The Platonics, Part I: The Ivy Staples

Writing lists is fun, and thoughts on the nature of quintessence

I have, frequently, chastised the writing of articles which detail the “essential” pieces one should have in their wardrobe. Capsule collections and “essential” piece lists, in attempting to be universal, I find tend instead to lack identity or personal connection to the wearer, there is no sentimentality, and thus no authenticity.

At the same time though, I have a deep love for distilling the platonic ideal of any given piece, the absolute classic iteration. Being able to quote an immediately recognisable garment- re-contextualise it into one’s personal style- is very satisfying. Answering the question “if you could only have one colour/ pattern of [garment], what would it be?” perhaps provides more clarity on what should actually be in your wardrobe.

Thus, allow me to present The Platonics, pieces which are not essential but perhaps are quintessential. You absolutely do not need all of these- you don’t need any of these- for a collegiate wardrobe, but they are the classics, the number one hits, the ones you can play at every show and they’ll always get the crowd going. Along the way I hope we can interrogate exactly why I feel these examples are platonic ideals, maybe learn something about the nature of quintessence.

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Welcome to this week’s meeting, hope you are enjoying the festive period, grab a copy of last week’s bulletin here, or on your way out, and please consult The Directory for an as-comprehensive-as possible list of Club Approved labels and retailers. Now, let’s get down to basics.

THE DIRECTORY

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This is a long one, read on the app or your browser to get it all.

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Blue and White University Stripe OCBD

Beginning with the Ivy style mascot, the OCBD has been a part of the canon from the very start, such that to wear one is to quote Ivy, regardless of other contexts. The challenge in distilling our platonic example is that there are plenty of classic colours to choose from, however, whilst white can tend too formal, and blue too informal at times, the combination of the two in a university stripe produces a shirt that is truly iconic and painfully chic (you do want to be chic, stop pretending you don’t). At home with jeans, khakis, tweed, flannel, wax jackets, or Balmacaans. It’s the example people paint or doodle, and a neutral ground- if a label makes an OCBD they will make it in a blue uni stripe almost always.

So, we can begin to question from whence do we pull a sense of quintessence. Perhaps in the above case it is proliferation and ubiquity: popularity. I don’t believe that explains why it has that drawable quality though, I think that comes down to uniqueness, no other clothes (besides perhaps boxer shorts) come in a university stripe, thus the pattern becomes closely linked with the garment, thus the garment becomes closely linked with the pattern.

Mid/Light Wash 501s

I think this is interesting considering these days the 501 is not a super desirable cut, tending too slim or too tapered, of course the fit of the 501 varies wildly through the years. Trends be damned, I think if you get the right fitting 501, or something derived from that fit (like my buckle-back Evisus), you are pretty set, I like a leg opening of 8-8.5” laid flat on my 27-28” waist pairs. We’re interested in a mid/light wash for reasons of versatility and softness, which relate back to the function of jeans in the Ivy wardrobe, they’re a casual trouser, not workwear. We are looking at any wash that will pair with a navy blazer- one-rinse and raw end up looking a little odd, sort of like an uncanny valley suit. From there, you need to wear the hell out of them, they should be dirty, frayed, ripped and mended (badly) and finally at the end of their life turned into cutoffs for summer.

PC: Take Ivy

I think there’s enough provenance here that it overwhelms any other argument against the 501’s icon status, and our platonic ideal in this instance is derived from that which best fits the use case.

Grey Sweatshirt

Hooded or crew-necked, the grey marl warmup jumper is well deserving of a place in the canon. Go as heavy as you dare, in 100% cotton, the drape of a heavier jersey fleece is stunning, or lean very light and more fitted. Layer it with an OCBD, no matter how weird it feels, if it’s a hoodie tie the drawstrings in a bow, call it sprezzatura, crack open Take Ivy and see just how many hoodies there are on those pages.

Here, grey is the choice because it was the colour of the original sweatshirt, thus we distill quintessence from history and originality, and again that unique factor which appears for the uni stripe OCBD, grey marl being a somewhat unique colour/ pattern only available in garments made of jersey fleece.

Khaki Chinos

Derived first from the US army chino, though described as “khakis”, we are actually referring to chino trousers in a selection of tones from cream, through beige, and into tan, depending on label and fade. Thus, committing to one precise tone would be unhelpful. The classic would be flat-fronted and generous in the leg, though there is also scope in later iterations for pleats and stitched cuffs. Like most of the wardrobe presented here, they ought to be thoroughly worn, stained, washed, repaired, softer than soft as a result.

It is easy to see where the quintessence of khaki beige as the colour for chinos comes from, with its uniform origins, they were only ever produced in one colour. The garment was totally proliferated in one iteration before any alternative was produced, thus any other colour can be thought of as a deviation from the norm.

Black Beefroll Loafer

Though we’ve already crowned the OCBD as Ivy mascot, the penny loafer has to take a close second, the Bass Weejun undergoing more steps across the paths of those famed colleges than perhaps any other shoe back in the day. Though the loafer has seen a hundred and one variations, the beff-roll penny remains the Ivy favourite. Slim but very casual by virtue of the beef-roll. Black vs brown was a tough call, I left it down to gut feel, and a thought that brown might better be fulfilled by a camp moc, perhaps our sense of quintessence is thus on somewhat shaky foundations. When broken down it certainly seems that way, yet looking at a distance, I find it hard to argue that anything but black, smooth leather is the platonic ideal of a loafer. We stumble here into the fact that quintessence is ephemeral and subjective (though usually at a collective level- collective subjectivity), which somewhat calls into question the making of this list. We can only really take a snapshot of this collective subjectivity, but that is still worthwhile nonetheless, since it is within that collective subjectivity that we get dressed.

