# Moderately Interesting Yale Daily News Ads ca. 1960



## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Here's a series of photos from Fenn-Feinstein showing there impression of the natural shoulder look.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Here's how they did it at Press


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

*Shaggy Dog*









Apparently they did not get around to adding Kelly Green and Bubblegum Pink until sometime after 1959


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

*Flap Pocket*









Conservative colors, but apparently in 1959 they had the flap-pocket and the OC(3)BD. This is, I think the perfect combo.


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## rsmeyer (May 14, 2006)

Lord, those college kids look awful! No torn jeans, no piercings, no flip-flops, no cargo pants-and they were clean-shaven, too! Just awful.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

AldenPyle said:


> Here's how they did it at Press


That I like, a proper 3B, the shoulders look more natural than the Frank Brothers' jackets, but I realise this is a drawing, so artistic licence rules, whereas the Frank Bros jackets are in photos of the articles in wear.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

*Madras*


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## rsmeyer (May 14, 2006)

Very nice stuff. Thanks, A.P.


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

AldenPyle said:


> Apparently they did not get around to adding Kelly Green and Bubblegum Pink until sometime after 1959


Brightly colored Shetland and cashmere knitwear probably had its genesis with Shep Miller of eastern Long Island.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

jamgood said:


> Brightly colored Shetland and cashmere knitwear probably had its genesis with Shep Miller of eastern Long Island.


Interesting
https://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts/Main-Articles/126/The-Things-that-Remain-the-Same.html

"John Duka, who used to write "Notes on Fashion" for The New York Times, saw a consistency in high-key colors. "Fashion trends may come and go," he wrote in 1984, "but in the Hamptons, country club bright colors never die." Attending a summer benefit, "where the rain gushed through the tent while Lester Lanin's orchestra refused to call it quits," he noted gleefully that "the crowd of 1,000 was alight with men wearing bright-green trousers." (Women, of course, got their hot pinks, lime greens and sky blues from the indomitable Lilly Pulitzer-and still do.)

Duka speculated in his column that most of the colorful trousers probably came from Shep Miller, whose shop on Jobs Lane in Southampton was for decades The Source. "The clothes there are some of the best to be found of the type that could be described as formal beach wear," wrote Duka, noting that as they are "extremely traditional in cut," the "totally devil-may-care approach to color" is permissible.

The cut-color dichotomy is oddly paralleled in an observation by Tom Wolfe who sets one of his characters down in a Hamptons party where the baked-bean aristocrats wear sober shirts, yacht-club ties, navy-blue blazers, brass buttons, and, mirabile dictu, crazy slacks-tartans and batiks. They are all sobersides above the waist, wild and crazy below.

That was 20 years ago, but a woman walking down Main Street today in a shift from Lilly Pulitzer would not look at all out of place. Whether a man outfitted according to Shep Miller's recommendations in 1984 would melt so easily into the crowd is another question. This is the ensemble Miller suggested for John Duka's social forays in the Hamptons: "a bright-green nubby silk jacket worn with a bright-yellow crinkly cotton voile shirt, set off by a navy ascot with yellow polka dots and pale-yellow silk trousers."


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Speaking of Batik, Press played that game too


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## rsmeyer (May 14, 2006)

AldenPyle said:


> Interesting
> https://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts/Main-Articles/126/The-Things-that-Remain-the-Same.html
> 
> "John Duka, who used to write "Notes on Fashion" for The New York Times, saw a consistency in high-key colors. "Fashion trends may come and go," he wrote in 1984, "but in the Hamptons, country club bright colors never die." Attending a summer benefit, "where the rain gushed through the tent while Lester Lanin's orchestra refused to call it quits," he noted gleefully that "the crowd of 1,000 was alight with men wearing bright-green trousers." (Women, of course, got their hot pinks, lime greens and sky blues from the indomitable Lilly Pulitzer-and still do.)
> ...


Personally, I'd rather be seen in Duka's Shep Miller garb than the usual ratty jeans/ flip-flop combo; but someone will surely post what a snob I am.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Green trouser music. I confess I own this CD. https://www.amazon.com/Society-Danc...2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1267491715&sr=8-2-spell



AldenPyle said:


> Interesting
> https://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts/Main-Articles/126/The-Things-that-Remain-the-Same.html
> 
> "John Duka, who used to write "Notes on Fashion" for The New York Times, saw a consistency in high-key colors. "Fashion trends may come and go," he wrote in 1984, "but in the Hamptons, country club bright colors never die." Attending a summer benefit, "where the rain gushed through the tent while Lester Lanin's orchestra refused to call it quits," he noted gleefully that "the crowd of 1,000 was alight with men wearing bright-green trousers." (Women, of course, got their hot pinks, lime greens and sky blues from the indomitable Lilly Pulitzer-and still do.)
> ...


