American Trad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Trad ("AmerTrad" or simply "Trad" to its adherents) describes a form of men's dress that was influenced by early Brooks Brothers and its amalgam of Anglo-American style, and by American college and university shops that sold the natural-shouldered Ivy League clothing of the 1920's - 1960's, and still, to some extent, continue to do so today.
Eschewing the blatant display of excess and of fickle fashion, purists of the look advocated the three-button sack suit, button-down oxford cloth shirts, silk repp ties, and tassled loafers from Alden and other New England shoe manufacturers, included that of the Weejun, the penny loafer made by Bass Shoe Co. A look similar to Trad may be found in the Italian cinema of 1950's and 1960's and in the Ska style of the London Mods during the same period and into the 1980's. Having been assimilated into mainstream American style, the American Trad look continues on today, more or less intact. J. Press, a men's clothier from New Haven, Connecticut, exemplifies this style, as its clothing has hardly changed since 1902. Establishments such as O'Connell's (O'Connell, Lucas, Chelf, Inc.) in Buffalo, NY, and Cable Car Clothiers of San Francisco, CA, are excellent examples of the few remaining stores that continue to exclusively offer clothing in the 'Trad' tradition.
Though Trad is sometimes associated with New England WASP culture, among the greatest adherents of the Trad look have been the authors F. Scott Fitzgerald, John O'Hara, Ralph Ellison, the early Jack Kerouac, George Frazier, and George Plimpton, founder and long-time editor of the Paris Review. The look was also picked up by jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and Chet Baker, who bought their traditional clothing from The Andover Shop in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Trad is sometimes considered akin to the preppy look.
In the United Kingdom, the Trad look is less well known. It is sometimes confused with the British Young Fogey look, and whilst the two styles may share some similarities and origins, they are essentially distinct.
