RICHMOND MEMORIES by local resident Keith Mulberry THE IVY SHOP- 10 HILL RISE, RICHMOND. (Opened summer of 1965 - closed January 1995) A little shop… with a big, big impact on men’s fashion! Richmond has many attractions and things to celebrate - such as the Riverside, the Green, the Park, the Hill & Terrace view, the Palace, the Crawdaddy Club, the theatres, famous residents, and much more besides. But how many people today remember, or even know about, the famous Ivy Shop? The Ivy Shop was at 10 Hill Rise, Richmond, and was a small men’s clothes shop. “So what’s the big deal then?” you may well ask! Well quite simply the Ivy Shop was once THE place to buy fashionable men’s clothes and shoes! But don’t think this was just a local Richmond thing - the fame and reputation of the Ivy Shop went way beyond local boundaries. To understand this phenomenon, one has to start at the beginning, and the beginning is in the USA. The Ivy League style (which included sharp suits and even sharper creased trousers , smooth jackets, button down shirts, and ‘wing tip’ & ‘loafer’ shoes ) evolved in the top American ’Ivy League’ universities such as Princeton, and by the late 50s had swept America. It was an iconic, precise, ultra smooth look and was adopted by many famous actors, singers and even politicians in the States - with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, JFK and Bobby Kennedy being amongst them. (And who would argue that they weren’t amongst the best looking, snappy dressing, women magnets of their day!) In Britain, it was introduced to London in the 50s by Lou Austen, and his shop, Austen’s, on Piccadilly sold expensive Ivy League American clothing. Austen’s beginnings faded somewhat, but the torch was taken up by a young guy named John Simon. In the summer of 1965, he opened up the Ivy Shop in Richmond, and in doing so named it after the Ivy League college boy style from New England. So the story goes, he was initially seeking to dress British businessmen in the style of their American counterparts - but the surprise in store was that it was a look which middle and working class kids wanted, and were prepared to pay for! At this juncture one could stop and simply use the phrase, “And rest is history..” However, to continue: The Ivy look certainly took off, and became a massive hit, and the place to go to get it was The Ivy Shop in Richmond. The clothes and shoes were expensive to a working class pocket, but they were great quality - and, for example, the shoes would last for many years as long as they were given a little TLC! So what was this style of clothing then? Well the actual original advert for The Ivy Shop, (and a counterpart, The Squire Shop, 26 Brewer Street, London, W1), best explains:- Where Can You Buy The Best American Clothes In England? The Ivy Shop, Store for Men, 10 Hill Rise, Richmond Surrey The Squire Shop, 26 Brewer Street, London, W1 SHOES Exclusive collection of American Export Shoes. Featuring Wingtip Brogues and Plain Caps. Grained and plain leathers in brogues and loafers from £4. 4. 0d to £6. 15. 0d SHIRTS Famous American makes including WREN, LION OF TROY, TRUVAL and FRUIT OF THE LOOM. In plain Oxfords, Chambrays, broadcloths, Oxford wide-track stripes, checks, plaids, etc. Prices from 45/- to 69/6. JACKETS Natural shoulder classics in basket weaves, herring-bones, plaids, featuring lapped seams and hook vents in traditional Ivy styling. Blazers in Olive, Gold, Navy and Black. Prices from 11gns to 18gns. SUITS Traditional Ivy styling in hopsacks, tweeds, Dacron and cotton, and Dacron and Worstead fabrics. Two and Three piece from 17gns. to 33 gns. Plus a comprehensive selection of trousers, top coats, and raincoats plus ties, socks and belts. Mail order enquiries welcomed. To add a bit from personal memory about the Ivy style and the Ivy Shop clothes of forty-plus years ago:- Shoes: For starters there were the ‘wing tips’ (the sort of highly polished heavy black lace-up shoes you might expect to see a US General or USAF officer wearing), and in 1966 countless young men flocked to The Ivy shop to pay £5-19s-6d for a pair. Other classics were the Loafers (in black or oxblood) - and by the time I could afford to buy my first pair it was when I was working full-time (around 1970/1), they cost seven guineas (£7-7s-0d) - and that was a small fortune to me in those days! Other must have shoes were the Loafers with tassels, and the tongue and tassel Loafers. Shirts: Oxford cotton button-down ones, and often teamed up with a college tie (also sold at The Ivy Shop). This not only looked cool, but sometimes wearing a tie was a necessary requisite to get in some of the dance halls. In the summer the heavier Oxford cloth shirts might be replaced by lighter short sleeved Madras check shirts. Trousers: Neddlecords or Sta-prest (of course!). Jumpers & Cardigans: Mostly plain woollen jumpers and plain woollen cardigans, and soft silk cotton diamond pattern jumpers. Top Coat: A Gabardine Mac, or a navy blue Crombie( of course!). Suits: Well here I have a confession to make, and that is - I didn’t get my suits at The Ivy, and so probably didn’t follow the full Ivy look! At the time I was really getting into this style, or more to the point, when I was able to afford it, was around 1970/71 - and the look which my friends and everyone seemed to be wearing was a three-button mohair suit with a 14-inch centre vent, four button cuffs and 17-inch bottoms to the trousers - and it was pretty well di rigueur to have the suits made-to-measure, rather than off-the-peg. And so I recall having two suits made at Burton’s tailors which was on the corner of Church Court in George Street, Richmond. One suit was a really smart jet black mohair, and another was a green mohair with a slight sheen to it. (And NO, it was NOT a two-tone tonic suit favoured by the Skinheads… but I’ll come on to that later!) I really can’t remember how much I paid for these suits, but I doubt if they cost as much as suits at The Ivy - and there’s a pretty fair bet that I probably paid for them ‘on the weekly’! Well so far that’s covered just a few of the key ingredients, but at the Ivy Shop you could get the ‘whole look’ - and the great window displays showed how to put it all together. For example, they sometimes had wicker baskets in the window, as well as wicker baskets on the table and shelving inside the shop, and these enticed to buy other goodies such as coloured woollen socks, the college stripped ties, and fabulous leather and coloured belts . Now, if anyone has been interested to read thus far, (and if you weren’t around in the mid to late sixties and into the seventies, and you weren’t familiar with The Ivy Shop), then you may be thinking, “Was this style part of the mod fashion, or part of the later skinhead fashion?”. Well, in some ways it was neither, and yet was part of both!! Basically the Ivy [League] style was a look in its own right, but some elements were taken up by the mods and then later on by the skins. So what else? The people who worked in the Ivy:- I remember back in the late 60s and into the 70s that there about three guys working in the Ivy, and they became familiar, friendly faces in our regular visit there on Saturday mornings, and we would quite often also see them in the pubs and bars around Richmond after work. Alas I can no longer put names to all the faces, except for one - John Lally - and John deserves a special mention, not least because he was at the Ivy for 29 of its 30 years in Richmond. Obviously fashions change, especially over a 30 year period, and that is true too for some clothes and style at the Ivy. However, some items have remained timeless classics, not least loafer shoes, and of course the famous, iconic Harrington jacket . For the uninitiated, one might believe that the Harrington is an American invention - but the truth is it is British through ‘n through. The original Harrington jacket was designed in 1937 by John and Isaac Miller, the owners ‘Baracuta’ in Stockport, Cheshire - and it was originally made for export to the US. The Baracuta G9, with its Frazer Tartan lining, became popular with golfers in the US in the 50s, and attracted many famous US wearers. Elvis popularized the Baracuta ‘G9’ when he wore one in his 1958 movie King Creole, Frank Sinatra had worn one as Tony Rome in his movie Lady In Cement, and James Dean famously wore a red Harrington in the film ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. This style of jacket later earned the nickname ‘Harrington’ because it was worn by the character Rodney Harrington, played by Ryan O’Neal in the 1960s US soap opera, Peyton Place. That only leaves me to tell you what appears in my wardrobe today… as if you need to guess!! Yes, you’ve got it: Four pairs of loafers (or more!), and four Harringtons . The Ivy Shop may have gone, but a lot of the Ivy style it introduced to this country carries on. Happy memories!
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 09:02:25 +0000
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