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## Cowtown (Aug 10, 2006)

AldenPyle said:


> Here's how they did it at Press


Thanks for posting AP. I like the shoulders on this jacket. I have never seen a breast pocket with a flap on a jacket. Was this common?


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## NCJackson (Dec 19, 2008)

J. Press Batik. Just doesn't seem quite right. 

I'd like to see 'em make their suits with that slightly lower gorge, higher button stance, and moderate lapel width. Most sack suits today look just a bit too 70s/80s for my taste. Then again it is a drawing, maybe they were just like today's, I've never seen vintage J. Press coat in person.

Do you suppose the Press-scot was named for Grandpa Bush?


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## rsmeyer (May 14, 2006)

C. Sharp: I have that album as well; my son was considering using them for his wedding. We still have the red and white beanies from the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Lester is dead but the band goes on. I think they are the perfect band for most any occasion. I have not had the opportunity to hear them live but hope springs eternal. If your son decides to go with them it will certainly add something special. If not how can the event not be great anyway. Certainly congrats to him and best wishes for the bride.


rsmeyer said:


> C. Sharp: I have that album as well; my son was considering using them for his wedding. We still have the red and white beanies from the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf.


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

great stuff, thanks for posting it.

I'd love to et my hands on an old Press non-plaid madras shirt, or gray and white uni stripe as advertised above.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Cowtown said:


> Thanks for posting AP. I like the shoulders on this jacket. I have never seen a breast pocket with a flap on a jacket. Was this common?


 I didn't even notice the breast flap. No, I don't think it was common, but its kind of snazzy.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

*Continental Slacks*

Here's the first wave of hip-hugger, high water pants from the Continental.


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## rsmeyer (May 14, 2006)

C. Sharp said:


> Lester is dead but the band goes on. I think they are the perfect band for most any occasion. I have not had the opportunity to hear them live but hope springs eternal. If your son decides to go with them it will certainly add something special. If not how can the event not be great anyway. Certainly congrats to him and best wishes for the bride.


His wedding was already years ago. He couldn't afford LL, but got a very good band. Thanks for your kind words.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

One of the really surprising things, I think is how popular polyester was during this period. And I'm not talking only about things like cotton-poly poplin suits or "travel" linen blends. How'd you like some Orlon tweed or a 65% dacron tropical blend navy blazer? Its hard to overstate just how prevalent this type of stuff was at ads for Press and other companies selling in the Yale Daily News in the early 1960's. In scanning these old issues, I think there may well have been more ads for synthetic blended jackets, shirts, and pants than all natural stuff! So you see, some things have gotten better!


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## bandofoutsiders (Jul 26, 2007)

Polyester was space age stuff at the time, nothing to be ashamed of. It was durable and it stayed pressed, which would have appealed to a time when more wore suits with much more frequency. If you look at suiting ads from this 60s, you'll see that the 100% wool backlash came later, with ads that simply espoused the durability and timeless quality of pure wool, rather than any particular brand of suiting.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Cowtown said:


> Thanks for posting AP. I like the shoulders on this jacket. I have never seen a breast pocket with a flap on a jacket. Was this common?





AldenPyle said:


> I didn't even notice the breast flap. No, I don't think it was common, but its kind of snazzy.


Jackets with breast pockets were never common, but also not extremely rare (I've seen a couple in old pics this year). Everyone should have at least one in their closet for a bit of variety. Here's mine from Hart Schaffner Marx

https://img690.imageshack.us/i/asdf002.jpg/


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

bandofoutsiders said:


> Polyester was space age stuff at the time, nothing to be ashamed of. It was durable and it stayed pressed, which would have appealed to a time when more wore suits with much more frequency. If you look at suiting ads from this 60s, you'll see that the 100% wool backlash came later, with ads that simply espoused the durability and timeless quality of pure wool, rather than any particular brand of suiting.


You try to take away my Orlon cardigans, you lookin for a fight.


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## TradMichael (Apr 13, 2006)

Great stuff and nice to see one in the now, Cardinals5. This morning I thought of this thread as the jacket I'm wearing, a Mavest, doesn't have any breast pocket at all.

Maybe it's because the focus is on selling the jacket but I also noticed that the models above seem to lack a ps more often than not.

Thanks for posting this material AP.



Cardinals5 said:


> Jackets with breast pockets were never common, but also not extremely rare (I've seen a couple in old pics this year). Everyone should have at least one in their closet for a bit of variety. Here's mine from Hart Schaffner Marx
> 
> https://img690.imageshack.us/i/asdf002.jpg/


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

This confirms something I've been thinking for a long time -- high roll three button sacks were as prevalent as three roll two and the latter was not exclusively worn by Ivy Leaguers.


