Hippies Win Fashion Revolution on Campus, 1971

from The Hippy's Handbook, Ruth Bronsteen, 1967

Hippies Win Fashion Revolution on Campus

There is grim news from the National Association of Men's Sportswear Buyers (NAMSB). The mood in the colleges of the nation has created a fashion vacuum on the campuses. The hippies and hard times have won out.

The NAMSB surveyed the fashion picture at the leading colleges and universities throughout the United States and came up with the dismal conclusion that campuses will be a vast sea of blue jeans - patched, frayed, embroidered and cut off blue jeans.

The only ray of light is the report that chinos, or suntans as the army used to call them, are on the upswing - and occasional sparkle of buff among the washed out blues. But that is merely a swing toward Army-Navy clothes and not much help.

The Ivy League look as it used to be called died in the recent fashion revolution and the slope-shouldered, three-button jacket is almost a thing of the past. The suits and sports jackets being worn are strictly for special occasions.

Complete article:

UPI - 9/2/71

Notes from the Prep School Underground, 1968

George W. Bush at Andover, 1964

Notes From the Prep School Underground: Drugs and Love Ethic at Exeter, Andover

Prep schools follow the colleges--especially Exeter and Andover, which feed more people into Harvard each year than any other school. Now the slack on the cultural lag has pulled tight for those two schools; and while they glimpse the development of political activism on their campuses, their students are trying out the tragi-comic scene of dropping, blowing, and shooting pot, acid, hash, speed, belladonna, sunflower seeds, airplane glue, freon, Benzedrex Inhaler tubes, Paragoric Pall Malls, Romilar, and Dr. Schein's Asmador Powder.
...

The faculty finally gave in on long hair last winter. And the president of the senior class, Alan Oniskor, wears his very long. The whole student body looks different. Their hair is long. They wear corduroy jackets instead of madras, work shirts instead of Arrow, and boots instead of loafers.

Complete article:

Harvard Crimson - 5/29/68

Brioni out at J. Press, 1971

From "You're Right - The Inflation is Worse Than They're Telling You" - New York Magazine, 5/14/73:

Clothing costs for fashion-conscious people - especially men - are up sharply, partly because of the determination of a lot of men to march to different drummers, partly because they seem to be buying more kinds of clothes, and partly because the Japanese have gotten turned on to Western-style woolens and have been buying out Australia...Even so, a relatively standard Hickey-Freeman suit that went for $200 in 1969 is now $250 - up 25 percent. And J. Press, a stronghold of traditional fashion, showed an exclusive line made by Brioni until 1971, when the retail price had reached $265 (compared with under $200 for a standard Press suit). Richard Press dropped the Brioni suit because of the rising price; by this time, he says, he would have had to sell the Brioni at $375, an increase of 42 per cent.

[Ed. note: $265 in 1971 is equivalent to $1400 today. The current Pressidentials are priced from $950 to $1100.]

Sporty Emblems Sell Shirts, 1980

Sporty Emblems Sell Shirts

New York Times - 6/13/80
by Barbara Ettorre

Who would have thought that the insignia of a penguin, a rooster, a fox or an alligator could transport a simple cotton shirt from the confines of a sports arena onto the chests of middle America?

Yet according to retailers, the simple cotton knit short-sleeved sports shirt - epitomized by the classic Izod Lacoste shirt with the alligator trademark emblem - is outselling just about every other item in men's apparel this year.
...

Market share information is unavailable, but retailers agree that the Izod Lacoste sport shirt, which retails for about $20, is probably Number One, while Munsingwear's $14 Grand Slam shirt with a penguin emblem is a very close Number Two.

The shirts with the emblems seem to have all the prime ingredients for success in a dismal economy; status, practicality, price, fashion, flexibility and the ultimate benediction, enduring trendiness.

The more insignia appearing in the sports shirt marketplace, the better customers seem to like them. There are now at least a dozen emblems adorning shirts made by foreign and domestic companies, double the number of two or three years ago. This figure does not include similar shirts made by sports companies bearing such names as Head, Adidas and Nike. Among the emblems are the wreath by Fred Perry, the polo player by Ralph Lauren, the "T" emblem by Tacchini, and the kangaroo by L'Alpine. The latter two are Italian companies.
...

...At Bloomingdale's, for instance, industry sources estimate that the flagship store and its 13 branches sell at least 50,000 - about $1 million worth - of a single style of the Izod Lacoste shirt. The sources say that Saks Fifth Avenue, Izod's Number One men's wear account (Bloomingdale's is number two), does a comparable business in the single style. Both stores have a multi-million-dollar retail business in Izod men's apparel.

