# Tweedy Go-to-Hell, and the Andover Shop look



## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

Loud windowpanes. Bold stripes. Odd vests. Emblematics. Flannels with striped surcingle belts. Patch tweed. Tweedy Go-to-Hell. "Tenured college professor", maybe.

Big fan, although I doubt it's the look for me. Got to hand it to Charlie Davidson, though. At The Andover Shop since 1948, and at J. Press before that. Lots of time to perfect his twist on the look. The joke goes that they stay in business selling tailored suits to fat men and tweeds to the idle rich.  I wonder what the true story is, though?

Pre-Charlie, The Andover Shop seemed to be an Andover extension of Langrock's... wonder what the deal was there?

The is still up. 2007 archived here.

Anyone out there ever try out this sort of thing? Tenured college professors, maybe? :icon_smile_big: What's the unifying spirit behind the look?


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)




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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

hmm...unifying spirit, always a good question, but tough...what's the unifying spirit of any gth? 'I know your rules, but find them boring and restrictive at present: so as to not shock too badlly my little sarotorial statement that I am not bound by the conventional rules and expectations will appear in a conventional form as well, whale emblems, red or green pants, no socks,etc'.

Maybe the tweed version isn't too different. However, where the regular gth choices are mostly limited and unsurprising, the world (our little world) is full of fabulously interesting, wild, snappy tweeds, possibly not quite sober enough for certain tweedy situations. Patch tweeds, like patch madras are fun if not overdone: I see more patch madras than regular I think.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

None of those in the OP look like GTH, but that's because I like loud plaids. I sport this "look" fairly often, but my tweeds probably aren't loud enough to really be GTH. As for unifying spirit, I haven't the foggiest idea except that I think it looks good.


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## Mississippi Mud (Oct 15, 2009)

None of that seems very GTH to me. I might agree that Professor Pyle's patch tweed vest has a certain flair which comes close. Then again, I'm a professor, too.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

bottom jacket fabulous, and maybe comes close; looking at these photos I'm thinking "gth" isn't the right word for the look the op presents.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

also, gth is more of a warm weather thing?


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

The Rambler said:


> looking at these photos I'm thinking "gth" isn't the right word for the look the op presents.


I agree that GTH isn't the right term for this look though AP's patch vest might come close (or if someone wore a patch tweed sport coat). This particular look just looks like standard "trad/TNSIL" to me.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Like others, I don't know what you'd call it, but I dig the look. I go to the Andover Shop in Cambridge a few times a year, and I tend to salivate over their tweeds. They can add a third button to the lapel for the 3/2 roll if desired. Although other stuff in the Andover Shop is around the same price point as Press, the jackets are pretty expensive!


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

They do summer and winter patchwork. They also do patchwork tie silk vests. The Andover shop is a master at pattern mixing. The only unifying theme is that it is the Andover Shop.


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## Mazama (May 21, 2009)

Cardinals5 said:


> None of those in the OP look like GTH, but that's because I like loud plaids. I sport this "look" fairly often, but my tweeds probably aren't loud enough to really be GTH. As for unifying spirit, I haven't the foggiest idea except that I think it looks good.


Cardinal, I think your look is classic not GTH. Glad to see someone in Eastern Washington "for the summer" is dressing this way. You've inspired me to take off my Redwings and put on my penny loafers for the day.

Are you teaching at CWU? Be sure to visit the Methow Valley and North Cascades over the summer. Nice hiking in the valley foothills now but high country is still snowed in.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Mazama, I used to adjunct at CWU and my wife teaches there, but we're moving later this summer to Greenville, SC, for the foreseeable future so these are my last few months in Ellensburg. We usually hike around Blewett Pass and the surrounding area and don't make it to the North Cascades too often.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

Hmmm.... maybe GTH isn't quite accurate, but it's not exactly sober kit, either. The catalogs have more examples of what I mean. Edgy. Tongue-in-cheek, but still very tweedy. "Tenured professor" is still the best descriptor I can come up with, I'm afraid. 