Brown Glen Plaid Sport Coat

The sport coat is somewhat of a tough one here, so far as distilling the exact specification which warrants commitment to our list. Since we’re in an Ivy realm, it’s probably a sack jacket with an unconstructed shoulder, unlined and with a three-roll-two button layout but when it comes to material, pattern, and colour the page seems rather blank. For the first, I do believe our quintessential sport coat is tweed, corduroy and cotton iterations being more modern developments. For the latter two we are faced with an unsettling plethora of inarguably classic options, both brown and grey herringbone, tan houndstooth, olive green, windowpane; I think choosing the quintessential example is perhaps so tricky for the same reason that it is so easy to choose university stripe for OCBDs, there are a great many patterns in clothing which are exclusive to tweed, and within the Ivy canon tweed is really only reserved for the sport coat. I’ve settled on a light brown Glen Plaid (Prince of Wales Check), I think it offers the most versatility, enough visual intrigue to stand out but also not too loud as to overtake an outfit, a remark as opposed to a statement.

Grey Flannel Suit

Perhaps best thought of as a post-Ivy staple, that is to say that the grey flannel suit is the dress of the 50s/60s Ivy league graduate once they entered the workforce. Retaining the soft shouldered, unconstructed approach present in blazers and sport coats and hiding it within the guise of formality afforded by a two piece. It too deserves a place in this canon as a suit which can be worn properly as separates in a way which both looks great and keeps the tailoring rules arbiters’ knickers thoroughly untwisted. Grey flannel trousers especially can be used to dress up any ivy look which might otherwise employ jeans or chinos.

Grey Flannels are Blue Jeans for the Sartorially Inclined

White Canvas Plimsols

If you hadn’t yet sussed it out, we’ve taken Take Ivy as gospel for the picks (and pics) on this list, and the footwear most commonly seen on those hallowed pages is, in actuality, the simple white plimsol/ canvas trainer. I might say here that we can derive quintessence from simplicity. Not the case for many other entries on this list, yet here we are looking at perhaps the most simple example of casual sporting footwear. To try and distill a single platonic trainer is a futile task, there is far too much provenance attributed to a wide canon of shoes, an entire off-shoot culture from fashion as a whole. Yet, sitting as the absolute simplest iteration of a massive concept, the white plimsoll does seem to carry some sense of that quintessence.

White T-Shirt

Most if not all Ivy looks start with a white cotton undershirt, not a tank top but a full t-shirt. It peaks out from under an unbuttoned collar or a brushed wool knit. In both practical and aesthetic senses it is a highly functional piece of clothing, it protects your outer layers from sweat, deodorant, etc., and it adds a tiny amount of depth. I think it should be fitted, well made but inexpensive, and not too heavy, the heavyweight tee is a different garment, it’s white because you can wear anything over white.

There’s always the option too on the hottest days of dropping down to the fitted tee and light jeans (which happens to be the sluttiest outfit in the masculine fashion arsenal).

Navy Blazer

I’d wager the idea of the navy blazer and its infinite preppy appeal, keep it alive far more than its actual employ, it will be included here nonetheless. It is particularly interesting from a semantic perspective, there are certain qualities which a jacket must have to be considered a blazer, principally metal buttons. Like khaki chinos, the proliferation of navy blue as the colour of choice can be traced back to military provenance, the British “reefer” jacket, which then carried into rowing traditions. With the rowing tradition connected to blazers- their use as team uniform- there becomes a need for an example which is neutral. I believe the continued popularity of navy is in part a result of that need for neutrality, a further aspect of provenance.

Grey Herringbone Balmacaan

Much of the Ivy outerwear canon comes from the rugged Ivy tradition, which I will cover in the future, thus the likes of the mountain parka have been omitted from this list. There is, however, the wool Balmacaan or Raglan overcoat which ought to be considered. Following the commonality of being a tailored garment with a relaxed construction, I feel it has a place in this list. As with sport coats, use of tweed and wool fabrics opens up a lot of choices which might be thought of as quintessential, in the case of the overcoat, versatility is our champion priority. Therefore a simple grey herringbone makes the most sense.

White Sports Socks

If there ever was a cheat code for granting any given outfit an Ivy style edge, it is the pairing of a casual leather shoe with a white sport sock. Returning to Take Ivy, the only real deviation from white sports socks is wearing no socks at all. In any other aspect of dress there can be seen a reasonable amount of variation, but the white sock is indisputable, like the white t-shirt.

Brushed Shetland Jumper

To end, we’ll break the format we’ve established. See, whilst the brushed wool jumper is undoubtedly part of the Ivy canon, it is a garment which really is meant to be owned in a variety of colours, or one or two personal favourites. Thus, whilst it is not possible to distill a platonic or classic example, it does perhaps strengthen the conceptions we have constructed regarding the nature of quintessence. There is not significant provenance, proliferation, or peculiarity untoward one given colour of the shetland jumper, and thus a platonic ideal is difficult to derive.

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My hope, as always, is that whilst this is a list article, we have been able to derive a little more along the way. As for what makes something quintessential, I believe now, having interrogated the platonic status of these garments, that there are at least three mechanisms through which quintessence can be acquired. Provenance can precede a garment, generate a certain mental picture with which a wider perceiving public will see iterations of said garment, in turn this can lead to proliferation which intensifies that mental image; or, separately, a garment may have a particular iteration which is unique, this peculiarity granting quintessence in provenance’s stead.

Whilst it is pleasantly tidy to wrap up the three P’s of platonic ideality, I’ll leave off with recognition of subjectivity as governor above all three. I’d love to hear from club members as to what has been omitted from this list, or perhaps what is undeserving of a spot.

Prep Club adjourned, holiday tidings to all.

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