Known in the trade as style 2058 and by consumers as the "alligator shirt," the shirt's basic all-cotton style has not changed much since it first appeared on the tennis court 50 years ago worn by Rene Lacoste, the French player, who founded the Lacoste company, now a $50 million French concern. Izod has a licensing agreement with Lacoste to produce the apparel in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, and will approach $200 million in sales of men's, women's and children's apparel this year. The shirt alone accounts to 15 to 20 percent of the men's business.

The Izod Lacoste sport shirt and its successors have been given an aura of glamour, vital good health and old-fashioned hero worship. Many professional athletes have contracts with shirt manufacturers that require them to wear the sports shirt and related merchandise at tournaments and appearances.

The Natural Gentleman, Botany 500, 1963, 1955

(click to enlarge)

"...comfortably free of padding and useless embellishment."

(click to enlarge)

"The Ivy Look in the Ivy Executive"

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Strikes Again, 1973

(click each to enlarge)

For (Ralph) Lauren, "today's gray flannel suit isn't the old sack, three-button, uptight uniform. There's more individuality in accessories. Today you can wear a striped shirt with gray flannel. We're not bringing back the button-down. And hats are dead except for fun."

Source:

New York Magazine - 9/17/73

'Let's Be Practical', 1957

Tailor Denounces Man's Ancient Fashions

By Alfred Leech, UP Staff Correspondent

CHICAGO (UP) - Custom tailor Lawrence Pucci Jr. says men who ridicule feminine fashions should take a look at themselves.

The Ivy League look was bad enough, said Pucci, president of the Assocation of Custom Tailors and Designers of America. But now comes the "Edwardian look."

This consists of narrow cuffless pants with belted backs and narrow jackets with cuffs on the sleeves. A fashion note proclaims that these duds will be worn by "style conscious men as an assertion of their individualality."

"Ludicrous," said Pucci, who makes clothes for some of America's best dressed males. "Here we are in the dawn of the space age, with Sputniks circling the earth, and we're digging back into the fashion attic to don grouse hunting suits.

"Clothes like these should be worn against a backdrop of castles and manor houses."

He conceded that Ivy League garb might be permissible for "boys in school," especially if the school has Ivy-covered walls or Gothic architecture.

But a man stepping into a turbo-jet plane or a new sports car looks foolish in "horse and carriage raiment," Pucci said.

"Surrounded by modernity, we're trying to dress like Diamond Jim Brady or Sherlock Holmes," he said, "it's an idiotic affectation."

There is a "crying need for original thought" in men's attire, Pucci said.

The ideal suit, he said, could be worn anywhere, regardless of season, climate, or occasion.

"A businessman who starts his day in Chicago or New York may well finish it in San Francisco, Miami, or Toronto," he said. "So his clothing should be that adaptable."

"He should be able to attend the theater on night, a party the next afternoon and a prizefight that night, wearing the same suit."

But before we reach this ideal, Pucci said, we may have to shed some foibles like neckties, lapels and shoes that lace in the archaic manner of a Roman sandal.

Source:

The Deseret News and Telegram, Salt Lake City, Utah - 11/21/57

Brooks Brothers, 1955

(click to enlarge)

...our sport and casual clothes are colorful, correct, attractive.

Source:

Cornell Daily Sun - 10/25/55

France: Le Crocodile, 1967

They are known as "alligators" in the U.S. and "crocodiles" in 84 other countries. By any nationality or nomenclature, the French sports shirts, with a familiar-looking reptile embroidered on them, sell exceedingly well. Last year the Paris-based firm of Chemise Lacoste sold 1,700,000 of the shirts, 50% in France and the remainder in the crocodile-alligator world beyond. This month, as Lacoste's factories reopen after a vacation layoff, the order backlog has reached 200,000, and Chemise Lacoste has also gotten an unexpected bonus. Catherine Lacoste, 22-year-old daughter of Founder Rene Lacoste, last month outplayed the pros and, as an amateur, won the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament in Hot Springs, Va. "I don't know if it's because my daughter won or not," says Rene Lacoste with a smile, "but everybody seems to want our shirts now."

Complete article:

Time - 9/1/67

Additional images:

Gentry magazine, Summer 1953

Gentry magazine, Summer 1956

Dear Mr. Juster...

Dear Mr. Juster,

What do you think of a man of 47 wearing the same style clothes as his 17-year-old son? My husband thought that Tom looked so great in his Ivy League suit, he bought one himself. I know this is what the kids are wearing, but for a mature man...? - Mrs. L.J.

