I like to keep a nice selection of coffee table books around. One of my newer books is called “Cool: Style, Sound, and Subversion” (see here). Overall it is a pretty cool book. It covers a lot of subcultures and is fairly accurate. It gives a 1-2 page write-up with each subculture including Ivy League Style, Preppy, unfortunately no Trad, and what I am focusing on today is the Miyuki-zoku…kind of.
What struck me about the the Miyuki-zoku page was the illustrations. I knew that I had seen this image before. It turns out it wasn’t one image, but a few images drawn together. It only took a handful of Google searches to put it all together. I found our friend on the far right in the madras looking Harrington jacket and Chucks in a blog post on Ivy Style. I then spotted the guy in madras shirt over at Put this On.
What was interesting to me about this is that we have photographs being documented in illustrations. I am sure this is fairly common, but seeing it this way just got me thinking about the how cultures and art feed each other. I don’t know where I am going with that other than it is interesting to think about. Before I get too deep let me provide you with links to the articles referenced above so you can read more about The Miyuki-zoku.
Learn more about the Japanese youth movement the Miyuki-zoku:
Ivy Style – The Miyuki-zoku: Japan’s First Ivy Rebels
Put this On – The Miyuki-zoku, 1964
Those guys took no pants break seriously!
I appreciate the artist adding color to those photographs.
Jerrod,
One of the many reasons I follow this blog is that it promotes a Trad style which does not go to the extremes of Preppy style or the Ivy League style.
They look far more presentable in the illustrations than in the photos.
A friend of mine described the difference between Ivy and Trad as follows:
An Ivy adherent insists upon wearing round, P3 eyeglass frames even if they don’t complement the shape of his face.
Interesting post Jerrod and a good book tip. I’m not surprised that Trad doesn’t feature as it’s not a subculture. Trad is just a word made up comparatively recently by men on clothing forums, its hardly subversive and of course any Trad worth their salt would be mortified if someone accused them of being ‘cool’. It is fascinating to read how the look, Trad, Ivy, call it what you will, has been adopted and developed in other countries.
I watch a lot of early sixties Japanese movies ( I love classic movies). I always note how so many of the younger characters dress in a Ivy style.
@Woofboxer:
Thanks for verbalizing one of the attractions of Trad: it’s not a subculture.
Woof & James – I found it interesting that both Ivy League Style in heyday as well as Preppy in the 80’s as subcultures.