Legendary American clothing (part 3/3): 8 ways to wear Ivy League style

Despite the "blue blood" connotations of Ivy League style, there is a natural propensity in me to want to be like those guys.

Put on Weejuns and drag my nonchalance to every corner of the world. In my wake, like exhalations of cool from morning to evening.

Not you ?

Well, even if wanting to dress like these guys is already admitting to your current inability to reach this level of cool. However, that doesn't stop us from trying.

Half FIG half grape

Outfit #1: the best of all worlds

Be careful, an incongruous object has slipped into this photograph. Can you guess which one?

Yes... it is indeed this apple green dumbbell placed carelessly on this pile of books, as if to say that it is as important to strengthen your body as your mind. It's a rather strange decorative object considering the surrounding atmosphere.

Brief.

If Andy Spade has his own way of smiling, at least he borrows his style from America. And not just any one. We find the general sobriety of the appearance, expressed by simple and universal colors and whose support, the material, is thick, raw and frank.

It’s leather, denim, tweed for pieces that structure the silhouette.

Then all you need to do is own a magnificent, unparalleled house with refined, bourgeois decoration and you become an interesting guy. Life is easy.

Selection

Ivy Alternatives

• Jacket: Glove
• Jean: Unbranded Brand , Gustin , Studio d’Artisan
• Derbys: Oak Street Bootmakers , Loake , Jacques&Déméter

Outfit #2: Comfortable everywhere

Chromatically, it's a bit poor. No but it's true, blue, blue, black, white.

But that doesn't stop this outfit from being extremely stylish, in addition to being practical and contemporary.

The link to the Ivy is of course the moccasins. The best way to wear them is all the time. In fact, grab yourself a very comfortable and not too expensive pair: a Blake welt for more immediate comfort and wear them as fiercely as raw jeans. Well, these mocs won't fade like the legendary denim canvas, but at least you will stand out in a nice way from the crowd in white sneakers.

Plus, it adds a bit of charm to your everyday outfits.

(And by the way: the combination of jeans - straight, preferably, for more Ivy - and moccasins works wonderfully!)

Selection

Ivy Alternatives

• Button-down shirt: Gant , Kamakura
• Patterned pants (okay, it's not really Ivy but it's for fun): ABCL Garments , APC , Barena Venezia

Wear madras without looking like a reaction

Some sartorial behavior is very Ivy.

Like for example wearing an Oxford shirt with a fairly generous button-down collar and a club tie. That's very Ivy . Or, wear your loafers with a coin stuck in the eye of the bib and with ecru socks and beige chinos.

That's really very Ivy.

Or, and then I stop, wear a pink button-down oxford shirt with a tuxedo and a club bow tie. The more Ivy you die.

And wearing madras is one of those really Ivy things.

Too Ivy perhaps?

No, it was a trap, you can never be too Ivy.

Madras originally comes from the Indian port village of Madraspatnam. The famous multicolored fabric was woven by hand, with cotton and silk. The English were responsible for distribution in Europe and as far as the Bahamas, a vacation spot for American students. It’s where this exotic fabric meets the Ivy League.

In terms of style, the madras is a superb pattern, but difficult to tame. I don't like to think of it as a whole in an outfit, meaning that despite the complexity of its pattern, it doesn't stand on its own. It never vibrates better than if it echoes another piece, is weighted by it or the crowd.

This is why I would have a hard time wearing it as a jacket, like a boisterous child on my shoulders, or even in pants like the brilliant Bill Murray below:

For a film character, the madras expresses eccentricity. Or the sterile attachment to values ​​that we no longer embody. For Wes Anderson , the aim is to show the viewer the psychological (and physical) decline of the character played by Bill Murray, through the simple contrast between the madras motif supposed to symbolize the success of the youth on the Ivy campuses, and the behavior of the character.

But the challenge for us who are not in a film is to appropriate this pattern to make it as normal on us as any other slightly colored item of clothing. Make it a possible stylistic choice among all the possibilities.

Outfit #3: Fear nothing

This outfit is full of lessons. The color combination of the sports jacket and the cargo: the beige of one and the brown of the other are close and even a little too much perhaps. The contrast, in absolute terms, is not sufficient. But this works for several reasons:

1. The first is that we don't need a strong contrast beyond that already presented by the shirt and tie together.
2. The second is that the eye is directed towards the top of the bust and the face of the wearer. This simplifies the general information of the outfit.
3. The third is that this somewhat shaky association gives more humanity to the Wooster machine, more charm even. We tell ourselves that he didn't think about it for an hour before going to sleep the night before, that it happened spontaneously.