Time was when a boy dressed like his father. Now, father emulates his son. And why not? If your husband hasn't developed that middle-age spread and has retained a fairly slim build, he will look as smart as Tom in his Ivy model, even though he carries a brief case, instead of books, under his arm. (1962)
_________________________

Dear Mr. Juster:

I recently started working for an advertising agency and notice all the fellows dress in Ivy suits. Every time I've tried Ivy my sloping shoulders look even more sloping, but my wife still thinks I should dress the same way.

Now, I ask you - is it smart to conform, or risk standing out like a sore thumb among my associates? -J. N.

This business of trying to conform by wearing what everybody around you wears, regardless of the effect on appearance, is one of my pet peeves.

Forget about what your associates are wearing and stay to the kind of clothes that do something for you. In this case, it's a model designed with shoulders that help build up yours. (1964)
________________________

Dear Mr. Juster:

I go to the University of Michigan and wear Ivy type clothes. Recently, I bought a sport coat and it's two-button instead of three. Also, the sides curve in a little, and it has a long vent.

I was told this is for college men but a couple of guys in our fraternity say I got took because no natural shoulder wearer would be seen in this style. Now, I'm wondering if I goofed. - L.W.R.

No, you didn't. Natural shoulder styling is no longer confined to the three-button, straight hanging cut.

Variations in models, such as the one you bought, with shaped waist and deep vents are now available. And, regardless of your fraternity brother's opinion, I say this is a welcome development. Why must you be limited to one model? (1968)


[Ed. note: Harry Juster was a syndicated columnist writing on men's fashions in the 1960s. He wrote a book titled Clothes Make the Man in 1965.]

"...we've been at the forefront" - J. Press, 1968

(click to enlarge)

Ivy League succumbs to fashion revolution

The Peacock Revolution has hit the Ivy League a staggering blow. The ivy covered campuses now sparkle with colored shirts instead of traditional button-downs and there are darts under the armholes of the classic three button suits.

Such centers of learning as Yale, Harvard and Princeton have been bastions of conservatism since the day they were founded and their shadow of conformity has spread across the land to engulf almost every college and university.

The high priest of the Ivy League look might well be Irving Press and his temple the firm known as J. Press, which has its roots at Yale University, but by this fall will spread as far as San Francisco where barefoot, beaded students at Berkeley may be exposed to eastern sartorial culture.

The so-called Peacock Revolution is, of course, the fashion revolution that has come over the men's wear industry in the past four or five years so we dropped in at J. Press the other day to see if the revolution had caught up with the staunchly conservative Ivy League.

Irving Press, who is president of the firm, said indeed yes and that in certain areas the Ivy League was five or six years ahead. He cited in particular the four-inch-wide tie and said it had met with wide acceptance, especially by some elderly Elis who had never become resigned to the fact that the wide tie had gone out of style.

There has been shape in Ivy League suits for some time now, achieved by placing darts under the armholes, and there has even been extreme shape in British style hacking jackets (made in Ireland) which achieve even more shape by placing darts in the front.

"Actually we've been in the forefront," Press said, "with a flair for color and the first use of the country suit." The country suit is a matching coat and pants in a bright district check, long worn in the British countryside but once considered a bit too racy for the American countryside. They are very new for Fall 1968 on the non-Ivy market but Press admits he has been making them for five years or so.

Colorful

The colors are even brighter, woven into a new and heavier Saxony wool which has a greater concentration of colors than the softer Shetlands which were popular for years, probably because they were on the conservative (drab) side.

Summer suits even have two buttons instead of the classic three and there are deep side vents - something never really accepted in Ivy League circles. And they are distinctly shaped. By Fall they could even be more so - plus the addition of hacking jackets with angled pockets and ticket pockets and more flair to the jacket skirt.

Another innovation from the Ivy League were British Grenadier guardsmen type coats - double breasted, flared, broad lapels.

Another was the steep ridge cavalry twill which is now the rage in Peacock Revolution circles. Press has been using this for years, especially in the hacking jackets which are made in Ireland to his specifications. They also show up in a revival of the belted Norfolk jacket.

As for shirts, wide spread collars are taking the place of the button downs, and a non-button button down which can be worn with or without a pin. The fashion colors are policeman blue, cantaloupe or olive - and those colors are in sports shirts which also are losing their buttons.

A sidelight to the term "Ivy League." Many manufacturers hate the expression and refer to "soft shoulder" or "natural shoulder" suits - a practice which has led manufacturers of should to advertise "natural shoulder shoes" in the trade publications.

As for the Nehru type jacket for the Ivy League crowd, Press was less than enthusiastic. "We have a few rich customers who may order one and throw it away after wearing it to a party but whether there is a germ in this for the future remains to be seen," he said.