2007, pg 12, a yellow foulard that at first appears to be a leopard print. Silk scarves. OCBDs in "not quite" colors like pale green and melon. Striped surcingles masquerading as ribbon belts, worn with wool. All that brass. The sort of look that when put together correctly makes you think, "Are they serious?" without being able to point to any particular reason why you feel that way.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

As a - dare I admit it? - member of a local, but venerable fox hunt, I see this what d'ye callit? look a lot, and enjoy it. It's kind of sporty-British, particularly in the bright vest w/snappy tweed and bench made shoes dept. In a certain mood it does seem somewhere between gth and fu in its implied arrogance. I remember being complimented once by a member on the horn buttons on a tweed jacket of mine, which are cross-sections of rams-horn, not round at all. Me: you don't think it's over the top? He: I love over the top. How about ott?


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## bd79cc (Dec 20, 2006)

What a bunch of great-looking jackets! All of you made my day today! 

I particularly like Katon's first exhibit in blue and green windowpane. Also, Cardinals5's study in charcoal grey. And AP's sublime vest. Wow!


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Thanks bd

I am not sure I understand the question. The style seems to be country dandy. I guess you are asking where (off campus) someone might actually wear this kind of look in 2010 America?


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

AldenPyle said:


> I am not sure I understand the question. The style seems to be country dandy. I guess you are asking where (off campus) someone might actually wear this kind of look in 2010 America?


The original one? Hmmm, well I guess really there's three...

1. How does The Andover Shop stay in business? They don't seem to be a big name in the Japanese export circles, Charlie is to the internet crowd, and fairly picky about his regular clientele as well.

2. What's the story with The Andover Shop's involvement with Langrock's?

3. What are the guiding principles behind an Andover Shop look? I can identify the elements, but not how they all work together to form a coherent whole.

As for occasions, really the Andover Shop look is just a more GTH version of your standard tweedy look, so I'd imagine that if a tweedy look would be acceptable (academia, publishing, curatorial, Anglo sporting, etc.) and you're in a position where you are secure enough to have a little fun, you'd be good to go?


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

katon said:


> The original one? Hmmm, well I guess really there's three...
> 
> 1. How does The Andover Shop stay in business? They don't seem to be a big name in the Japanese export circles, Charlie is to the internet crowd, and fairly picky about his regular clientele as well.
> 
> 2. What are the guiding principles behind an Andover Shop look? I can identify the elements, but not how they all work together to form a coherent whole.


As far as I can figure, the proprietor of Andover Shop and CCC are closer to 80 than to 70. I guess both stores are run as much as pass-times as profit-maximizing businesses. Probably the guiding principal is attracting the kind of clientele the proprietor likes to spend his days hanging out with and repelling people he finds annoying. Probably in the case of the Andover Shop its possible to infer the proprietor likes to spend his days talking with secure but funnish academics, editors, curators, and NE country gents of a certain age.


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## Youngster (Jun 5, 2008)

I don't know if any of you ever read Sartorialist (I no longer keep up with it), but he has shot many guys who do this sort of look, but in a more European style. He seems to feel that taking on a host of patterns and textures while carefully balancing color and scale, with a strong grounding in fit, to be the absolute epitome of fine dressing. I am inclined to agree, though I prefer the more staid trad fit. Though you will find many Japanese men in his archive who to this sort of crazy trad in a very admirable way. The Italians who master the look are great source of inspiration as well.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Perhaps this means that I made the grade, but when shopping in the Andover Shop, the staff has never been anything but helpful and welcoming. Maybe they like the cut of my gib! The shop in Cambridge is really, really tiny, which at least cuts down on rent.


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## Joe Tradly (Jan 21, 2006)

The cut of your jib?


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Charlie is famous for refusing to sell to people who wander into his little shop and don't measure up under his quick assessment of their taste. In the mid-1970s a wealthy businessman came into the store. He had been referred to Charlie. The man ordered three suits, custom made. Charlie took the order and told the customer they would be ready in "about a month." After five weeks the customer, whose last name was Zachary, called to inquire after his suits.

"Not quite yet," Charlie said.

