Pregnant Whales Can Boogie: Ivy League Fashion

I have recently purchased a book called Take Ivy published by Hachette Fujingaho. The book was originally published in 1965 in Japanese, and, therefore, was naturally intended for the Japanese. It maintains somewhat of an educational tone, and I was left with the impression that the principal reason behind the book was to inform Japanese youngsters about the lifestyle of students in the best institutions in America.

Needless to say, the reason it was recently reprinted in English had nothing to do with the above. Rather, the book ended up a huge success as a refernce to style of that era in that particular part of America. Looking through the photographs, I was fascinated by the sharp style that the students in these Ivy League schools had at that time, and how much that style has been influencing American fashion ever since.

I notice that this preppy style of clothing is especially loved by many of the relatively new designers that will most likely be dictating fashion to the style-minded people of the world for the next few decades. Looking through the spring summer 2011 collections by such designers like Billy Reid, Michael Bastian, Thom Brown, Simon Spurr, and Band of Outsiders' Scortt Sternberg, I couldn't help but notice just how much this style has become a root of American wear today.

I went through some of my favorite looks from the spring summer 2011 runway shows, and tried to compile a collection of photographs that would show just how much similarity there is between what the students photographed in Take Ivy wore and what the most exciting designers today are creating.

Sandals have been all over the place on the runways for the spring and summer collections. I thought it was so interesting how the two models from different shows could have been easily mistaken for a slightly more recent version of the couple in the book.