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What’s This About
Ivy League style is the American campus way of dressing built on Oxford button-down shirts, navy blazers, tweed, chinos, knitwear and loafers.
This guide covers where Ivy style comes from and five complete outfits you can adapt, such as:
Where the Ivy League name and its clothing tradition come from
A rugby-shirt look with a tweed blazer
A college-uniform look with a navy blazer and repp tie
A rowing-team look with a piped blazer and canvas shoes
A layered cardigan and sweater-vest look, and a baseball-varsity look
How to build the wardrobe from clothes you already own
and many more!
The brands named are examples rather than requirements, so start with the shirts, chinos and jackets you already own.
Key Points
01The Ivy League name dates from 1930s sportswriting, and the eight universities formally became an athletic conference in 1954.
02Most Ivy outfits rest on the same foundation: an Oxford button-down, chinos and a navy jacket or knit.
03Choose repp-tie stripes because you like them; some club and regimental colours belong to particular institutions.
04Ivy dressing suits casual and smart-casual settings best, so check the dress code before relying on it for a formal event.
Ivy League style is the American campus way of dressing built on Oxford button-down shirts, navy blazers, tweed jackets, chinos, knitwear and loafers, and these five outfits show how to wear it today.
The name comes from the group of eight north-eastern universities, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, which sportswriters were calling the Ivy League by the 1930s and which formally became an athletic conference in 1954.
The Museum at FIT’s Ivy Style exhibition traces the clothing to early twentieth-century campus life, and our guide to Ivy League style for work and weekends shows how to wear it day to day.
Ivy is closely related to preppy fashion, which also covers later and more colourful reinterpretations of the same wardrobe.
The outfits below are suggestions you can adapt to clothes you own; the brands named are examples, not the only places to buy, and you do not need any particular label for the look to work.
1. A rugby-shirt look
This outfit mixes the sporty rugby shirt with a tweed jacket, the relaxed side of Ivy dressing.
Wear: a brown tweed blazer, a yellow and navy striped rugby shirt over a white Oxford button-down shirt, a patterned tie if you want one, khaki chinos, a braided leather belt and brown leather boat shoes or lace-ups.
Harris Tweed is a certified cloth woven in the Outer Hebrides rather than a jacket brand, so look for its label inside a tweed jacket if that matters to you; Brooks Brothers and J. Press are among the shops that sell tweed jackets in this style.
Ralph Lauren and Thom Browne are examples of labels that make rugby shirts, and a tie with small embroidered motifs, such as those from Vineyard Vines, adds a playful note.
For a warmer day, drop the blazer and wear the rugby shirt open at the collar over the button-down.
2. A college-uniform look
This is the most traditional of the five and works for events where a jacket and tie are expected.
Wear: a single-breasted navy blazer, a white Oxford button-down shirt, a striped repp tie, a brown leather belt, khaki chinos and burgundy or walnut-brown brogues.
Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren sell navy blazers in a traditional cut, Gitman Vintage makes Oxford button-downs, J. Press sells repp ties and Bills Khakis makes chinos.
Church’s and Crockett & Jones are English makers of brogues.
Repp ties in particular club or regimental colours are sometimes associated with specific institutions, so choose a stripe because you like it rather than one that signals a membership you do not have.
Here are more ways to style navy single-breasted blazers for an Old Money look, and the blazer is one of the core garments in our Old Money wardrobe essentials guide.
3. A rowing-team look
This preppy outfit borrows from the striped and piped blazers associated with rowing clubs.
Wear: a burgundy blazer with contrast piping, a white Oxford button-down shirt, a striped repp tie, a canvas D-ring belt, light khaki chinos and red canvas lace-up shoes.
Rowing Blazers is a New York label known for this kind of jacket, Smathers & Branson makes needlepoint and canvas belts, and Superga and Sperry make canvas shoes.
For more on one long-established blazer maker, see our article on Brooks Brothers blazers.
Matching the shoes to the blazer colour ties the outfit together, and plain white canvas shoes give a quieter version.
4. A cardigan and sweater-vest look
Layered knitwear is a staple of autumn on campus and gives a softer alternative to a blazer.
Wear: a white Oxford shirt, a cream cable-knit V-neck sweater vest, a contrast-trim V-neck cardigan in red and green, a striped repp tie, khaki chinos, striped socks and brown leather shoes.
Knitwear in this style is made by labels such as Polo Ralph Lauren, J. Press, Gant and Rowing Blazers, and Brooks Brothers sells Oxford shirts.
The repp tie is a preppy style staple, and burgundy or brown Old Money dress shoes finish the outfit.
The illustration labels this outfit “Waspy Graduate Look”; we describe it by its clothes, because an outfit says nothing about a wearer’s background.
5. A baseball-varsity look
This look brings American college sports into a shirt-and-tie outfit.
Wear: a navy baseball cap with a collegiate letter, a varsity jacket, a white Oxford shirt, a dark cardigan, a repp tie, a black leather belt, off-white linen trousers, white socks and black Oxford shoes.
Ebbets Field Flannels makes reproduction ball caps, Gant and Gitman Vintage make Oxford shirts, J. Press sells repp ties, and Alden and Johnston & Murphy make Oxford shoes; any of these can be swapped for what you already own.
The cardigan echoes vintage varsity sweaters, and our comparison of British and American preppy style explains where the repp tie fits in.
Linen trousers suit warm weather; in colder months, swap them for grey flannel or chinos.
How to make Ivy style your own
Start with one outfit built from clothes you already own, usually an Oxford shirt, chinos and a navy jacket or knit.
Second-hand and vintage shops are a good source of Oxford shirts, blazers and tweed at lower prices.
Add one garment at a time, such as a rugby shirt or a tweed jacket, and check the fit through the shoulders and the length of the trousers with your shoes on.
Ivy dressing grew around campus life, so it works best for casual and smart-casual settings; check the dress code before relying on it for a formal event.
Mastering the Ivy League-inspired old-money look is easier with a small capsule wardrobe of shirts, chinos, a blazer and knitwear that combine in several ways.
Optional tools from The VOU
To go further, start with The VOU’s quizzes: a Face Shape Quiz, a Seasonal Colour Analysis Quiz, a Body Shape Quiz and a Fashion Style Quiz.
None of them is required to wear the outfits above.
Then, if you would like personal help, you can book a paid consultation, such as the Professional Face Shape Analysis package with hairstyle, facial hair and eyewear suggestions.
A combined Complete Image Transformation Package combines the face shape, seasonal colour, body shape and fashion style analyses.