Article source - UPI, May 1968

J. Press advertisement - Yale Daily News, June 1968

HS&M, 1956

(click to enlarge)

Source:

Jon Williamson - flickr

Men's Wear Looks to Color Trend, 1956

Like their counterparts in peacock ranks, the male animal this spring is strutting brightly colored plumage.

You have it from merchandising reports the world over, and the final authoritative word comes from the mouths of Suncoast men's shop owners.

They'll tell you this colorful trend comes from Italy, the Orient or first-hand from the young set's taste for loud colors, but whatever the origin, it's here.

Evidence of this enthusiasm is in new slacks in a color range which includes light tones, bright hues and dark shades. You'll find such shades as rust heather, blue heather, tan heather, hemp, sky, pine, charcoal gray and even black.
...

The cut of this fabric is a gray horse of another color, though. In this department, the fellas are going conservative, looking to the Ivy League or Brooks Brothers for inspiration.

Three-button, single-breasted suits are getting votes for "most likely to succeed" for Easter parade and after, while lapels have been pared down to the barest minimum.

Straight lines are the shortest distance to smartness in the silhouette, providing they are properly proportioned to the wearer's own individual measurements. Shoulders are natural, lapels are cut with a high-placed notch and trousers tend toward slender, more tapered lines. Waistline pleats still are popular in many circles, but some trousers are tailored without them, with back-strap and buckle details replacing the pleats.

Complete article:

St. Petersburg Times - 3/15/56

Berle Manufacturing Co.

Sixty Years Young; Slacks Manufacturer Continues to Update to Keep Pace with Nimble Competitors

Daily News Record, May 15, 2006, by Brenda Lloyd

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Berle Mfg. Co. turns 60 this year, but with all its energy, drive and fashion savvy it hardly seems like a senior citizen.

Known for its British plaids, checks and windowpane trousers and its collection of classic summery walk shorts, the company's moderate- to better-priced collection reflects its young management team.

Eric Krawcheck, executive vice-president and COO-and stepson of founder Herbert Berlinsky-explained that the modern attitude is a result of several changes initiated since 2001, a turning point for the company.

It was that year that Krawcheck, who has a strong retail background, and Robert Stine, Berlinsky's nephew, who oversees all administrative and manufacturing operations of Berle, joined the company, buying out Berlinsky's brother Norman, and repositioning the focus of the firm. A third key player, Shane Morris, whose background includes 13 years at Nordstrom as well as sales for QRS Corp., a retail technology company, joined as vice-president of sales in 2003.

Five years ago all manufacturing was being done domestically, but Krawcheck and Stine, both of whom own 50 percent stakes, decided to add some offshore options. Now, 60 percent of the merchandise is manufactured domestically and 40 percent offshore. Krawcheck explained, "Our focus had been specialty stores, but to compete in bigger stores we had to be price-competitive, so we had to go offshore. The bigger-store market is very price-sensitive."

Today, Berle's distribution ranges from better specialty and specialty department stores, including Parisian and Nordstrom, to big-box retailers, discounters and catalogers.

For the first time in Berle's history the company is advertising nationally and is currently seeking a marketing company. It moved into new and larger offices in Charleston in December (just down the road from its former office), and moved its distribution center (DC) to a 65,000-square-foot facility in Hartwell, Ga., to be closer to Atlanta.

"Living here on the coast is great and beautiful, but you always have storms and hurricanes, and it's smart to have the distribution center and production in an area where storms are less likely," said Krawcheck.

Stine added that Berle is now completely automated with sophisticated DC and EDI capabilities, and has communicated electronically with its retail customers since around the end of 2002. "In the 2001 time frame we were transitioning from the second generation to third generation [management] and we wanted to grow our business," said Stine. "We wanted to invest back into the business and we took risks we would not have taken before-and it paid off."

Stine declined to name annual sales for the privately held company but said volume has grown 8 to 10 percent on average since 2001.

Stine and Krawcheck also are interested in acquisitions and have been looking for a good fit, especially one that would allow the company to expand its offerings.

"Collections are very important and we want to do that," Krawcheck said. "It could be a sportswear or shirt company. We might be a 60-year-old company, but we're a young company and we want to take Berle to the next 60 years."

Berle was founded in 1946 by Philip Berlinsky, a master tailor. He and his brother, Hyman, opened New York Tailors, a men's clothing store, on King Street in Charleston, then established Berle. They later split the retail and manufacturing sides, with Philip and his family keeping Berle Mfg. and Hyman and his family maintaining control of the retail store.