Always add a slightly discordant element if you find that your outfit is a little too clean, too perfect. An unexpected clutch, a belt that isn't the exact color of the shoes, a garish scarf. It's the slight imbalance in an outfit that gives it charm.

Selection

Ivy Alternatives

• Madras shirt: Gant , John Simons , Castaway Clothing
• Cargo pants (it's not Ivy either but I do what I want, it's my article): Bleu de Paname
• Brogues: Meermin , Oak Street Bootmakers

Outfit #4: Cartwheel

Seersucker, madras, stripes, selvedge and twill. The Gray Fox wanted to place all the triple count words in sartorial Scrabble. And it's well done.

I'm disappointed because I would have liked to find the full-length photograph of her outfit but it was swallowed up in the infinite abyss of the dark web.

Frankly, if you wrote to David or Nicolò and asked if it was stylistically possible to wear a red and green and blue and orange and purple madras tie, with a blue and white stick striped shirt under a navy seersucker double breasted and decorated with an azure blue clutch with red selvedge edging, what would their answer be?

Probably a mixture of retching and disbelief.

But see. See how beautiful it is, how neat it is.

It works because there are reminders (the red of the border with that of the tie, the azure blue of the pocket square with that of the tie) , because the patterns of the shirt and the tie are on different scales and, moreover, that of the tie is melted.

That's it overall. Perilous but the reward is commensurate with the risk taken.

Selection

Alternatives

• Madras ties: The Tie Bar , Nordstrom
• Seersucker tailoring: the best is to go to a half or custom tailor, at Samson , Faubourg Saint-Sulpice , Les Francs-Tireurs , Blandin&Delloye for example.

With my rocker seersucker

Outfit #5: Wear the suit like a t-shirt

Why is it Ivy?

Well, firstly because it's a seersucker suit. Then because he wears moccasins . And, finally, because the suit is a two and a half button.

Another thing: is there nothing that shocks you? The thing that BonneGueule always told you to avoid like the plague but which, however, our friend Kamoshita does without scruple. Yes, you guessed it: he has a piece of salad between his teeth he only fastened the last bottom button of his jacket.

Horror.

Damnation.

This is to give a more personal flavor to the whole. I don't recommend it. It never works. Except on him, and even then, I'm not even convinced of that. Even though I am one of his biggest fans.

Notice how the lapels of the jacket flourish, are generous and how mischievous his smile is; the height of the cuffs of the pants are in harmony with the whole; the size of the shirt collar is proportional to the width of the tie which has an interesting pattern.

I want him on my team.

Selection

Alternatives

• Seersucker suit, if you don't want to go to a tailor: Brooks Brothers , Haspel , De Fursac

Outfit #6:

Let me introduce you to Carlos Castillo and Jorge Navares.

They don't have the same name but they look exactly the same. chardonnay of water. Like Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry. Like Gandalf and Magneto. Like Matt Damon and a friend of mine. I think these two are cousins ​​or something. I did some research, yes, yes, but it's a bit vague.

As if they were ashamed.

Brief !

We are interested here in the outfit on the right. That of Carlos, the creative director of MAN 1924 of which Mr. Navares (in front of him) is the CEO I would say from his swaying look.

For me, this is a good way to wear seersucker: as a jacket and full stop.

Here, it is crossed but that doesn't add much. A straight line is enough, as I suggest below.

I would like you to appreciate a little the proportions of Carlos' outfit. The pants are straight and loose but nicely, you see, gently. The jacket is not too tight. Now imagine Carlos in the same clothes but really fitted. Do you think it would have the same character?

No.

Add fullness to your clothes! It will do you a favor.

Selection

Alternatives

• High-waisted pants (not very Ivy either): Uniqlo , Officine Générale , Harmony Paris , Lopez Aragon
• White bucks: very difficult to find... If other brands make them (in white suede calfskin, eh), let us know!
• Navy knit tie, we see it everywhere: De Fursac , Drake's , The Nines , Augustus Hare

Wind in your hair

Outfit #7: Live the life you deserve

It’s 3:18 p.m., I’m at the BonneGueule office in Paris, and it’s a good fifty degrees.

Celsius yeah.

There is a good chance that, at the time you are reading these few lines, it is extremely hot in your home as well. So let's take a minute to imagine ourselves in Paul Newman's place, on the bow of this modest boat, in the same clothes.

...

Well, I don't know about you, but for my part, I was there.

Regarding her outfit, these are very Ivy clothes too. The rudimentary Ivy, the Ivy sportswear, casual as possible. Not a bad outfit for doing nothing. But it's also not a bad outfit for doing things.

