Ok Yuca a few more recollections !, firstly the reference to L.Davis wasn't a Welsh thing but a reference to the character in the Coen Bros film, John Lally was the nicest guy in the IS, unlike a lot of the other guys he always had time for us younger guys, he wore cord trousers, shetland roll-necks and dessies, although they might have been around '70, TBH I don't think many if any of us 15-19 yr olds in 68/69/70 realised why it was called the Ivy Shop, I just thought someone had a Mum like mine called Ivy and named the shop after her ! I can't recall anyone then calling it Ivy League Style ,if there was any reference it was 'American Style' , to me it peaked in the summer of '69, 1/2 sleeve Career Club shirt, white sta-prest or levi cords (proper length), loafers from the IS,I thought I was the business, by '70 I wouldn't have worn the sta-prest or a harrington to distance myself from the skins, I wore the bd shirt collars unbuttoned, shetland roll necks, hair much longer as previously mentioned, still loafers but not so much with the royals, 1970 was the year of transition,
There was an excellent article somewhere on FNBS some years ago about the transition around '70/71, the guy who wrote it had the minutest detail covered down to the width of the ties from the Squire shop that went with this french look,(again not sure if it was called that then ), when I read it it was, yes, yes, yes, and I think there are comments in there from Chris Hardy who would have been onto this earlier than the likes of me,
him being of the previous generation of mods,('63-'67 'ish), I met Chris & Lloyd a couple of times 4-5 years ago, could have talked/listened to them all day, great guys, hope I didn't ramble too much !

Good post Staxfan. It almost exactly mirrors my clothes experience at that time. I was from East London/Essex so would use the Squire Shop but did know of the Ivy Shop. I remember when the Squire shops expanded to sites on Oxford Street (one I used was near Bond Street station) and the King's Road. I thought it all started to change when they opened the 'Village Gate' shops They were also along Oxford Street. The American style seemed to be watered down or dropped in favour of an Italian/French style it seemed to me at the time.

I only vaguely recall 1969 in clothing terms.  Where I lived Ben Sherman would have been seen as cutting edge, not to mention Sta-Prest.  Some were doing the 'Swinging Sixties' look (including my father, possibly at my mother's behest).  I was stabbed just above the right eye by a 'brolly boy' at some point and still have the scar.  But this was still a backward-looking Midlands town with only one or two high-end clothes shops.  There were a couple of boutiques for older lads who were probably listening/dancing to Motown/Stax/Atlantic.  Skinheads were frightening creatures in sheepskin coats and boots bought from a shop on the bus station. 
It was a deeply horrible place to grow up in and hasn't improved much.

Hi Robbie, thanks for your kind comments, yes we were blessed in W.London with the IS so close in Richmond, I met my Wife in late’71 and she was from Romford so Essex/East London borders, I remember first going over there and being surprised at how many of the guys were still wearing the Ivy or skin look, and these weren’t just the 15 yr old  Oiks ! Only 25 miles apart but different in many ways,

I honestly believe this is a vital part of why a forum like this should exist: two chaps with something in common who might well meet up for a drink.

Robbie, I may well have shopped at that shop in Ilford, probably '73, a couple of nice shirts, it was very similar to the Squire/Vil.Gate/Thackerays shops in Chelsea & the West End, on one of my first visits to Romford ('71) I wore a dusky pink french style suit from (probably) the Village Gate in the Kings Road, now I could get away with this whilst swanning around the Kings Road or even Richmond, but I guess it raised a few eyebrows in Romford !

After the Kings Road/French look of the early 70s - which I never felt totally comfortable with - it was seeing "American Grafitti" and to a lesser extent "Happy Days", which rekindled my interest in Ivy/American clothes. I realised that the stuff Richie Cunningham was wearing was infinitely cooler than the blind alley 70s fashion had led me up. So...you had Meeny's, which was for children really, but as I'm pretty thin I could fit in their larger sizes. Then the advent of Flip and American Classics, and various other places selling high quality second hand US clothes from the 50s and 60s at knockdown prices helped. Although like Staxfan - who I'm sure I must've crossed paths with back in the 60s - I never found the stuff on offer at the Ivy Shop tempted me much, at least not until their final few years when they seemed to get back on track again. This was all a long time ago though, so my memory could be playing tricks on me!

Last edited by Uncle Ian (2021-10-02 05:34:20)

Staxfan the Bronx shop was my all time favourite clothes shop. It was on two floors with the shoes upstairs and it also catered for ivy girls clothes.
I think there were two owners a bit older than us. Never been able to find out who they were, where they came from, and if they wear ivy now.

I pretty much shopped exclusively at Squire / Village Gate + Quincy’s on the Kings Rd through the 70’s ( lesser so ‘76 onwards with kids & mortgage), but they started knocking out some very good bd’s from around ‘77, probably a bit cheaper than the US originals, remember a lovely Catalina ‘varsity’ jacket from SS or VG around ‘80, brown cords, SS & VG and the other shops in that group went out of business around ‘83, I went back to the IS then, and they were back to their best then, ( pre Timberland days),but it wasn’t every month or so with those responsibilities of kids etc, Uncle Ian - yes we probably crossed paths back then , but as you say a long time ago.... !

I have to admit a quiet interest in the latter days of the Ivy Shop.  I adored those Timberland 'distressed' boat shoes my old Dad bought back from New England.  To me, then, they were just 'American': like smoking Luckies or Winston in preference to Benson And Hedges: exotic, other-worldly.  I saw a pair of those boots in a charity shop window last week.  £45.  I think they were copied, like Ugg boots.  I looked, then shrugged and turned away.  Well, you do when you're wearing 'uncommon' Florsheim PTBs. 
I suppose, as with the 'chaps' in the late 60s, the Ivy Shop had to sell what they could to who they could.  The nature of retailing, of making a living.  Would JS have carried on selling Harrington jackets otherwise?