Another two weeks went by, and Zachary was put off again. Charlie had not made the suits. "He'll get the message," Charlie told me*. "I am not sure I like the cut of his jib."*

Four weeks more, and Zachary called, irate. "What the hell do you do over there?" he asked. "Make the clothes alphabetically?" After hearing this line, Charlie made the suits. Zachary had passed the test. https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/95nov/bowtie.htm



Joe Tradly said:


> The cut of your jib?


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

I like the individual items, but not the matchy-matchy look of the ensembles in the original post. My favorite pic in this thread is Cardinals yellow shirt, bow tie and tweed combo. It's not "GTH", it's not matchy, it's not even country dandy.

The master of country dandy (if that's a fair term for it) is Doc Holliday, who is very sharply tailored (in fit, too.) His posts in the WAYWT thread are jaw dropping, though not my cup of tea.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

The Andover Shop was started in 1949. I am not convinced that the old ads that predate the creation of the shop have anything to do with the current Andover Shop. There were outposts of Langrock in many college towns. The current Andover shop according Patrick does not like to discuss other firms using the Andover name. 
At one time independent shop keepers and long time floor sales staff had personalities and you developed relationships with them.

The look has been described as Brahmin, Boston cracked shoe. It is England via Boston. I call it the Andover shop look.

It about having a certain sartorial sensibility and being so insular you do not care what others think.



katon said:


> The original one? Hmmm, well I guess really there's three...
> 
> 1. How does The Andover Shop stay in business? They don't seem to be a big name in the Japanese export circles, Charlie is to the internet crowd, and fairly picky about his regular clientele as well.
> 
> ...


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## Joe Tradly (Jan 21, 2006)

C. Sharp said:


> *. "I am not sure I like the cut of his jib."*


I understand the reference, I was pointing out the misspelling. Not with the intent of being obtuse.

JB


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Sorry, just thought you might have missed the original article.



Joe Tradly said:


> I understand the reference, I was pointing out the misspelling. Not with the intent of being obtuse.
> 
> JB


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

C. Sharp said:


> The Andover Shop was started in 1949. I am not convinced that the old ads that predate the creation of the shop have anything to do with the current Andover Shop. There were outposts of Langrock in many college towns. The current Andover shop according Patrick does not like to discuss other firms using the Andover name.


Earliest reference to The Andover Shop under Charlie I could find was in 1948. I looked for the original address, "127 Main St.", and found that in 1947 J. Press had started up an Andover Branch, with Charlie as the "Representative". Go back even further though, to 1930, and 127 Main St. was known as "The Andover Shop -- Sponsored By Langrock". (This was apparently a common tactic for Langrock back in the day. There was also a "The Williams Shop -- Sponsored By Langrock" and a few others. Before 1930, Langrock's "The Andover Shop" was at 10 Main St.) 127 Main St. was a Langrock's franchise until at least 1942. (Unless they'd moved, they were also there in 1943.) That is a 4 year gap, but is there really no connection between Langrock's and (Charlie's) The Andover Shop? I suppose Charlie was the connection...


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Good sleuthing, Katon. I once asked a J. Press employee if Press ever owned a shop in Andover, and he told me that they didn't. Matters are obviously a bit more complex.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

I can live with the 1948 date. It is interesting that there has been a store at 127 for a long time. My question would be if you can claim a long history back to the 30's why wouldn't you unless its not your history or you are trying to break with the past.



katon said:


> Earliest reference to The Andover Shop under Charlie I could find was in 1948. I looked for the original address, "127 Main St.", and found that in 1947 J. Press had started up an Andover Branch, with Charlie as the "Representative". Go back even further though, to 1930, and 127 Main St. was known as "The Andover Shop -- Sponsored By Langrock". (This was apparently a common tactic for Langrock back in the day. There was also a "The Williams Shop -- Sponsored By Langrock" and a few others. Before 1930, Langrock's "The Andover Shop" was at 10 Main St.) 127 Main St. was a Langrock's franchise until at least 1942. (Unless they'd moved, they were also there in 1943.) That is a 4 year gap, but is there really no connection between Langrock's and (Charlie's) The Andover Shop? I suppose Charlie was the connection...


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## Taliesin (Sep 24, 2004)

katon said:


> 1. How does The Andover Shop stay in business?


