Products With Personality
Products with Personality: Academic Scarves
Academic scarves, also known as rowing scarves, have their origins in the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Beginning in the 19th Century, both schools competed heavily to develop a superior rowing team, sending their boats out in all weather. Rowers bundled up against the cold in scarves, and soon each school developed its own pattern of knit stripes to differentiate its rowers on and off the water.
Timeless Traditions: Flannel
Few items of clothing signal the arrival of cold weather like a flannel shirt. Along with hot apple cider and thick corduroys, a plaid shirt in the soft, fuzzy material is something we all think fondly of during the long hot days of late summer. Flannel shirts are a closet staple, perfect for lounging at home, picking apples, or walking in snowy neighborhoods, but flannel is more than just multicolored casual shirts. As suiting or trouser material, flannel is a reliable staple from Fall to Spring.
Timeless Traditions: Donegal Tweed
As we’ve discussed in a previous blog post, the wool cloth collectively known as tweed was developed as a hard-wearing material for country wear in Scotland and Ireland. Using locally produced wool, regional tweeds evolved to suit the needs of the outdoorsmen who would wear them, resulting in variations that would come to represent the style of entire regions of the British Isles.
Products with Personality: Grenfell Raincoats
In climates where rain is common, people have tried many methods to stay dry through the centuries. Traditional rain capes were made of tightly-woven grass and reeds, and are documented at least as far back as 1000AD in China. In South America where rubber plants originated, native Amazonians used rubber extracts to waterproof their shoes and clothing. In Europe and Asia, water-repelling wool cloaks or tightly-woven fabrics treated with oil helped keep people dry, and by the 18th Century these ideas were being combined to create the precursors to the modern raincoat.
Timeless Traditions: An Introduction to Tweed
Most of the clothing that we cover here on The Andover Shop Blog originates in the British Isles. Famous for their changeable weather, particularly in chilly winters, Great Britain and Ireland are also historically a center of wool production. During the Middle Ages, the English economy was supported primarily by the production of sheep’s wool and the weaving industry. The historical importance of this industry can be seen in the fact that to this day the presiding officer of the House of Lords sits on The Woolsack, a symbolic chair stuffed with wool.
Made-to-Measure: Hand-Worked Buttonholes
Classic men's clothing is all about details, about the smallest changes that make a piece of clothing look its best. Altering the length of sleeves becomes a matter of quarter-inches, finding the best look for the wearer’s bodily proportions. Menswear enthusiasts tend to have strong opinions about button stance, the gorge of their jacket’s lapels, or the taper of their trouser legs. Even details that are so minor they might escape someone else’s notice can be an important part of your enjoyment of the finished product. The Andover Shop is proud to provide one such detail: hand-worked buttonholes.
Suits with a Story: Eric Twardzik
Eric Twardzik has been a lifelong devotee of Ivy Style. “For years, I’ve been into Anglo-American style.” Writing about menswear had piqued his interest and driven him to search stores and online for modern reproductions of the classic Ivy look, “and at The Andover Shop I found the real thing.”
Eric visited The Cambridge location a couple times to get his bearings before deciding what item of clothing he wanted to have made to measure. “I work from home, so I wear sport coats because I want to, not because I have to.” He consulted at length with the staff to figure out exactly what would fit his needs.
Timeless Traditions: The Classic and Versatile Dark Suit
These days, we live in a society with fairly casual rules about dress. Most people don’t need to wear anything more formal than a pair of khakis and a button down shirt to work, and many workplaces allow blue jeans and sneakers. Even the most traditional law firms and investment companies, where just a decade ago employees could be reprimanded for removing their suit jackets in the elevator, have downgraded their dress codes and abandoned the suit requirement for the most part. Working from home has increased this trend, as workplaces that had held onto the necktie have allowed that requirement to fall away too. But no matter what happens to workplace dress codes, we will always need to have at least one reliable, adaptable suit for important occasions, and The Andover Shop’s made-to-measure program can help you create the ideal suit.
Products with Personality: The Chrysalis Alpaca-lined Overcoat
Chrysalis England has been producing high-quality outerwear in the UK since 1985. They are particularly well-known for their warm, casual Field Coat designs, which The Andover Shop has carried for years. This year however, Chrysalis looked back at the history of men’s outerwear and forward to what may be a very cold winter, producing a classically-styled coat that will guard against the roughest weather.
Timeless Traditions: Argyle
A common assumption about menswear is that it all looks the same, that men dress in homogenous shades of blue and grey with little to differentiate them. Since opening in 1948, The Andover Shop has prided itself on challenging this stereotype, providing vibrant colors and interesting patterns in all its offerings.
Products With Personality: The Shetland Sweater
We explore the history of the iconic Shetland sweater, the making of the incredibly warm and tough Shetland wool and how it became a staple of any Ivy Style wardrobe.
Products With Personality: The Button-Down Collar Shirt
This spring, as many of us switched to working from home we adjusted many aspects of our lives, including the way we dress. As people are no longer heading to the office every day, it’s become more and more acceptable to dress down to fit our surroundings, while still attempting to maintain a sense of professionalism and propriety. So we asked ourselves--what wardrobe item balances both comfort and corporate?
