A Brave New World
Passing the skeletal remains of 346 Madison Avenue reminds me that J. Press stands alone in the once upon a time thriving retail neighborhood that promoted traditional American Style menswear. It’s hardly coincidental that the enterprise my grandfather founded on the Yale campus is quartered side-by-side the Yale Club in New York on 44th and Vanderbilt.
How to exchange 20th century Ivy Style for today’s expanded market without demeaning its past? Following the recent national election, the term “ballot dumping” was widely discussed. J. Press refines the term via our own version expressed as “category dumping.”
For example, our famous J. PRESS hand brushed Shetland wool Shaggy Dog sweaters still bark with extended breeds in over forty colors enhanced by a new version of university stripes expressed on either sleeve or body. Our hearty collection of four-ply Scottish cashmere cable crew neck sweaters display eight colors. Frosting on the cake—J. PRESS shawl collar cardigans from Scotland are beyond the fringe as a sport coat or outerwear choice.
Schoolboy mufflers originally worn by boat club members of universities in England and reframed as a prime signature on prep school and college campuses in the 1950s are once again re-popularized, worn with either a duffel coat or chunky sweater.
“Roamin’ in the Gloamin on the bonnie banks o’ Clyde” characterizes our unmatched variety of all wool Tartan trousers. Also, on hand in Technicolor, a rainbow of corduroy trousers in sixteen colors.
The list is endless.
Brave New World is a dystopian social science fiction novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley that features the line “No social stability without individual stability.”
J. Press presentations adhere to the Huxley axiom.
RICHARD PRESS
17 comments
JPress is the quintessential traditional men’s clothing store and the repository of everything I desire in fashion. The styles are elegant, comfortable and timeless! Please continue to maintain your classic sartorial traditions and I will continue to save my pennies toward my second Harris Tweed sport jacket in thirty years! The happiest of holidays to you and marvelous staff!
I’m 74 and long retired, but, J Press OCBD shirts and Shaggy Dogs are still my “go too’s. Thanks for staying true. Have a prosperous and blessed 2021.. Slainte’
Long live J. Press and the traditional Americn style!
Great Store,the Ivy League look is timeless!!
I visited “346” for a suit only once—in 1969 with my Yale Divinity classmate who had a 12" drop, Brooks could not fit him, but the tailors were amazed at his 44/32 physique!
“When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change.”
-Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland
Thanks for an eloquent piece. Although retired, I wouldn’t think of purchasing anything other than JPress shirts, among other things.
A quote from BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley: “Spending is better than mending”
And from Shakespeare, THE TEMPEST: “O brave new world that has such people in it.”
As a young boy My mother and I would travel on fridays to NYC to see my father for the weekends when he was working in New York. . We would invariably stop in and would see Irving Press who was in Dad’s unit in the war. My first proper blue blazer and grey trousers And suits came from there. Dad always thanked Irving because after returning from the war Dad needed a suit to return to practicing law and Irving at a time when our tailoring industry was only focused on uniforms took care of getting suits to Dad. J Press is more than just a store. It is a business about family, traditions and quality.
A beacon in the mists.
Next year, God willing, will make a purchase in your New York store, have some chowder at the Oyster Bar and have a gimlet on the second floor of the Yale Club.
Merry Christmas
Enjoy your letters very much We USC Trojans can use help. Fight on !
I stand with many J. Press loyalists. Thank you for your fine products.
Good morning, living in Los Angeles it has been about three years since visiting New York. Are you saying the iconic Brooks Brothers store at 346 Madison has been closed?
With snow and slush costing every inch of pavement here in Boston for the foreseeable future, I’m back to my inclement weather uniform of Bean boots, jeans, an OCBD and a J. Press shaggy dog. Happy to see the brand back on Newbury and just picked up a trim fit in a wonderful mossy green. If I can put a word in to HQ: here’s hoping that iconic kelly green is made in trim fit one of those seasons.
Although great in it’s day, Brooks Brothers in recent years had strayed from the fold of traditional American style and had become more of an Italian department store (complete with cafe’), with very little of it’s merchandise actually made in the USA. Their bureaucracy became bloated, their retail leases oppressive, and their service less reliable. J. Press, on the other hand, has continued to focus on it’s niche market, maintaining it’s American manufacturing base and producing clothing that is classic rather than stylish. Moreover, it seems to be keeping it’s costs under control. Long live J. Press!
My best wishes to the J. Press company and it’s many customers for a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
very nice message to my Yale husband who is married to a Smithie. Please do not go away. We need you!
Well done, J Press, long may you keep the flag flying for proper dress and styling.