Philip's four sons all eventually joined Berle-Herbert, Danny and Maurice in 1948, and Norman after them. Herb, 82, retired in 2002 but still has an office at Berle. He was responsible for putting the company on the map in the 1950s when he found a new trouser called an "up flaps" pocket model during a trip to Florence, S.C. Berle began making them and Herb Berlinsky said it became one of the hottest slacks models in the Southeast for 10 years.

When that played out, the next big thing was the Ivy League look, a plain-front pant with no cuff, a straight leg and on-seam pockets. In the late 1970s Berle got into the double-knit trend, and made a lot of money on it, said Berlinsky, but got out before the trend started to fade.

Today, Berle has three brands. Berle Black is the high-end product, consisting of handcrafted trousers made of premium Italian fabrics, including soft lambswool and Tasmanian wool, wool/cashmere blends and wool flannel. They retail for $175 to $295.

Berle-brand trousers are available in a variety of looks, weights, patterns and fabrics, from corduroys and velvets to fine worsted wools and cottons, as well as microfiber and performance fabrics with wrinkle-resistant and stain-resistant features. Shorts are also available, mostly in cotton and microfiber fabrics. Berle retails for $55 to $150.

Charleston Khakis, which started about 10 years ago, is a casual brand evoking the Low Country lifestyle. The trousers and shorts line is available in both casual and dress cottons with soft washes, and retails for $79 to $125.

About 35 percent of Berle's business is private label. According to Stine, it is the driving force behind the company's growth.

Krawcheck said, "We're known for our fancies and we spend a lot of money developing patterns. Seersucker and madras are a huge business for us." Another huge business is khaki, which Berle was among the first to pioneer (along with Corbin) in the 1970s.

Having two ex-retailers running the show is helping Berle become more important to its retailers, which is a competitive advantage, said Krawcheck. "We can offer more assistance to retailers. We do product knowledge seminars for salespeople, and Shane [Morris] helps retailers on turn and selling projections."

Said Morris, "We're a small player in a big market. We try to take as much off the retailer's plate as possible."


COPYRIGHT 2006 Fairchild Publications, Inc.

Refresh yourself, 1952

Dennis Hopper, 1956

Dennis Hopper as 'Jordan Benedict III' in Giant

Inspiration - FNB Talk Ivy

Princeton, 1950

Source:

Google's LIFE photo archive

Triumph, 1966

(click to enlarge)

Source:

Black Watch

The Well Dressed Playboy, 1955

...men's fashions had been the raison d'etre of Esquire magazine, but it only emerged as a key component in Playboy once the magazine was firmly established. Sporadic features during the first year of publication had seen Playboy cautiously dip its toe into the waters of men's apparel, but by 1955 it was ready to immerse itself more wholeheartedly in the pleasures of shopping for clothes. That year saw Jack Kessie, a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, appointed as the magazine's first fashion editor (under the pen-name Blake Rutherford). Kessie had already contributed a few freelance pieces to the magazine, but as appointed to the staff because 'he had the kind of casual elegance which Hefner thought exemplified the Playboy style'.

Kessie's first feature - 'The Well Dressed Playboy: Playboy's Position on the Proper Male Attire' (January 1955) - set the tone for the magazine's early fashion coverage. Resolutely didactic, it counselled readers to be 'conservative in all departments' to avoid being 'caught up in a perplexing, phantasmagoria of color combinations, patterns, styles, designs and cuts'. This sense of conservative elegance was informed, above all, by the smart-but-casual traditions of Ivy League style. 'Few will argue', Kessie asserted, 'against the fact that it is to the Ivy Leaguers that we owe the current national acceptance of the trim, tapered look in men's clothing' (Playboy, October 1955), the fashion editor affirming that there was 'an authentic Ivy look in active sportswear, just as there is in town' and decreeing that readers steer clear of 'the kind of gruesome garbage...touted as the hottest news from Majorca, the Italian Riviera, Cap d'Antibes and Southern California: Old Testament sandals, ballet-dancer shirts that tie north of the navel, too-short swim trunks laced and latticed up the side, etc.' (Playboy, July 1957). Instead, Kessie prescribed a style that would allow men to dress 'casually and correctly...and still retain individuality' - for tennis, white shoes and shorts, worn with a red Lacoste knit shirt; for swimming, 'trim, fly-front cotton poplin trunks with side tabs for a waist-clinching fit'; and for golf, 'pleatless, poplin, olive green shorts' teamed with a 'good-looking glen, plaid, long sleeved shirt' and 'the best golf shoes you can afford' (Playboy, July 1957).

Source:

Playboys in Paradise: Masculinity, Youth and Leisure-Style in Modern America, Bill Osgerby, 2001

Before Ivy...Adler's Collegian Clothes

Source:

New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Arrow Shirts, 1949

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The Saturday Evening Post

(I'm searching for a legible version)

Corbin Ltd.

