Subcultures are social groups organized around shared interests and practices that deviate from the mainstream (Herzog et al.). Class is the grouping of people based on shared socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation, such as the upper, middle, working, and lower classes (University of Minnesota).
Episode 4, “What is Subculture?”, discusses the changes in the fashion world through the 1960’s and 70’s. The hosts detail Kensuke Ishizu’s struggle with getting Ivy style to be accepted by Japanese society. To prove the naysayers wrong, Ishizu went to film Ivy style in person, only to discover that American trends had already changed. People were tired of conformity. Counterculture trends had exploded, and the goal had shifted from looking mature to looking young and unique. Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren began to grow his brand around a new, sexier form of Ivy, foreshadowing the upcoming preppy resurgence.
Episode 5, “What is Class?”, details this resurgence. Going back to the Japanese side of things, when Ishizu brought back his film and his handbook on Ivy League style, it rehabilitated Ivy’s image in Japanese society. Ivy experienced a burst of popularity, and contemporary fashion became more accepted in Japan. America, too, saw a preppy renaissance. With the cultural focus shifting towards business and entrepreneurship, people started to dress the part. Preppy was no longer just a look, but an (aspirational) lifestyle: the money, the status, the class.
Trufelman crosses through time periods and across oceans in these episodes, illustrating how both wider cultural factors and a few key contributors shaped the differing development of Ivy on both sides of the Pacific. The original Ivy style served as a basis from which to grow, but the continued relevance and popularity of Ivy was owed to its adaptability to this diverse array of influences. A few of the key figures Trufelman brings up are Kensuke Ishizu, Ralph Lauren, and Ronald Reagan. Ishizu was the man who near-single-handedly brought Ivy style to Japan. Though far removed from the Ivy League origins himself, he learned Ivy style through careful observation and study, and this precision carried over to Ivy followers in Japan. Though uniforms were falling out of fashion, Japan remained a culture that valued respectable, standardized, careful dress, and their version of Ivy was meticulously curated according to the rules set by Ishizu. Meanwhile in America, the culture shifted to rebel against conformity, and the rise of subcultures and the “peacock revolution” saw the temporary disappearance of Ivy in its more recognizable forms, although its influence still showed in the subcultures’ fashion. Ralph Lauren was a key agent in bringing it back. Despite his non-Ivy background, Ralph Lauren’s polo shirts and sexier silhouettes and movie-like advertised lifestyle breathed new life into the style. Ronald Reagen’s presidency and the values he embodied further cemented the desirability of this preppy lifestyle. As Trufelman remarks, “preppy clothes are truly in service of a lifestyle. A certain philosophy of living” (“What is Class?” 00:19:07-00:19:20). Preppy was really selling class; the idea that to be wealthy was to be good, and to be higher class was to be of value, was reflected in fashion.
Ivy in Japan evolved to fit the neat, thoughtful methods of dress of Japan, and held on through counterculture fashion to break through in the Ralph Lauren-esque fantasies of 1980’s America. In each case, the wide selections of influences molded Ivy into new and ever-popular forms, showcasing the core of Trufelman’s argument: that Ivy’s true strength is in its adaptability.
Herzog, Amy, et al. “Interrogating Subcultures.” Invisible Culture, University of Rochester, 1999, https://www.rochester.edu/in_visible_culture/issue2/introduction.htm.
“Social Class in the United States.” Introduction to Sociology Understanding and Changing the Social World, University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing, 8 Apr. 2016, https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci101/chapter/8-3-social-class-in-the-united-states/.
Trufelman, Avery. “American Ivy: Chapter 4.” Articles of Interest, season 3, episode 4, Nov. 2022, https://open.spotify.com/episode/6knJhFIQwGnw9QPa38q8aE?go=1&sp_cid=0c2c44e83a1b2076bc7e0932c9b55cb5&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop.
Trufelman, Avery. “American Ivy: Chapter 4.” Articles of Interest, Substack, 16 Nov. 2022, articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/american-ivy-chapter-4.
Trufelman, Avery. “American Ivy: Chapter 5.” Articles of Interest, season 3, episode 5, Nov. 2022, https://open.spotify.com/episode/0C9tpby6rRLjshsIy9izWC?go=1&sp_cid=0c2c44e83a1b2076bc7e0932c9b55cb5&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop.Trufelman, Avery. “American Ivy: Chapter 5.” Articles of Interest, Substack, 23 Nov. 2022, articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/american-ivy-chapter-5.
Leave a Reply