Yep I concur fully.  I do think JS has influenced others. There is more choice broadly across a similar range. Also the trends that turn into books.

It's also one of the reasons I'm now a bit more pick and mix - the olive corduroy jacket from Cordings looks spot on with a great BD, Paraboots and drill jeans (family meal on Saturday).

It feels people can pick an era now - there's a revival of 20s-40s menswear online a lot and recreations of old menswear, some of it upper-middle class, some of it post Peaky Blinders working class.

Other than the gradually fading away, deliberately 'Mod' clothes, a touch of Ivy/Prep (I said the P word) have become an accepted smart casual as you say - often without the wearer knowing or caring. They might be wearing apron mocs without ever heard of Paraboot. As you say the Reiss, Oliver Spencer type menswear all have bits that look relevant. I didn't get to mention it before they had gone, but Joules had a run of Ivy looking 'blazers' (as they called them) with flap and patch pockets, tweed looking (but poly mix) etc recently. They are looking and copying from each other.

For example.... Barbour is back in the tailored jacket market through Next. Some very Ivy looking jackets but all in a slim fit and deliberately for young men. 

How much difference is there to the casual purchaser between this I'll list below, my Cordings jacket, the years when JS has an olive cord jacket, ones available at Trunk or Drakes etc.

So from this:
https://www.next.co.uk/style/su023322/166639?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAu8W6BhC-ARIsACEQoDA1ULRlxj1eYrgTt2Bfn2KD1JArUXs-f7g4ZHPtezDxOBjuL_s2bjMaAgtwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#166639

to

https://www.drakes.com/products/olive-cotton-corduroy-games-blazer-mk-i-1?variant=43309264208085&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAu8W6BhC-ARIsACEQoDCdnBbll8kaYyEFqUGdUkOUQgns2PqB69LKCnnzt20EbUgHtqtmzDIaAvSyEALw_wcB


As was said, it is the little details and differences that now matter. Which is why the pattern of fabric matters to me as much as a jacket's style. I really like the JS Ivy jackets but the brown new one is just too dull for me this time (also having an RL Ivy jacket in plain dark brown herringbone).

I'll reflect more on your post, it fits with what I see being sold online.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2024-12-05 15:36:24)

Agree entirely. You can get brushed shetlands everywhere now (which is good) and natural shoulder jackets are everywhere (which are usually 'bad' if you want the 'right' look, but overall 'good' on the non-ivy obsessive). John Simons definitely influencing here, but it's definitely part of the wider resurgence of the look via Instagram. Ivy meets workwear algorithms.

Overall, it's probably a good thing, but it's all very, very expensive. More depressingly, people remain obsessed with labels, with Instagram feeling very soulless and hyper-consumptionist (I can't complain, I suppose, as I post lots of stuff on there (anonymously), but very rarely the (vintage, mostly-defunct) brands. All feels a bit modern ivy by numbers for the 21st century maybe. Like I say, it's good on the whole, but feels a bit superficial. Newton Street Vintage seems to be ahead of the trend, so I suspect lots of people will move onto a 90s armani kind of vibe (pleats, full cut trousers, big shoulders)...all very ugly to my mind, but I respect where it's going. 

Agree the JS ivy jacket brown is underwhelming...totally different to their overcoat, actually, which is stunning. It doesn't take much to get the right black/brown herringbone mix.

Quote: Agree entirely. You can get brushed shetlands everywhere now (which is good) and natural shoulder jackets are everywhere (which are usually 'bad' if you want the 'right' look, but overall 'good' on the non-ivy obsessive). John Simons definitely influencing here, but it's definitely part of the wider resurgence of the look via Instagram. Ivy meets workwear algorithms.

The power of social media Colin. When I started wearing this stuff early 80's there were only 3 shops you could go to. One of the reasons I got into it was that it was not only smart but a bit unique. It seems almost everybody on IG is an expert on the subject these days. There also seems to be a fascination with mixing it up with ALD (Aime Leon Dore) which is one vowel away from being ALDI.

Dunns was the classic old bloke chain.

Now reimagined on eBay as a brand signifying quality.

There is no market much for them. Oldies are wearing stuff they wore in their youth and sports wear. So aging rocker or JD sports. All the made to measure high street chains long gone.

Suit wearers eventually bought off the peg and packed suits in when they stopped working. You could probably tell the made to measure market from John Collier, Burton at the cheaper end to the more expensive brands at the other. Much of it manufactured at Hudson Road Mills in Leeds, regardless of the brand

How wonderful!

Thankfully not in triple vintage denim to promote the book.