Anything touted as a 'Bible' is guaranteed to make me giggle, yawn or throw up. 
I read the original, King James version, from cover to cover back in 1984.  That was sufficient.

Says it all.

I've never seen a hard copy of Talk Ivy. But imagine I would have seen every image a hundred times by now.

Unless you can read Japanese, surely it can only serve as a picture book? Like other 'style bibles', something only to be occassionally picked up and flicked through for a five minute espresso shot of influence.

I like that sort of thing. I like the artwork of Mr Slowboy, Aaron Chang, Andrew Mashanov. Just illustrations that allow you to take whatever inspiration you need, and do it your own way. Dick Caroll is also good. I also like South Asian IG posters. For all I know, they might well be telling me what I should and shouldn't wear, but as I can't understand it I can just treat it as above.

Fine fellows all I'm sure, but whether any of the above Messrs have heard or approve of anything shouldn't really have any bearing I think.

I have a copy. It's a reprinted version that I bought in the States and it's a nice product of its time.

Pre-internet this was probably a great little look book that captured the feel of campus lifestyle for anyone interested in USA clothing. I think the text is in English but will need to check.

The shoots featured have appeared many times on the internet across the years. Personally, I love books and would rather have hard copy than anything digital.

The Japanese like clothing information served to them in almost catalogue fashion. Many of their more successful magazines have simply provided an image of an item, brand and pricing.

It might of been on the Kamakura website or in the wonderful Ametora book that explained how Take Ivy was such a massive financial undertaking and the work of real enthusiasts.

It might of been on the Kamakura website or in the wonderful Ametora book that explained how Take Ivy was such a massive financial undertaking and the work of real enthusiasts.

Think it was in the W David Marx's Ametora as I re-read it awhile back.

I bought the Take Ivy reprint quite some time ago, all the text is in English. I think the early version(s) with Japanese text commands a pretty penny.

My feelings are, that it's a great book for those wanting to get into an Ivy style/look.

There's a young lad on IG called Ganymede posting some great stuff and who sometimes will reference the book.

I first came across "Take Ivy" circa 2006/7 when some fairly gritty scanned images turned up on one of the blogs that existed back then (don't ask me which, my memory ain't that good) - I remember talking to Jeff & Kenny about it on one of my lunch time sojourns. Jeff seemed a bit interested, Kenny less so and they neither of them really had a great deal to do with the internet back then.

As it happened, around the same time, I became acquainted with and subsequent quite pally with a Japanese lad by the name of Hiro. Hiro was (and possibly still is for all I know) quite heavily involved with design/cutting for Lewis Leathers & at that time their office was directly above that of an ex girlfriend in a former Tram Depot on the Gray's Inn Road. Later on, when they moved out, she & I converted it into a flat, where I lived (with her) for about 18 months before moving to Ireland. I digress.

I was utterly fascinated with the book and the photos on the blog - and with the assistance of Hiro, who I shared a number of common interests with managed to track down an original Japanese copy from the late 60's/Early 70's which he kindly ordered for me via something I assume was the Japanese version of Abe Books. It cost a small fortune (about £125, 30k JPY) but as I was rolling in money back then, I was less bothered! - It took the better part of six months and several irate emails for it to finally arrive and I'd be the first to hold my hands up and confess dissapointment!
Far from being some holy bible that would lead to an Ivy epiphany, it seemed repetitive and somewhat uninspiring. It was duly taken (with a certain amount of reverence) to Russell Street, along with a couple of pages of typed up translations thanks to Hiro. Kenny was about as interested as when I'd first talked about it, John marginally more interested but was basically politely scathing about it and it's relevance but Jeff on the other hand thought it was manna from heaven. He requested (and was granted) several photocopies of certain pages and  a couple of translations of various captions etc. So yes, they knew about it - and not that long after the rest of the Ivy-Verse realistically. They too would have seen a physical copy 3-4 months before anyone else.many others. I've no idea how many people went to the same hassle as I did and imported a copy pre-translation but I've always assumed (perhaps naively) it wasn't that many.

Three, possibly four months later, it was on every blog on every website in full technicolour - and within another couple of months it was in English in Foyles. I recall distinctly going there on my lunch-break (this time from Newburgh St, having changed jobs) to collect a copy I had pre-ordered.
In comparing my two copies (the original version of which I've currently lost track of, I hope buried somewhere in the attic, missing also is my copy of "The Ivy League Look") I always thought the English version had more blurb - but as I don't read Japanese, it's hard to tell. Maybe we just use more characters to say the same thing.

I was a bit miffed that it had been re-printed too, it devalued my Japanese copy in more ways than one. By 2010 it was EVERYWHERE - you could walk into an Urban Outfitters or HMV on Oxford Street and there would be stacks of it a foot high.

I'm genuinely surprised that the late 2000's English copies are commanding such high prices, especially as it seemed to be so ubiquitous -  I had had no idea it had gone out of print again, which would partially explain why.

I have too in my possession a copy of Take8Ivy, it's sequel, which is basically a compilation of photographer Hayashida's college photographs from the late 60's through to the mid 80's.
It too in it's own way is quite an important historical document in that it spans a greater time period and the changes are more apparent and visible but like it's predecessor lacks the kind of cohesion that would make it more of a useful reference point.

Joking apart, the definitive history of the style has yet to be written - hasn't it?  Who would embark on such a venture?  Frosty Mellor would have been no bloody good (pissed as a fart and biased to the nth degree).  It should really be left in the hands of an American: probably someone who is not a household name.  It might be a hefty, coffee-table size, crammed with information and photographs and retailing at at least £50.  It would avoid having Miles Davis or Steve McQueen or Sinatra on the cover.  It would cover the period before 1914.  It would acknowledge authors like John O'Hara, geniuses like Ralph Lauren, visionaries like John Simons and pick up the odd jazz musician who actually did wear Ivy League rather than a conservative business suit.  It would discuss the role the ladies played.  It would acknowledge the enthusiasm of Japan and the contributions of France, Italy and elsewhere.  But it's chief thrust would be - 'Take Ivy' territory.
Without any trendy bullshit.
Quite likely impossible.

I don't think a definitive ivy book can ever be written. Too many factions and far too many contradictions.
USA Ivy steeped in collegiate history. UK Ivy a hip alternative to stodgy UK menswear.
The parameters of what is Ivy is blurred.
UK Ivy heavily influenced by one mans vision and what he deemed fitted into the aesthetic.
Ivy in the US influenced by tradition and class. Ivy in the UK a rejection of our traditions and class.
How about Japan and the keepers of the flame - Kamakura Vintage Ivy, Van, Orslow, Beams+?

Who would say not before time?  And what takes its place?

^ Your regular use of 'we' in such context implies that others naturally share your opinions, which of course they don't.

I don't see my JS linen suit or my latest madras shirt purchase from them, as dross. In fact they're as good as anything from the golden age. But there's a need to be selective.

There's never been a time when you could have walked into Brooks Brothers wearing a blindfold, randomly pick something up and inevitably walk out with a great piece of Ivy clothing (now you would have a job if your eyes were wide open and you had the pick of the store). But there was always a need to be selective in what you bought and wore. But not everything out there is dross by a long chalk.

I remain, as ever, the arch-conservative of 'Talk Ivy', a position for which I in no way apologise.