Ivy League is a style of men's dress, also known asIvy Style, popular during the late 1950s in theNortheastern United States, and said to have originated on college campuses, particularly those of theIvy League. It was the predecessor to thepreppy style of dress.[1]
The Ivy League style of dress evolved on the campuses of elite universities from the 1920s through the 1940s, and became mainstream in the 1950s. It was a casualization of traditional formal menswear and characteristically adapted the sporting attire of theBritish andAmerican upper classes (most students at these universities being, or aspiring to be, upper class) as everyday wear. Clothing articles originally designed forgolf,polo,sailing,rugby football,hunting,croquet,cricket, andtennis would be worn outside of the context of those activities. Such wardrobe staples as thesport coat,blazer,oxford shirt, andsweater vest all originated in the early 20th century as sportswear but became everyday attire through the Ivy subculture.
In terms of tailored clothing, the "sack" suit jacket (and similarly styled blazers and sport coats) was characteristic of the look. It featured a "3-to-2" or "three roll two" single-breasted front closure (3 buttons with the top button sewed on the underside of the roll of the lapel, leaving only two normally usable buttons), no frontdarts, and a single "hooked" vent (or "slit") at the back. The cut of the jacket was boxier, less structured, and less form-fitting than traditional business suits, and therefore appeared more relaxed. The trousers for suits cut in this style typically had a lower (but not low by modern standards) rise, were held up by a belt rather than suspenders, and were often not pleated or cuffed.Brooks Brothers andJ. Press were major purveyors of Ivy League suits. In 1957 and 1958, about 70% of all suits sold were in the "Ivy League" style.[2][3][4]
Notable early contributors to the look included theDuke of Windsor, who often combined American fashions with traditionalBritish country clothing such asbrogue boots,Argyle socks and jumpers (sweaters),tweed clothsportcoats,Irish walking hats andplus fours inhoundstooth,herringbone, or thePrince of Wales check popularized byEdward VII.[citation needed]. Many young college men adopted the Ivy League look due to this association with the upper classes at leisure.[5]
Besides sportswear, some Ivy Style elements arose as a result of World War II. Double-breasted jackets, pleats, and trouser cuffs all fell out of style during the war period due to fabric rationing and shortages. Military surplus khaki cotton chino trousers became associated with Ivy Style in the late 1940's when returning veterans began attending college with theirG.I. Bill benefits. Typical hairstyles included thecrew cut,Harvard clip, andregular haircut, which were perhaps also influenced by military service.[6] Hats began to fall out of style during this period.
Additionally, Ivy Style was largely characterized by casual style affectations. For example, Ivy leaguers would frequently wear button-down collaroxford cloth shirts (which were originally developed as sportswear forpolo andtennis players) with suits and sport coats, rather than more formal dress shirts with starched collars and double cuffs. Likewise, they would wearpenny loafers orbrogues rather thanoxford shoes. Other casual affectations might include wearing gray flannel orkhakichino pants with a sport jacket in situations where others might wear a suit, or wearing knitted silk or animal print ties with business suits.
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From the late 1950s until themid 1960s, Ivy League clothing was considered desirable mainstream apparel forAmerican middle class adults. In Britain during the mid and late 60s, theMod subculture combined the latest Italian fashions with the attire worn by the heroes in contemporary American films such asSteve McQueen andPaul Newman.[7] Particularly popular were the grey flannel,Tonic, orhoundstooth suits,polo shirts,chino pants,Argyle socks,sweater vests,cardigan sweaters, basketweave loafers, Madras plaid, and narrow brimmedIrish walking hats andTrilbys.[8]
The style remained fashionable in the United States until it was supplanted (at least, for young men) at the tail end of the decade by the wide lapels, flared slacks, and brighter colors of thepeacock revolution, as well as the casual clothing of thehippiecounterculture during the late 1960s andearly 1970s.[5]
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Today the line between Ivy andpreppy style is somewhat blurred but preppy style tends to be more colorful, especially in spring and summer, and incorporates morecasual chic attire. It wasfirst popularized in the early 1980s as a return to Ivy League styles after a decade of more modern trends. Preppy fashion is influenced by traditional collegiate trends, rather than reproducing them exactly, and various clothing items can be considered preppy based on how they are worn or accented. During the1990s and2000s,Polo Ralph Lauren,J. Crew, andVineyard Vines were large marketers of preppy clothing, modernized to accommodate new trends inspired byindie pop andurban fashion. A version of this style is sometimes promoted and marketed as "American Trad" or simply "Trad," although there are differences between the two styles: Trad is narrower in scope than the intermediate preppy style.[9]
By the2010s, many American preps opted to dress in a more classic, tailored style closer to the original Ivy League look.[10] In the early to mid-2020s, it returned as the "Old Money Aesthetic."
Popular items includeloafers,boat shoes ormoccasins, sweaters (cable knitAran sweaters,cricket pullovers,cardigans, etc.),Oxford shirts,wingtips, stripypolo shirts, khaki or pastel coloredVineyard Vines,Nantucket Reds, white or bright pastel color socks, colored jeans,baseball jackets, khakicargo shorts, and taperedchinos. Blazers, especially those made from seersucker, had made a comeback as informal orsmart casual wear by the mid 2010s, and the traditional two button style was updated withthrowback styling inspired byThe Great Gatsby.[11][12]
During the 1950s, the wealthy and clean cut Squares,Rahs and Socs (Soc being short for social) with their Ivy League clothes were the rivals to the working classGreaser subculture.[13] The conflict between the two groups features inGrease,The Outsiders,[14]Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, andCry-Baby.[15] In a scene inThe Godfather, set in 1946,Michael Corleone is derided as an unlikely assassin because he is a "college boy" who wears an "Ivy League suit." The style was parodied inClark Gesner's songThe Ivy League Look from the 1957–58Princeton Triangle Club musical "After A Fashion".[16][17]
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.
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-breasted 'Ivy League' style worn off campus as well as on.
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.