“Mr. Press, a phone call for you from Cary Grant,” came over the store speaker. I figured it was a joke and was about to answer in a faux Cary Grant accent when an unmistakable voice interrupted me, “Mr. Press, Cary Grant here. Wonder if I scooted over to the store you might be available to show me some of those mahvalous Shaggy Dog sweaters I spot on my Ivy League pals.”
To read this story and many more, purchase the Threading the Needle book by Richard Press.
13 comments
I cannot tell a lie: I was doing some home renovation recently at Lowe’s Home Improvement in North Carolina and the manager who assisted me was Cary Grant. Not THE Cary Grant, of course, but equally nice in his down-home Southern manner.
These stories are terrific! Thanks.
“Tradition is not to preserve the ashes but to pass on the flame” The German original reads: “Tradition ist nicht die Anbetung der Asche, sondern die Weitergabe des Feuers”
In 1981, while visiting a great friend from Vanderbilt, I was introduced to J. Press. I had very little disposable income, being class of ‘80. I purchased a very heavy navy blazer that the store basically remade. It fit beautifully and once I had eaten my way out of it, my son took it to boarding school…the same one I attended. It is still in good shape! Brioni I think made it for you. Tough fabric!
I too greatly enjoy your stories about the history of J. Press! Please keep posting them!
I started buying beautiful J. Press clothing in your New Haven store when I was a post-doctoral student at Yale Law School at the end of the 60’s, continued buying them during the 70’s while teaching at Yale, then at your Cambridge store when I moved to Harvard, and finally at your Washington store when I moved to the University of Virginia. And now I buy from your online site. I treasure everything I bought from you, and take pleasure every time wear any of the countless items I acquired from you, from bow ties to braces, button-downs, and blazers! They are all uniquely yours, no one has ever been able to compete with them, and no one ever will be able to duplicate what you do! Viva J. Press!