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

AldenPyle said:


> Interesting
> https://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts/Main-Articles/126/The-Things-that-Remain-the-Same.html
> 
> "John Duka, who used to write "Notes on Fashion" for The New York Times, saw a consistency in high-key colors. "Fashion trends may come and go," he wrote in 1984, "but in the Hamptons, country club bright colors never die." Attending a summer benefit, "where the rain gushed through the tent while Lester Lanin's orchestra refused to call it quits," he noted gleefully that "the crowd of 1,000 was alight with men wearing bright-green trousers." (Women, of course, got their hot pinks, lime greens and sky blues from the indomitable Lilly Pulitzer-and still do.)
> ...


Great article, I bought my first pair of tassel loafers at Shep Miller after college. They shorlty closed when Shep retired after being the victim of a home invasion in which he and his also elderly wife were held and bound by some miscreant for some time. Traumatic, I'm sure, and they have since passed away. Never got to fully partake of his trousers etc. unfortunatly. Great spot in a great building at Jobs Lane & South Main Street, now occupied my J McLaughlin, just not the same though.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

From 1965


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

By 1969, the back button and the popover style seems to have disappeared. But a broader variety of colors.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Actually by 1962, some colors had appeared


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

By 1969, the GTH pants were well ensconced at J Press. Canary yellow sure; pink, maybe, if I knew there would be enough gin to get blotto, but there's not enough booze in the world for Mandarin orange


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

When did surcingle belts become popular? From 1968


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Well, I guess by 1960


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

Seven color cords? Now thats a fun pant.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

A Shep Miller jacket



AldenPyle said:


> Interesting
> https://www.hamptons.com/The-Arts/Main-Articles/126/The-Things-that-Remain-the-Same.html
> 
> "John Duka, who used to write "Notes on Fashion" for The New York Times, saw a consistency in high-key colors. "Fashion trends may come and go," he wrote in 1984, "but in the Hamptons, country club bright colors never die." Attending a summer benefit, "where the rain gushed through the tent while Lester Lanin's orchestra refused to call it quits," he noted gleefully that "the crowd of 1,000 was alight with men wearing bright-green trousers." (Women, of course, got their hot pinks, lime greens and sky blues from the indomitable Lilly Pulitzer-and still do.)
> ...


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

I just can't get over how high some of those button stances are.

It's really the only thing I don't like about the trad jacket style, and it's a huge problem, I'll find some great, cheap old BB sack with a 3/2, great shoulders etc and the buttoning point will be at my sternum.


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## Valkyrie (Aug 27, 2009)

Wasn't the original (early 20th century) design to space equally the four buttons (3 plus the lapel button hole)? That results in the high button placement, I think. But you can see that in lots of the American Trad Men thread (he says without bothering to check...). I thought that was part of its evolution, when the top (lapel) button was functional as a coat, long time ago, button to the neck to stay warm, rolling lapels being a relatively new twist. Fantasy? Hallucination?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

A higher buttoning stance was the style of the day. Just one of those things, like gorge height, that goes up and down in fashion all the time -- sometimes to a painful extent like in the 1980s. If you think those buttoning heights are weird, just consider that a two button coat with a three button stance and cutaway front was quite popular in the 1920s as a nod to the Edwardian period. It was revived to an extent during the mod movement of the '60s, but now it's effectively dead. The last time I saw such a beast was in _The Matrix_.


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

Jovan said:


> A higher buttoning stance was the style of the day. Just one of those things, like gorge height, that goes up and down in fashion all the time -- sometimes to a painful extent like in the 1980s. If you think those buttoning heights are weird, just consider that a two button coat with a three button stance and cutaway front was quite popular in the 1920s as a nod to the Edwardian period. It was revived to an extent during the mod movement of the '60s, but now it's effectively dead. The last time I saw such a beast was in _The Matrix_.


Unfortunately it's been a common feature on sacks from the 50s to the 00s.


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## C. Sharp (Dec 18, 2008)

Another example from IVY Style vintage Langrock










Cowtown said:


> Thanks for posting AP. I like the shoulders on this jacket. I have never seen a breast pocket with a flap on a jacket. Was this common?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

TBS: I guess I don't mind it as much as you do. However, I'm a somewhat slender 24 year old so my opinion may change when I'm not so slender and not so 24.


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

See I think the high button stance looks worst (or at least equally bad) on tall, slender people.

(I should add I am like 2 years older than you, and would be considered slender by most)


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Fair enough.


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

C. Sharp said:


> Another example from IVY Style vintage Langrock


I kind of like the Shep Miller paisley, but that is the ugliest color I've ever seen.


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