In the mid-2000s I lived a few blocks from the Cambridge store. I walked past it nearly every day. There never seemed to be many customers in there, but I did once see someone parallel park his Aston Martin in front of the shop and head inside. So I'd assume the business model is to serve a small number of big spenders, many of whom likely first encountered the store while students at either Andover or Harvard.


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## fairway (Sep 23, 2006)

All of Cardinal's outfits look great. A+. Maybe the look is, as suggested by another, just the Andover look. I enjoy looking at it. Not sure it would be me, but the plaids in the jackets are great.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

C. Sharp said:


> I can live with the 1948 date. It is interesting that there has been a store at 127 for a long time. My question would be if you can claim a long history back to the 30's why wouldn't you unless its not your history or you are trying to break with the past.


I wouldn't be surprised if it were a break with the past sort of thing. Charlie is, after all, the originator of the shop's look and style, so it's not quite like the dutiful followers of the Brothers Brooks or J. Press who are proudly upholding a tradition. Charlie is the tradition. Taking the old Andover Shop name probably gave him credibility when he was first starting out, but the shop is his, and the look is his, so why connect himself back to Langrock's?

Really this is all just speculation. Bringing it up with Charlie himself would probably solve the issue, but I doubt he'd take kindly to strangers pestering him about things like that.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

More mystery from the April, 1928 issue of the Phillipian:










Leon Davidson, right next door to the modern-day Andover Shop... An older brother? Charlie's father? (No relation?)

**Edit:* Looks like Leon was :


> In 1925, Leon Davidson purchased 125-127 Main St. and started a restaurant in the right side of the building, which he named Leon's. "Doc" was Leon's nickname, and that nickname attached itself to the restaurant. Doc's was a busy place, and many of the customers were from Phillips and Abbot academies. John Davidson began working at Doc's in the fifth grade. He says that his older brother, Charlie, and he were put on parallel courses by their father.
> 
> "We were expected to work all of the time, excel in school and receive no pay. That was a family obligation. However, as long as we understood our requirements, my father would give and get for us anything we wanted."
> 
> John went to Phillips and Harvard. He completed the ROTC program at Harvard and joined the Air Force after graduation. It was during the Korean War, but the truce occurred when he was in training. While John was still in school, his brother, Charlie, and his brother-in-law, Virg Marson, purchased an existing men's clothing store next to Doc's, and this was the beginning of the Andover Shop. When John was discharged from the Air Force, he joined Charlie and Virg in the business. Soon after, they opened a second Andover Shop in Cambridge.


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## PersianMonarchs (Dec 7, 2005)

First rate research, Katon!

And while we're on the topic of the Andover Shop, add my best wishes to Charlie Davidson, a wonderful guy and a true gentleman.


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Wear all the items in the first photo and you will definitely look like a twat.

It is a source of amusement to me that some pay a lot of money to look like a twat.

Possibly they are oblivious to the fact that those clothing combinations are for twats.


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## Taliesin (Sep 24, 2004)

Kingstonian said:


> Wear all the items in the first photo and you will definitely look like a twat.
> 
> It is a source of amusement to me that some pay a lot of money to look like a twat.
> 
> Possibly they are oblivious to the fact that those clothing combinations are for twats.


It's the vests. Too Bilbo Baggins.


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

Taliesin said:


> It's the vests. Too Bilbo Baggins.


Shiny buttons on waistcoats are part of it.

It could be worse, it could be patchwork or loud red. He could also be wearing a bow tie.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Kingstonian said:


> Wear all the items in the first photo and you will definitely look like a twat.


Gentlemen, gentlemen PLEASE!!

In the US Twat=










Twit =

...and now back to your regularly scheduled programming.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Thanks for clearing that up, Woulda. I never realized that twit = twat in the Queen's English. Now I'm wondering if the Python "upperclass twit" sketch was edited for American audiences.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

The Rambler said:


> Thanks for clearing that up, Woulda.


It was my pleasure.

Especially searching Google photos with safe search off!!


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Here is a post on the Andover Shop https://maxminimus.blogspot.com/2010/07/cambridge-and-trad-mother-church.html


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

An enjoyable photo essay: thanks for posting.


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