All posts in Clothing and History

Vintage Champion Style

by oxford cloth button down on February 9, 2020 in Clothing and History with 5 Comments

I have heard the old adage that a Shetland sweater is a trad’s sweatshirt. While I get where they were going with this I disagree. IMHO nothing beats a good sweatshirt. Especially a nice heavyweight reverse weave version. Plus you will look a little foolish in the gym sporting your Shetland sweater. In honor of the old college sweatshirt I have included some archival pictures of various vintage Champion sportswear products from my Lightning Archives Vintage Champion book. If you are wondering where I got this book checkout my post on ordering from Amazon Japan (see here).

1965 Ohio State University Yearbook

by oxford cloth button down on November 25, 2018 in Clothing and History, Lifestyle with 6 Comments

Now that I am living in Columbus I thought that it was the perfect time to dig into some of OSU’s old yearbooks. I decided to start with 1965 for no particular reason although Teruyoshi Hayashida’s Take Ivy was written that year, but I won’t pretend that is why chose it. I was just pretty sure that it would have some cool pics and I don’t think that I was wrong.

Maybe you will find some vintage inspiration in the pictures below or even a gentle reminder of things not to do (like wear black shoes!). I myself was reminded that getting haircuts is always cool, to have more fun, and to always wear sunglasses when possible. I was also left reminiscing on student life and all the good parts of college days. Lots more OSU yearbooks to go through tuned!

White Socks with Penny Loafers

by oxford cloth button down on November 18, 2018 in Clothing and History, Style with 11 Comments

Yes you can wear white socks with your loafers. However, if you want to look cool doing it like the guys in all those vintage pictures you want a certain type of white athletic sock. Its not your typical modern white athletic sock.

The white sock to wear with your penny loafers is the Wigwam 625 (see here). Also they aren’t really white. They are off-white and after a few washes the color gets closer to cream. They aren’t cotton either like the white athletic sock that we know. They are a wool blend (63% Wool/37% Nylon). They are thick too. Almost like a wool sock that you would wear with hiking boots. One other notable feature is that they don’t have any elastic. It’s hard to believe that these were what kids wore to play sports in the 1950s-1960s.

I wear these socks a lot and thought I could offer a pretty accurate overview for those who have not. To me Wigwams and Weejuns are like peanut butter & jelly, but let me just say to those who have never worn this style of sock before that it may be an acquired taste type of thing. Wigwam 625s are scratchy and itchy at first, but this goes away after a few washes or did for me. They don’t have any elastic so surprise surprise they don’t stay up well… at all. So you will find yourself bending over to pull them up throughout the day. They are also thicker than the modern white sock, but I think that is one of their best attributes. I weathered through all of this and somehow they grew on me. Now I find them both comfortable and comforting.

If you want to wear a white sock with your loafers the Wigwam 625 is that white sock. As I said it is really more of a cream color and they are wool blend which gives them some nice texture. Alternatively you could substitute any cream colored wool sock with a little thickness if the classics don’t work out for you. These socks are not only the right sock for the penny loafer look, but they also look cool with canvas sneakers, mocs, boots, and almost any other casual shoe. While I can’t imagine playing a game of basketball in them like they did back in the day you can count me as a fan.

The Miyuki-zoku in Life & Illustration

by oxford cloth button down on April 22, 2018 in Clothing and History, Lifestyle, Style with 8 Comments

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

Spring Semester 1964

by oxford cloth button down on January 21, 2018 in Clothing and History, Lifestyle, Style with 5 Comments

There is nothing better than wearing Shetlands, tweed, and the ability to layer. Well there may be at least one thing that is better which is warm weather. While the winter has been great for breaking out cold weather gear I have had my fill and I am over it. However, with the coldest month approaching I can do nothing but dream of warmer days.

Last night I was flipping through an old Wittenberg University yearbook from 1964 (no, this is not the year that I graduated) to get some spring inspiration. There were some cool ivy pics that got me excited for wearing shorts, madras, and white sneakers. It also reminded me that flip-flops & t-shirts have been on the scene for quite a while and that students have always loved kicking off their loafers! Before you start browsing the images below lets let out one collective sigh as we dream of warm weather and that student life.