"Ivy Style" Exhibition
The Museum at FIT
This event has ended.
Ivy Style celebrates one of the most enduring clothing styles of the 20th century. While viewed today as a classic form of dressing, in its heyday, Ivy style—or the “Ivy League look” —was actually so cutting-edge that it went on to inform the evolution of menswear for decades. This exhibition examines the genesis of Ivy style on the prestigious college campuses of the United States during the early years of the twentieth century, looks at the ways in which the style became codified by mid-century, and reveals how now, nearly one hundred years after its inception, Ivy style is still a thriving global influence.
Ivy Style presents three main periods of the look: the interwar years of the 1920s and 1930s; the post-war era to the end of the 1960s; and the revival from the 1980s to the present. Focusing almost exclusively on menswear dating from the early 20th century through today, more than sixty ensembles, both historic and contemporary, are intermingled in an environment evocative of an Ivy League university campus.
Period material will include suits, letter sweaters, university reunion and class jackets, athletic wear, and textiles from private lenders as well as the permanent collection of The Museum at FIT. Pioneering American firms such as Brooks Brother and J. Press will be represented by tweed jackets, polo coats, and many other classic items. A recreation of a mid-century university shop will pay homage to the traditional purveyors of Ivy style, as well as to such sartorial staples as the Oxford cloth shirt, khaki pants, penny loafers, and madras shorts. Items from the Andover Shop, Bass, Arrow Shirts, Ralph Lauren, Jeffrey Banks, and Tommy Hilfiger will appear in the exhibition, as will examples of contemporary, new interpretations of Ivy by renowned designers such as Michael Bastian and Thom Browne. In addition, many unique Ivy League objects—period photographs, sports ephemera, and drinking glasses—will be on loan from the Cary Collection.
Media
Schedule
from September 14, 2012 to January 05, 2013
Artist(s)
Andover Shop, Bass, Arrow Shirts, Ralph Lauren, Jeffrey Banks, Tommy Hilfiger