Ivy League (clothes)

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For other uses of the term Ivy League see Ivy League (disambiguation)

Ivy League is a style of men's dress, popular in the late 1950s, and said to have originated on college campuses. The clothing store J. Press represents perhaps the quintessential Ivy League dress manner, with two of its four locations found at Harvard and Yale University. It is epitomized by the sack suit which is defined as being a 3-to-2 blazer without darts and a single vent. The pants are cuffed without pleats. It was also characterized by the use of natural fabrics, shirts with button-down collars, and penny loafers. In suits, the Ivy League style was promoted by clothier Brooks Brothers and included natural shoulder single-breasted suit jackets. In 1957 and 1958, about 70% of all suits sold were in the "Ivy League" style.[1][2][3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Accent on Youth in Wash 'n' War; Survey Expects Ivy League Style to Lift '58 Sales in Summer Suits." The New York Times, August 14, 1957, p. 34. "The so-called Ivy League style in summer-weight wash-and-wear fabrics will be much more important in the boy's and young men's suit market next spring.... The three-button Ivy League suite style is expected to account for 66% of boys suits compared with 44% in the 1957. For students, the dominance of this popular model will rise from 69% to 75%, according to the survey.
  2. ^ Olian, JoAnne (2002). Everyday Fashions of the Fifties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-42219-4.  "The Ivy-league look was the hallmark of sportswear throughout the latter years of the decade. Every skirt, pair of shorts or slacks boasted a cloth tab and back buckle, while button-down collars, penny loafers and Bermuda shorts were favored by both sexes. The early fifties square-shouldered, double-breasted men's suit with draped trousers bowed to the Brooks Brothers "natural shoulder" single-brested 'Ivy League' style worn off campus as well as on."
  3. ^ Elements of Fashion and Apparel Design. New Age Publishers. ISBN 81-224-1371-4.  p. 25, "Ivy League: A popular look for men in the fifties that originated on such campuses as Harvard, Priceton[sic] and Yale; a forerunner to the preppie look; a style characterized by button down collar shirts and pants with a small buckle in the back."
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