Been a long stretch since October 2018 when I penned the first of 118 Threading the Needle columns. Frosting on the cake: IGTV videos allowing me to revive my primordial off-Broadway stagecraft. The real theatre always boasted a one-day intermission on the weekly performance schedule. My contributions will be beginning hence to appear bi-weekly allowing for comfortable audience digestion after each epicurean repast.
Unlike politico or entertainment blogs, my commentary is meant to be a succinct representation of historical, social and sartorial facets of American Style deriving from J. Press. The company bearing my grandfather’s name reflects a current safety net for those disembarking from the sinking ship of other former favorite enterprises that defined “dressing down.”
J. Press upholds the original sign over my grandfather’s store, “Gentleman’s Tailors, Clothiers and Furnishers.” Since 1902 the loyalty of regulars since those early years together with a growing swath of patrons unaware of the company’s historic roots continues its rebirth.
My favorite Hall of Fame menswear critic George Frazier (recently dissected in my column several weeks ago) held forth in his 1960 Esquire Magazine dissertation:
Today both men and women sell the clothes in our specialty shop surroundings although virtually all the tailors and emporiums Frazier referred to have either disappeared or discarded the attributes that gave them notoriety. J. Press holds firm to the clothing philosophy and good taste that has been it signature for 119 years.
Meanwhile, stay tuned for publication:
THREADING THE NEEDLE: J.PRESS, SHAGGY DOGS, AND THE ORIGINS OF IVY STYLE—MEMORIES & ANECDOTES BY RICHARD PRESS—WITH A FOREWORD BY G. BRUCE BOYER.
Priming fingered paws for book signings post-COVID vaccination. Come on Baby let the good times roll. See you round the bend.
RICHARD PRESS
15 comments
For those of us unable to acquire the book, perhaps you’ll make Mr. Boyer’s foreword
available on this delightful blog.
Oh, how I miss J. Press on Mt. Auburn St., staffed by Denis Black and his associates!
When and how did the Newbury St. Pop-Up become a segment of the fashion purveyors not far from the Common? What items are available among the Shaggy Dogs, Donegals and Flap Pocket Button Downs? Who recalls when Artie Shaw played at the Summer Ròof of the Ritz with Buddy Rich on drums? Lest we forget!
Stan Pilshaw
I Wen to school in Virginia when we wore coats, we’re not yet co-ed. The girls came down the Ivy corridor to learn what a party is. We shopped at Alvin-Dennis in Lexington and Eljo’s in Charlottesville. On lacrosse trips to Harvard we shopped you near the Square. Although that was nearly 50 years ago I still wear every tie/braces bought while there. If you ever want to define time, look in my closet
Dear Richard,
I’ve enjoyed every one of your columns, as I have enjoyed shopping at the New Haven store since the mid-1960’s. In many ways, your column reminds me of Simon Clode’s “The Explora,” which he launched on the site operated by his family business, Westley Richards Ltd, until his untimely death a year or so ago. His columns, like yours, explored matters of taste and history that had a personal and admittedly subjective appeal to me. I always found that Gabe and Marty knew more about the goings-on at Yale than almost anyone, and on more than one occasion during my twenty-three years of working and teaching at Yale I was grateful for their insights. As much as I miss them both, Jimmy and James have made the shop a welcome place to visit still, and a shop that continues to occupy a unique place in the Yale community.
Paul Press, Pitt’32