Southwick, 1962

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"Purists generally agree that Southwick is the foremost maker of natural shoulder clothing. The line is subtle, natural, and very comfortable."

Source:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 11/19/62

Ivy Hits Milwaukee, 1957

Ivy was it for the back-to-campus crowd in 1957 Milwaukee. Click on the link below for more.

Source:

The Milwaukee Journal - 8/25/57

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, 1968

Alumni Day, Harvard, 1968

"Stunning the Yale defense with two touchdowns, two two-point conversions, and an onside kick, the Crimson played its way back into the game and into the annals of history. The final score may have been a tie, but the celebratory home crowd rushing the field indicated that it was anything but, leading The Crimson to print its famed headline “Harvard beats Yale 29-29.” (The Harvard Crimson, 11/21/08)

You could do worse with your time than spend 105 minutes of it watching the documentary "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29", as I did last week. There's not a second devoted to The Ivy League Look, but don't let that stop you. And if you suffer from severe politicophobia, don't worry. While both Al Gore (Harvard '69 and roommate of Tommy Lee Jones, who played offensive guard for Harvard) and George Bush (Yale '68, first cousin of the filmmaker and roommate of Yale tackle Ted Livingston) are mentioned, neither appear in the film.

University of Maryland, 1966

Source:

The Terrapin, 1966

Dress Right, 1957

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"Ivy League Look" for younger figures...

Source:

LIFE magazine - 2/18/57

Coca-Cola, 1949

Source:

LIFE magazine - 9/19/47

With thanks to Old School.

Details Identify Suit Styles, 1959

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"Nearly all the suits designed for campus wear are of the natural shoulder (ivy) style with a minimum of shoulder padding and a trim cut throughout."

Source:

The Milwaukee Journal - 8/23/59

Brooks Brothers, More Than a Name, 1960

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"We are Makers as well as Merchants. We are Importers of exclusive British lines as well as Originators and Buyers of fine domestic products. We establish...and we maintain...our own standards of Taste."

Source:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - 8/10/60

Uniformity in American Higher Learning

...The United States is a nonhistorical environment, and individual identity must be earned.

But the young American male need not hunker down in a group like a fraternity to risk anxiety over being caught out of uniform...Fraternity boys engage in all sorts of levities and pranks, but not a single "brother" would think of appearing in, say, colorful tights. The brothers in their millions are clad in the obligatory uniform of their decade. It used to comprise, at least in the East, khakis or gray flannel trousers, button-down shirts, tweed jackets, and loafers. Crew neck sweaters and corduroys were also acceptable. Professor Edward Said of Columbia recalls what everyone - everyone - looked like at his prep school and at Princeton, where he went next: "My classmates either were or tried to be cut from the same cloth...everyone wore the same clothes (white bucks, button-down shirts, and tweed jackets)." Getting the shirts right was particularly important, and in button-downs, light blue was virtually obligatory. Said testified that he once witnessed two Princetonians at work soliciting the desired worn-out look by applying sandpaper to the collars of new, and of course blue, shirts.

Source:

Paul Fussell, Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear (2002)

Straw Boater, 1958

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Source:

Vintage Madison Ave.

Clipper Craft, 1959

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Source:

SI - 5/11/59

The Muskrat Man

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"My generation of businessmen dressed up. Coat and tie every day, pants creased, shoes shined, no worn heels. Everyone wanted to look like Gregory Peck in The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. Then came retirement, and the uniform code changed dramatically: Goodbye Brooks Brothers, hello, L.L. Bean."

Source:

Williams College Review, Spring 2005