Corbin was a staple at men's traditional clothing stores across the country

Corbin Ltd. was founded in 1947. Howard Corbin, a bombardier/navigator aboard a B-25 during World War II, left the Air Force to enroll in business school at Columbia University. During his college years, he worked in his family's small trouser factory. By the time he had completed his degree the factory was producing a line of clothing soon to be associated with the "Ivy League Look".

Originally, khaki trousers were part of military uniforms. They became a staple of civilian dress in the years after World War II.

“There was no such thing as a casual trouser back then. Men either wore suits or they wore jeans,” said Jim Leddy, vice president of marketing for Corbin. The company was among the first to introduce sleek, military-style plain front khakis in the late 1940s and early 1950s - a time when voluminous, pleated pants were in vogue. [Wilmington, NC Morning Star - 3/24/96]

As Corbin grew it maintained its status as a family-run business. Howard's son, David, eventually became the vice chairman of Corbin Ltd. He graduated from The Hill School and magna cum laude from Princeton University and received an MBA from Harvard University. He was also member of the United States sailing team that participated in the 1977 America's Cup trials.

Corbin Ltd.'s annual revenues grew to $50 million by 1988, the year that David Corbin charged his father with mismanagement and misuse of corporate funds. In a court complaint, David Corbin charged that Howard had "failed to recognize the distinction between what belongs to him and what belongs to the company." The suit cited several instances in which Howard allegedly used company funds to pay for personal indulgences, such as a Manhattan apartment.

Both continued with the company, and David Corbin was elected president by the company's board of directors in 1991. He succeeded his father, who continued as chairman and CEO.

At its peak, Corbin employed over 1,000 workers at plants in West Virginia and Kentucky. But in 2003, facing rising production and employee benefits costs, Corbin management decided to change its business model "from that of primarily a manufacturer to that of primarily a wholesaler of quality menswear." Corbin laid off 129 workers at plants in Ashland, KY and in Huntington, WV. In April 2003, Corbin filed for bankruptcy protection.

The following excerpts from an article published in the Charleston (WV) Gazette on 12/21/03 reveal some of the issues facing Corbin employees...

In 1997, the seamstresses at Corbin Ltd. gave up two years of raises so the company could create a self-funded health-insurance plan.

“We agreed to work for less so we could get our medical bills paid,” said Wynona Maynor, president of local 747 of the Union of Needle Industrial Trade Employees.

Then in 2001, the company quietly quit paying most of the employees’ medical bills. Nobody told the seamstresses.

By the time Corbin Ltd. declared bankruptcy in April 2003, it had saddled 444 former employees with at least $2 million in medical bills the company should have paid, according to a West Virginia Division of Labor audit.

Many of the seamstresses had pieced together pants at Corbin’s Huntington plant for more than 20 years. They found out Corbin had quit paying their bills when they got collection notices in the mail from medical providers.

“When Corbin didn’t pay the doctors and hospitals, the doctors and hospitals came after the employees,” Maynor said.

“We’d all signed those forms doctors’ offices make you sign, the ones that say if your insurance doesn’t pay, the patient owes it,” Maynor said. “Now we’re being sued by hospitals, our credit rating’s ruined or threatened, we’ve been turned down for loans, and we’re swamped with bill collectors.”

Some have filed bankruptcy, she said. Many are thinking about it.
...

There is no love lost between the seamstresses and the Harvard-and-Princeton-educated David Corbin. Six former employees told the Sunday Gazette-Mail that in the mid-1990s, Corbin assembled several hundred employees at the Huntington plant “and he stood up there and told us we were dumb, ignorant hillbilly women who were lucky to have a job, and he could move the plant to Mexico at the snap of his fingers,” said Juanita Johnson. The other five women said she reported his remarks accurately.

...Former employees speak affectionately of the elder Corbin, who set up a scholarship fund for children of company employees and started the company’s first health-care plan.

“It’s good he’s not here to see all this,” Johnson said.

Not long after Corbin declared bankruptcy, the Individualized Apparel Group purchased Corbin's assets. Corbin became, at that time, IAG's third major trouser brand (Asher and Hubbard, manufactured in IAG's plant in Shippensburg, PA, being the other two). David Corbin was not to be involved with the business going forward, and Corbin's two plants in Ashland and Huntington were not part of the purchase.

