Member
- Posts: 599
Re: Oblivious?
I think 'The Friends Of John Simons' is an infinitely superior name for the revamped version of this website than 'Talk Ivy'.