The Ivy Look: Classic American Clothing - An Illustrated Pocket Guide Graham Marsh J.P. Gaul

 

The Ivy Look: Classic American Clothing - An Illustrated Pocket Guide

Graham Marsh

 J.P. Gaul

 

Before the "Preppy Look," there was the "Ivy Look." Democratic, stylish, and comfortable, the Ivy Look's impact and influence can be seen to this day in the clothes of designers such as Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, as well as in the more proletarian offerings of L. L. Bean, J. Crew, Dockers, and Banana Republic. From the button-down hip of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Miles Davis to the enduring style of the cast of Mad Men — they all knew the true cool of the Ivy Look. The Ivy Look digs deep into the vaults to produce the ultimate guide to the genuine article, featuring new, still-life shots of original clothing and accessories plus key examples of the cover art of Blue Note, Stax, Motown, and Atlantic Records. Contemporary magazine advertisements, French New Wave, and key American movie posters and new illustrations bring the Ivy Look into sharp focus.

 

Graham Marsh is an art director, illustrator and writer. He has written and art directed many ground-breaking visual books, including The Cover Art of Blue Note Records, Volumes I and II, East Coasting and California Cool. He has co-authored and art directed Denim – From Cowboys to Catwalks and a series of books with Tony Nourmand on movie posters. His most recent projects include The Ivy Look and an illustrated children’s book, Max and the Lost Note. He is also the creator of the Kamakura Vintage Ivy style shirts.

Graham’s illustrations have appeared in magazines, newspapers and on many CD and album covers. He has contributed to numerous publications including Country Life and Financial Times. He lives in Greenwich, south-east London.

Graham is the Art Director of The Rat Pack (R|A|P Two) and Weddings and Movie Stars.

He is the Art Director and Writer of Hollywood and The Ivy Look.

 

Helen / review

November 5, 2018

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8418459-the-ivy-look#CommunityReviews

 

This is an oddly addictive volume that I browsed for a few days before actually sitting down to read it through, which can be done in a couple of hours, since the text is minimal - the book mostly consists of vintage ads for Ivy menswear, Ivy-wearing stars who epitomized cool (Paul Newman, Steve McQueen), JFK, movie posters (McQueen films; also, art films, such as French New Wave films such as "Breathless" & also Fellini films such as "La Dolce Vita") wonderfully designed and photographed album covers (jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, and many others) ads for iconic products of the era, such as cars (Mustang, VW Beetle), motor scooters (Vespa and Lambretta), cigarettes (Camel, Marlboro, Gitanes) lighters (Zippo), and so forth. It was enjoyable to me at least to browse through the book, reliving those days and the enthusiasms of those days. I especially was drawn into the lost world of the cultural attitudes revealed in the ads - and the actual drawings of clothing, which aren't as prevalent today as they once were. Fashion illustration in clothing ads isn't as visible as before, possibly because ads have moved to the internet and photography or videos are used rather than drawings. The 50's and 60s were the heyday of the low-key look, which favored narrow lapel natural shoulder suits, narrow ties, the use of wide wale corduroy cotton and herringbone wool fabric, khaki pants, Lacoste polo shirts, Bass Weejuns, or (Alden or Florsheim) quality brogues. There was also head-gear - such as the Ivy cap, which is a golf cap, and of course the era of men wearing hats hadn't ended, so there are ads for hat shops and manufacturers. Also - almost every clothing or accessory was made in America at that time, and the author usually relates a bit of the interesting history of how various shoe and clothing companies started and so forth, as well as the interesting history of iconic clothing items such as the pea coat and the duffel coat. The book is both a compendium of what was cool in those days and an elegy to a long-gone era, since mass production of clothing overseas more or less homogenized clothing and the sneaker basically has won out in the casual shoe category. The Ivy look represented cool and low-key quality once upon a time, but that was all erased once the youth quake occurred with its flamboyant look and lifestyle. I suppose I was influenced by the Ivy look even as a chick. I remember owning herringbone wool clothing items, a grey herringbone jumper, Bass Weejuns, I suppose Fred Braun shoes and bags would count as cool/Ivy. I had a wonderful duffle coat, and a pea coat. I would even seek out Gitanes in HS. I would have been an adolescent in the 1960s and a child in the 1950s, so the Ivy Era was a bit before my time. By the middle to the end of the 60s, the hippies were becoming the cultural force, and jeans/sneakers/T-shirt the uniform, which has stayed with us more or less since then. Still, I remember shopping for jeans before they were really the thing - before designer jeans, when the only option was Levis and the cut was rather bulky, not very streamlined. The "rebellious" trend of my era was the hippie look/lifestyle - so it was out with the low-key Ivy look and in with the assertively rebellious hippie look. Of course the lifestyle was also connected with the antiwar movement - somehow all those attitudes were connected with clothing, haircuts (or lack of same) etc. I would say I was a low-key (unintentionally Ivy) person in JHS, then a jeans wearing (but still low-key) person in HS, after which the jeans/hippie look (or various degrees of same), rock music, etc. became de rigueur for most young people. I remember how styles changed from more formal, constructed, to less formal, over a period of a few years. In elementary school, a dress or skirt was always worn. I'm not sure I even had a pair of pants in those days. There were also crinolines. I must have latched on to the studious/Ivy look in JHS - once my elder siblings were in HS & college - to emulate them, since they were both very much into the look and I more or less imitated everything they did or read etc. When I was in HS, dress codes for female students changed - after a struggle - to allow girls to wear pants to school. That was the turning point - since wearing pants was also linked to more assertiveness, feminism (even though at the time I might not have consciously realized it) in general, struggle and advancement. Nevertheless, I was still fairly conservative when I went to college, but over the course of a few years, adopted the prevailing "modern" style, which had nothing to do with the Ivy/studious look. The "preppy" look of the 80s was possibly an Ivy comeback, but it had different connotation by then, since it occurred in a much less hopeful period, the time of Reagan, and was associated with simply making money, getting yourself over and so forth. It had nothing to do with the magical excitement of the 60s. No doubt there are people who still try to live an Ivy lifestyle, even in the age of cheap smart phones and the internet - the revolting era of Trump. Just think back to the time of JFK vs. the time of Trump and you will see why what Ivy meant once cannot be recaptured today: Idealism has been trounced by snark and hate, and globalization has homogenized and made nearly identical pieces of sportswear (jeans/T-shirt/sneakers) the uniform of casual wear. People interested in fashion history and lifestyle trends will enjoy this book, especially those, like me, who lived through the storied era!