Mark Thiele, vice-president of sales for Asher Trousers, headed Corbin's sales and marketing for IAG. "We plan to keep the Corbin fit, models and fabrics. But our first priority is to revitalize the Corbin in-stock trouser and clothing programs, which have been the core of the brand." [quoted in Daily News Record - 4/7/03]

Paul Stuart, Authentic Bleeding Madras, 1972

(click to enlarge)

Source:

New York Magazine - 6/12/72

Those lapels...!

Campus "Leisure-Style"

"In the world of male fashion...the early 20th century saw the development of a new, leisure-oriented aesthetic. Indicative was the rise of the 'Arrow Man' as a fixture in advertisements for Arrow shirts from 1905 onwards. A model of well-groomed and chisel-jawed masculinity, the 'Arrow Man' became the first in a series of youthful and stylish masculine archetypes whose virile muscularity guaranteed a fashionability untainted by suspicions of effeminacy. The Progressive Era also saw an identifiable 'collegiate' or 'Ivy League' style of dress take shape. Clothing firms such as Campus Leisure-wear (founded in 1922), together with the movie, magazine and advertising industries, gave coherence to this smart-but-casual combination of button-down shirts, chino slacks, letter sweaters, cardigans and loafers - a leisure-style that steadily reached out from the campus into the wider male population."


Source:

Masculinity and Men's Lifestyle Magazines, Bethan Benwell, 2003

The Not So Odd Jacket

Vic Seixas, national tennis champion, wears a luxurious sports

jacket at Los Angeles Tennis Club: Cashmere, custom tailored

by J. Press, N.Y., $175.

Source:

SI - 10/25/54, as referenced in Ivy Style - Tradition and Change: The J. Press Interview

Seaforth, 1952

(click to enlarge)

A new fabric import takes its place in the front ranks of sports jacket classics. Woven by skilled hands of fine Shetland wool...it has the full-bodied character and virile patterns that are so highly prized by knowing men.

Source:

Gentry Magazine - Issue #4, Fall 1952 (via flickr)

College Credit, Esquire, 1959

College spirit is still as high-key as crimson, as fresh as Esquire's Burnished Browns. And memories are sill as golden: the 'mum on her shoulder: the thrill of the first by-line and the smell of fresh ink on college newsprint - to haunt your psyche for years. Above, in the social Great Hall above the Lampoon offices near the Harvard Yard, serious conversation, camera-captive, reflects today's students' scholarly awareness. Fashion is in sharp focus in the Great Hall atmosphere where we spot an acceptance of the whole civilized bit. Detailed views of those prerequisite sports jackets are shown in close-ups this page.

Fall's most significant fabric is all-wool hopsacking, here in an even-larger -than-usual weave. Burnished Espresso accented with black gives it a checked effect; figured-cotton lining and crown-embossed metal buttons score high on examination; at Whitehouse & Hardy, N. Y. C. Basic as a class schedule are traditional grey flannels and rep tie, currently in Burnished Bronze stripes.

The corduroy jacket registers with new impact in its shaped, continental styling. Class notes: burnished Bronze pin-waling, foulard lining, cutaway front; at Bullock's Wynbrier Shop, Los Angeles. Trousered in madras-plaided wool, you'll cheer the classic b.d. oxford shirt, the new paisley wool challis tie.

Our close-up emphasizes the wool crow's foot tweed, specially translated for Brooks Brothers in Esquire's Burnished Browns. The one shown is Burnished Amber, a combination of black with amber. Another Brooks Brothers tradition is the matching vest and, of course, the button-down oxford shirt and striped rep tie, both in co-ordinated tones. You'll find these, naturally, at Brooks Brothers stores in New York City, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco.

No doubt about it, today's student takes a more dressed-up approach to college life. And he learns something from every occasion. For example (below). the meticulous attention to the fit of his clothes that Esquire editors are proud to help instill is as important as Chem Lab lectures or once-a-week afternoon tea - with stimulating conversation, please. Here, tailoring knowledge is applied to the important back-to-school suit, traditionally cut, and today's lecture is on " the proper cuffed line."

Source:

Esquire, September 1959, from Gypsy Wear Vintage

Newport, 1962

Source:

Google's LIFE photo archive

William Holden, 1954

Source:

The New York Sun - 7/2/08 with inspiration from FNB Talk Ivy

Milton and Maurice, the Julians of Chapel Hill

UNC-CH, 1965

If you were a member of a UNC sorority or fraternity this is how you dressed. Male clothes for this group came from Julian’s, The Hub, The Varsity Men’s Shop, or Milton's. These women were probably outfitted at the Fireside. All these stores did a booming business, and were located on central Franklin Street. (www.chapelhillmemories.com)

The story begins in 1946, when the Julian brothers, Milton and Maurice (father of fashion designer Alexander Julian), opened their first shop in Chapel Hill. Two years later, Milton went out on his own with Milton's Clothing Cupboard, pioneering the Ivy League look throughout the Southeast.

