Shameless 'bumping' to try to catch Daniele's eye!

Miles

Last edited by Marc Grayson (2006-05-07 09:50:03)

Dear Tradstar:


The eyeglasses were purchased at Trapp Optical in Manhattan. They are a Woodstock frame that originally started life as an oval and I had Trapp re-shape the frame into a perfect circle. They are similar to the Morgenthal frames (the "Lifesaver") but not as heavy a gauge.

At present, I have no other PR vehicles in the work. I will continue stocking the racks of Trad at J. Squeeze until then...

Last edited by Miles Away (2006-05-08 08:38:58)

Ciao!

I think that the French style of the Nouvelle Vague movies had much more than a small debt towards the Ivy look; the Italian influence was notoriously strong (so strong that, while a specialized magazine rated Roman Style as a "fad for young snob dudes that every good tasted man should disregard", the praised and innovative tailors members of 'The Group of Five' created a line basically derived from the Italian cut, and the Italian look were adopted by a whole generation of 'dragueurs'); yet, the familiarity with American jazzmen touring to Paris and a more general 'cosmopolitan attitude'  surely had some effects on the younger (and style-conscious) generations.
As for reciprocal links, my tailor described to me a suit he had made when he was 18 (i.e. 1958): an extremised Roman style with ultra-short 3 buttons jacket (nicknamed 'Bumfreezer jacket' in UK), 3 inches sidevents, no central seam on the back, trousers with stepped bottoms etc. (same cut that early Mods adopted in London in the same period). Well, he had his jacket undarted, inspired by a pic of an Ivy league jacket he saw on a French magazine...
Puzzling, eh?:-) 
The short pointed J. Press BD collar shirt was likely an example of 'reverse-contamination' of the Contrinental to the Ivy. You're right, A. Delon in 'Le Samourai' wore a similar collar. In Italy they arrived later, mid-60s I daresay. Mainly in pinpoint/broadcloath, often proto-non-iron blend; remember many shades of blue, made by local producers even if they were known as 'camicie americane'. I used them during my early teens and first Mod years, a very clean and young-ish look.
Regarding the third point, I couldn't agree more about the 'inner' revolutionary potential of adopting what was perceived as the establishment's uniform by the black jazz musicians in the 50s. The aesthetic (spelling?) value of a thing, deprived of its 'generally accepted' meaning, appears more evident, and ready to assume new symbolic value..

Horace, btw, great pictures on the '50s-60s photos/hep trio' threads, please keep posting them!

Cheers,

Daniele

ps) sloppiness is EVIL...;-)