In terms of colors, it's a sort of no choice, and that's why it's quite remarkable. It is the man who wants to live with nature, the one who does not want to be noticed but wants to notice what surrounds him. Yes, it's the outfit of an esthete, of a conqueror, of a man of the great outdoors.

Selection

Alternatives

• Sweatshirt: Velva Sheen , Monoprix , National Athletic Goods , Homecore
• For the rest, no need for me I think 😉

Outfit #8: Do what you want

On a scale of 1 to Andy Spade, how good are you?

Well, I agree. Perhaps owning a winery in Napa Valley can help achieve such a look. At the same time, I find this outfit a total letting go, on the other hand, I find it brilliant in its insolence and irreverence.

I don't particularly advise you to wear this exact outfit that only suits him, or even not at all. However, the combo to keep is a button-down Oxford shirt, Bermuda shorts and chunky sneakers. The belt adds Ivy. As if we hadn't understood yet.

Selection

Ivy Alternatives

• Bermuda shorts (not Ivy, no problem): Harmony Paris , Orlebar Brown , Seagale , SuitSupply

Outfit #9 (BONUS): The Ivy British

You know it now , the United Kingdom's contribution to the Ivy League Look is colossal.

Speaking of which, do you know John Simons?

He is an influencer, curator and store manager who began his career in the 1960s. In fact, he copied the clothes of the Ivy League Look... which is quite ironic since the Americans were largely inspired by Great Britain to develop the Ivy style. But I repeat myself.

In any case, what John Simons did was to democratize it to as many people as possible. Very linked to the world of music and subcultures, he influenced suedeheads , the more elegant cousins ​​of skinheads .

The good news is that John Simons now has an e-shop from which I will soon order provided that I don't spend everything I own on a vacation beyond my means .

A film, John Simons - A Modernist (for which here is the trailer) was filmed. The director is Jason Jules, an Ivy style enthusiast and featured model for Drake's .

Coming to the outfit, it's the easy and timeless Ivy. Just swap the umbrella for a good old Triumph 500 TT and here we are Harvey Mushman , rebellious and free.

You don't need me to pull off this outfit. You simply need enough leg opening so as not to make your feet appear ridiculously large. But this is valid for all pants.

That's all.

Selection

Ivy Alternatives

• Desert boots: Sander's , O'Keeffe , Astorflex , Ypson's (Chukka option)
• Jacket: Harrington , John Simons

The final word...

Classic.

This is the final word on this America Saga.

Because “classic” is a word as big as a pantheon into which all the mythical clothes that have passed through fashions are forever included. The Ivy League Look is one of them.

The Harrington jacket, the beige chinos, the Shetland sweater, the round neck, the sports jacket, the button-down collared shirts, the moccasins are for me kind of general truths which are used, like style jokers, everywhere and everything the weather.

And I would like to share with you the words of David Coggins, American (or rather New Yorker!) author and journalist for Condé Nast Traveler, Esquire and The Wall Street Journal, a vibrant voice of good manners and a better life (as we can see it on his Instagram account @davidrcoggins):

In “classic” I mean something very natural: harmonious proportions and ideals of masculine style, which have not changed for a long time. Classic style is not just a comfortable suit, it is well-made clothes that make sense: that reveal who you are, the image you want to project. The real question, the one that all men should ask themselves, is “ what have we done best in the past and how does that make sense with who we are, and the way we live life? These days ? ”Of course, many good things have happened since: lighter materials, a growing number of suits, the fact that you can wear an unstructured jacket with jeans… and be chic!

I agree with David Coggins.

Often, in the minds of others, what is classic has a narcotic power and an odor to avoid, of rancidity and dust. The classic for many is the years, the stylistic errors of our grandfathers, austerity, mothballs and oblivion. Wear mothballs like Chanel No. 5.

But for me, if we know how to use the classic wardrobe like the Ivy serves us, it's an inexhaustible source of cool. It’s the assurance of always being able to charm.

What I like about classic clothes is that they don't show the tense muscles under the shirts but rather suggest the bodies, because the relative size of the clothes is a mark of respect, a way of presenting oneself as a social animal and not just as an animal.

Dignity induced by an outfit is the best style. Don't disguise yourself, keep it simple but true. And this is precisely what we can aspire to with the Ivy League Look and by extension with the classic style.

But I'm going on too long, please forgive me.

This concludes the third part, which I hope will have been useful to you. As long as you enjoy dressing and doing it for yourself first, then you will always achieve authenticity , so dear to G. Bruce Boyer. Use classic style as a safe weapon that never jams.

Be well and see you soon!

1. Part I, on the myths of North American tailoring
2. part II, on the history of the Ivy League look