A local icon, Milton remained in his original Chapel Hill location for more than 40 years. Through the 50's and 60's, Milton's Clothing Cupboard expanded to locations in Charlotte, Dallas and Atlanta. Bruce started cooking up marketing schemes at about 14 (like the time he unleashed dozens of turtles marked 'Sale at Milton's' all over the UNC campuses). (www.brucejulian.com)

"Milton Julian is the personification of joy. Of all the people I knew growing up in Chapel Hill from the 1950’s through the 1990’s, no one seemed to enjoy what he was doing more than this Franklin street merchant. His fame is derived from his store, Milton’s Clothing Cupboard, which he operated from 1948 to 1992, selling upscale men’s, and often women’s, clothing. Milton was also always a man just a little ahead of his time, and continued to adapt to fashion trends better than any other store in town. While his brother’s store Julian’s for example maintained the Ivy League look throughout its existence, Milton’s continued to evolve without ever feeling dated or trendy." (www.chapelhillmemories.com)

A Brockton, Mass.-native, Julian brought the Ivy League look down south, including the flat-front khaki pants and alligator belts, his son Bruce Julian said. Milton Julian owned six stores in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas that have since closed. (www.thedailytarheel.com)

Milton went back to school, but six weeks into it decided to return to the haberdashery business. He had sold shoes and socks before the war, but now he joined his brother Maurice, who had started selling to servicemen training in Chapel Hill during the war, but was now serving clientele returning to school, at Julian’s College Shop."

“I started out across the street,” Milton said. “We were sometimes not so friendly, but were mostly friendly competitors,” he said of Maurice, who would later sell his store to his children, Alexander and Missy, who continue it as Julian’s. (www.carrborocitizen.com)

Milton Julian, a young buck from humble beginnings in Brockton, Mass., came to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to attend law school after spending a year at Salem College in Winston-Salem. For two years, he went to classes in the morning and sold shoes and socks in the afternoon. He then served in the Air Force for three-and-a-half years, and upon returning to Chapel Hill in the fall of 1945, decided to join his late brother, Maurice (the father of fashion designer Alexander Julian) at his men's clothing shop on the bustling Franklin Street. After a couple of years, however, it was clear the siblings couldn't see eye to eye as business partners. As Milton cryptically puts it, "Some brothers are compatible and some aren't when it comes to business ventures."

Julian up-and-left Maurice's store in 1947, and nine months later, in the fall of 1948, started his own shop: the now- legendary Milton's Clothing Cupboard. After scoping out possible locations for opening his new store, including Charleston, SC and Morganton, Va., he decided to stay in Chapel Hill. He set up shop at 163 E. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, a location at which he remained for over 40 years.

... Julian's game plan was simple: offer innovative, Ivy League clothing along with superior customer service. He told one interviewer, "We pioneered the Ivy League and Brooks Brothers looks in the Southeast. Esquire and GQ thought we were in the vanguard of men's fashion." Julian got the word out about his new store by placing fliers on cars around campus, and posting them around town. He also enjoyed extensive word-of-mouth referrals.

For the next 40 years, Milton's Clothing Cupboard sold items essential for the Ivy League look: Gant shirts, Weejuns, Rivetz ties, Harris tweed sport coats, khaki Chino pants, snazzy worsted wool suits. As one reporter stated, Milton's clothes had "snob appeal." (www.businessleadermagazine.com)


By birth a New Englander, Maurice Julian was the first to bring the best of Ivy League to the Southeast. A master in style and innovation, his groundbreaking designs helped to create "preppy." Julian distinguished his shop by his peerless taste and unending quest for only the finest, using the highest quality fabrics and custom tailoring. Maurice and his wife Mary sustained a rare, unique, genuine specialty store. Although the business was created to fulfill the needs of the Officer Training School (which came to UNC in 1942) Maurice quickly expanded his clientele to include the whole University community.

In 1990 GQ magazine described the gem of a store this way: "Julian's is a place where you can spend an afternoon looking at fabrics and buttons—some stock, some one of a kind—ordering a suit you won't see on every other guy on the street and talking about tweed and twill and Scottish mills and what all the rain lately will do for the magnolias."

Alex says: "When I was 12, I tore the collar of one of my 200 blue oxford, button-down shirts while playing football. I went down to the store to have the collar fixed, but decided instead to switch collars with one of my yellow oxford button-down shirts. They say necessity is the mother of invention, but whoever would have suspected that sandlot football would launch a fashion career?" (www.julianstyle.com)