Ivy Colleges (1934)

[Geoffrey Nunberg]

In this connection, I've been trying to date the use of 'ivy league'
to refer to styles of clothing or a certain voice. manner, etc. The
earliest cites I've come up with are from the mid-50's:

Trimly tailored Bermuda shorts, neat blazers, smooth flannels, and
bulky twees all contrived to give an "ivy league" menswear look to
the fashions shown yesterday at the opening of Abraham & Strauss'
college shop. NYT Jul 20, 1954

Junior now asks for soft Oxford cloth shirts with button-down collars
to be worn with his good suit, the suit being as slim in cut as the
most severe Ivy League model. NYT 11/9/55

My guess is that this goes back earlier, though.

Geoff Nunberg

>On Tue, 17 Jan 2006, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:
>
>>" W. Lax Overcomes Early Deficit for Win" _Harvard Crimson_  March 23,
>>1920
>>
>>"Harvard will now travel to Providence on Saturday to take on Brown for
>>the Crimson's first Ivy League contest.  "We are looking at each game
>>
>>[Note:  this turns up on the Harvard Crimson archives -- but it looks
>>hinky to me.]
>
>Yes, Barry has brought this up before.  It's clearly misdated.
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>
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