Air conditioning got there before any of you, though to be fair it has never had an account on here.

Bop - if you're going to put the boot in and call me a narcissistic, nostalgia-obsessed, sneering London clothes snob (which I am, of course) then get it right : AM, not AC. Loved Sidewinder's post - "redline" Levis - yes, I remember that term. I got a pair of redline shrink-to-fits in about 84 from an ad in the back of the NME - just the best jeans I'd ever had. That was THE THING about American clothes - all of it, Ivy, or workwear, top-end or cheap, they were built to last. The quality was amazing. There were the great UK makers as well of course : Burberry, Barbour, the Northampton shoemakers, but these weren't exactly the clothes of the people - as Sidewinder put it, employing a distinctively Liverpudlian syntax : "all around were wanker english yuppies and i wanted no part of that". We wanted to look good, sharp, but not posh. Never posh! Ivy, or the Campus/Collegiate style as Sidewinder defined it, offered a different route to clothing nirvana.

Possibly my favourite thread on here.

From a UK fashion history perspective it all sounds so wrong. '87 was about conspicuous consumption, designer labels and logo's.  Big shoulders and big hair. And yet...

The outfit described is so simple - timeless and elegant. It points to something less obvious but still so right.

In my mind, the attraction is the loafers and shirt. As both were imported you a) had to understand their significance and b) had to make a effort.

Then you start thinking about the detail. Minimal break on the trousers, maybe cuffed and a surcingle belt.

Then onto Acrilan Mans post. Superb. How many people even knew about Alden in '87. There was no Insta driven demand back then.

I wonder if the French cords are still manufactured?

What resonates with me the most is that now I'm in my mid-fifties I strive for a less is more approach. Yes, I still enjoy clothes and get a thrill adding to my wardrobe but I don't want to look flash or trying to hard. I also don't want to look too public school, rugger bugger, Hackett influenced either.

Lovely stuff. I’m liking the sound of the heavy knitwear.

Wrong time of year to be getting worked up about it I know, but I got a bit tired of the merinos and sweatshirts over the winter. Only got two Shetlands, mustard and navy. I got a lot of wear out of them. Could I make do with one? Probably not. As soon as I decide I only need navy, I’ll realise I also ‘need’ grey, off white, dark green. For some reason I’ve long had a craving for a very pastel girly yellow. I admire the minimalist approach greatly, but just wasn’t built for it.

Less is more. Definitely. But for me it has to be a different less is more every day.

I enjoyed reading this as well. Nothing wrong in a bit of reminiscing. Especially when clothes are discussed. No one is forced to read it.
Bop and his colour wheel was a bit much for me but didn't he create Woofs avatar, which I've always liked?
I never got to shop at the Ivy and by the time I was working as a consultant in an office in Richmond Park it was all over.

A bit like Kew Gardens the staff had been culled and I was given a job to digitise all the park drawings. I spent one Easter going through archive drawings putting them onto a CAD system. Much of the useful stuff had been thrown in the skip by disgruntled ex employees.

I had some great jobs working as a consultant for the Royal Parks. At that time the Parks had their own police force with police buildings, stables and horses. They spent a lot of time policing those roads. One of my jobs was to survey all the buildings and produce working drawings. What we didn't realise was that there were plans to abolish the Police units and incorporate them back into the Met. Some of the coppers had taken redundancy from the Met to join the Royal Parks and then had to rejoin the Met which they hated. Royal Parks Police was one of the cushiest jobs going it seemed to me. I had freedom to go everywhere in my work and had parking passes for all the parks.

I never visited the Ivy Shop or even knew of it's existence.J Simons resonates with me more as the Eighties was my decade .

I've recently started to think back to an American inspired look I remember from the early to mid-eighties in the UK. Although there was no name given to it and it was exceptionally subtle in style, you’d instantly recognise a fellow traveller. The chances were that apart from similar tastes in clothes you’d also share, or both be aware of, a whole sub-genre of music, design, books and films.

Whilst not quite ivy-league it shared a number of similar traits. Clean cut, smart but casual, a nod to America and an appreciation of jazz and soul.

It most likely started as a reaction to the excesses of the new romantics of a few years earlier. Men in make-up wearing frilly blouses might have made for interesting photos in style magazines but it was hardly a look you’d be comfortable in at your local pub on a Friday night.

Just like the earlier UK Ivy obsessives who had scoured record sleeves and films for clues to what was happening Stateside, I remember a lot of us looking back in time to the fifties and sixties for inspiration. I guess we were looking forward by looking into the past.

In 1982, Channel 4 started their Sunday evening NFL highlights show. This had a massive impact as it appeared larger than life. A cross between the sci-fi classic Rollerball and the glitz of a movie premier. The knock-on benefits were the relatively short-lived independents that sprung-up selling American sportswear. In this context I’m referring to heavy-duty sweatshirts and shorts from Russell Athletic and Champion, baseball caps, team starter jackets in satin or wool and varsity jackets. It was expensive and often difficult to get exactly what you wanted in your size but it set you apart. Prior to this wearing sportswear in the UK often meant some dodgy football kit in nylon.

Worn with Levi’s, Burlington argyle socks and Weejuns it created a style so different from what was available on the typical high street. Whilst all the above items are, thanks to the internet, now readily available, back then it was a case of really having to hunt things down.

