I'd be interested to know your views on Bean.
Some time ago it was a frequent mention on here. There was the 70's prep checklist and threads on camp and Blucher Mocs.
Probably falls into the Americana bag rather than Ivy?
I've got a few items ranging from slippers and knitwear through to flannel shirts and a Gillet. Quality wise it's all very good.
Having spent some time earlier in this week browsing the global site I found quite a few items tickled my fancy.
Beyond the preppy Norwegian sweater and classic bean boots they have a good range of knits and 5 pockets.
I love my Bean Boots and my vintage Norwegian knit but it's all I have.
I think it's now seen as more Americana, but it was certainly part of the look way back (if anyone follows my Northampton_Ivy on insta) there's lots of campus examples, especially from Bowdoin in the 50's.
Stuff that's still good and hasn't changed much over the decades:
Chamois shirts. Sometimes they have heavy wool pants, heavy as in like a horse blanket.
The "lake washed" chinos are okay if you can make the sizing work. I like their plain open collar shirts, called "canvas sun washed".
The anoraks were popular when I was in college 1980-84. Likewise the chamois shirts.
The things I'm currently admiring are:
Ragg wool sweaters. An alternative to Shetlands
The field chinos in pine bark. I like the coin pocket detail. It's also got a small amount of stretch
The 5 pocket cords in navy are good price but I've something similar
Pocket polos. You don't see these in the shops as much as you used to
the cotton polo necks
The fleece lined warm up jacket
yellow beanie
the retro Gillet
The number of different versions of the same things astounds me.
How many different colours, patterns and textures of beanie hat can you fit into your wardrobe
I looked many times but was never confident to confirm an order. Lots of variants and sizing never seemed quite right for me, but it always looked good.
I'm typically a medium in most things.
The sweaters and Gillet I have are both medium and true to size.
I bought one of their barn coats new via online order and it was fine.
But over the over the years I’ve had various vintage LL Bean sweaters and casual shirts from eBay, all of which have been bulletproof quality. They were masters of Dad Style. Back in the day they produced a much wider range including, leather pilots jackets and tailored jackets, tweeds, blazers etc all of which crop up on eBay.
Moving more to recent years, I have been in large Bean stores in the States a couple of times and have been distinctly underwhelmed with choice and quality.