Hair was cut short and often slicked back with gel. Wayfarers were the sunglasses of choice. Natural materials were also important to the discerning man about town. Man-made fabrics were something associated with the bad, ill fitting 70’s. Shirts had to be 100% cotton, knitwear was pure new wool and ties were silk.

Inspiration also came straight out of 50’s Hollywood. James Dean in particular was a huge influence.

Most of the guys I knew who wore the look had come from the soul-boy scene. The imported clothes were the ideal foil to the expensive, imported soundtrack of soul, jazz-funk and fusion.

Austin Reed sold heavy, American made OCBD’s, Shetland sweaters were readily available as were  beautiful jumbo cord trousers. There were also a number of European brands that were heavily influenced by Americana and made interesting, complementary items such as Chevignon, Replay, Henry Cottons and Ball. A wide range of blousons were also popular. The ubiquitous Harrington in red or light blue, suede varsity jackets and distressed A1 flying jackets were all popular. Quality chambray button downs became an elusive quest for many.

By the time of Summer ’83 I remember  the loafer boom was in full force. Traditional beefrolls had been replaced with a wide variety of fabulous footwear and I witnessed a number of guys go sockless which was considered very continental. Loafers with a mixture of kilties, buckles and tassles were now available from a wide variety of stores including Ravel, Reiss and Woodhouse. Cotton trousers and chinos in a variety of neutral tones also made a welcome reappearance. I paired mine with French Connection soft shouldered madras jackets.At the time I didn’t realise what the fabric was or it’s significance. It just fitted-in with the overall look.

As the soul scene edged closer to electro and break dancing so interest in Jazz was growing. Let’s face it you’re hardly want to spin around on a dirty night club floor ruining your expensive, imported chinos with the subtle coin pocket and turn-ups when you could just elegantly nod your head to some sixties Bossa-Nova.

Blues and Soul magazine increased its coverage of straight-ahead Jazz helping educate many of us on the classic artists and albums to. Whilst articles in The Face and ID hyped the new jazz scene. A new generation of teenagers became aware of Blue Note, Prestige and Verve.

Record labels, always quick to capitalise on any marketing opportunity, started to a healthy reissue programme.

Paul Weller, who had been a hero of the ’79 Mod Revival, had moved on too. His latest project The Style Council seemed to mirror the new look but with a few mod sensibilities thrown in. I remember seeing him turn up to the recording the Band Aid single. Whereas, his peers were a mixture of big hair and highlights ,Weller was wearing the perfect tweed overcoat and college scarf.

One of the record sleeve designs for the Style Council single “Shout to the Top??  perfectly captures what was being worn around this time. Deck shoes, slimmer cut off-white jeans and a polo shirt. It’s worth noting that by today’s standards it looks pretty tame but back in ‘84 it really stood out against a sea of stone washed jeans and mullets.

By 1984 a number of factors coincided to solidify what was going on. An upstart London ad agency broke the mould with their famous Levis launderette commercial. The film was ground-breaking and it’s hard to imagine now the effect it had. Fashion communication had to this point, been cantered around the what’s new and modern. It was often presented with basic product image accompanied by the manufacturers’ logo. Yet here was a taste for heritage with a cool soundtrack to match. Levi’s re-imagined a moment in time that combined a GI, soulful crooning and Nick Kamens rock and roll look. It’s been well documented what the commercial achieved for sales of both boxer shorts and 501’s as well as the reissue of “I heard through the grapevine??

The jazz influence was really starting to gain traction. The weekly music paper NME used to market affordable tape cassette compilations and in ’84 it marketed The Night People compilation that featured Art Blakey, Chet baker and Mose Allison. By 1985 the look had morphed into something different. The passion for Italian design merged with conspicuous consumption to drive the designer look. Tailoring also made a big comeback. Shoulder pads, Miami Vice, designer stuble. The American look slowly morphed into something else.

Pre-Internet (very much so) was wonderful in so many ways.  You had to reach - or jump to - your own conclusions, after taking cues from a variety of sources.  I do this still and have recently been looking at photographs of Dave Frishberg and Whitney Balliett for that laid-back NYC look (although Frishberg was, perhaps, to be found more in Southern California).  It's nothing outlandish: soft tweed jackets and button-downs.  Back then, circa 1978-9, the focus was, yes, on James Dean, then Brando, quickly shifting to Montgomery Clift and, somewhat later, Rock Hudson.  The former wore Brooks, the latter Pendleton.  But laying your hands on anything was a real labour of love. 
I was reading only yesterday, though, that Wardell Gray favoured jackets with big padded shoulders, so perhaps studying album covers wasn't always advisable.  I suppose zip-up jackets were more the fashion: like the one I bought at the newly-opened Affleck's Palace in 1982 or 83 and wish a pigeon crapped on at Victoria Coach Station the following year.

There's a great photograph of Woody Allen with his wife in Marion Meade's biography.  He looks as though he might just be getting by on Social Security payments. 
Pure sprezzatura perhaps - or simply a man who has always worn exactly what suits him without reference to anyone else.

Great stuff from Woof too. I completely agree with all that.

And AFS dropping clues and cues. This is what it’s all about for me. Always digging, discovering, learning. This is what’s great about Ivy. It never ends. Wherever it is we think we’re heading we’ll probably never get there.

Who’d be a Hells Angel where you just need jeans, a leather and a ride eh?