J Press New Haven – The Original

The Ivy look has been having more than a modest resurgence these last few years, although its heyday ended long ago.  At its height though, there was a wealth of amazing, distinctly American, specialty stores, at the heart of which was J Press.

As soon as I knew I was going to be spending a week in New Haven, I knew instantly I had to hit J Press.  Founded in 1902 by Jacobi Press, J Press has been selling classic sack-style coats, oxford button-downs, and shaggy sweaters to generations of men.  The cult-classic book Take Ivy might as well be a Press catalogue.  Stores have opened and closed over the years, but the New Haven home of prep has stuck it out.

If you want more about the history of J Press or tales from Richard Press (grandson of Jacobi), check out Ivy Style.  Christian and Richard have done a great job, so I’ll spare you my chopped-up version and send you to the source.

What I can report on though is the current state of their offerings.  A few weeks ago there was a big buzz on Tumblr when J Press released photos of their smattering of collaborations for Fall/Winter 2012.  There’s almost going to be more stuff in the stores with other people’s names than without.  That said, it’s not a bad list of names to have filling the shelves – Daniel Cremieux, D.S. Dundee, Barbour, Eastland, and Will are all included in the mix.  The Dundee belted shooting coat is my personal favorite, but there are very few completely ignorable offerings.

As far as the solo house-branded stuff goes, the old standbys are the way to go.  They’ve got button-downs in a far larger range of colors and patterns than Brooks Brothers, though I’d still go with the later for solid oxfords.  The famous Shaggy Dog sweater is back in all its oddly-colored glory too.  If you’ve already got your basic navy, camel, and brown sweaters, a little melon or kelly green is a nice way to fight the winter blues.

What I can’t get enough of though are their knit ties.  To many makers these days are churning out too-thin knits.  I don’t want a shoe-lace, I want a necktie.  Less than 3″ for a knit just never looks right to me, while much wider starts to get bib-like.  J Press hits right on that sweetspot, and has both solid and non-solid options.  The spotted ties have nice, slightly irregular spots and although they didn’t make it into the picture there are some new-this-season birdseye/barleycorn knits in burgundy and blue that I might just snatch up before I leave New Haven.

While you can get these things at the New York flagship store, or even online, I can’t recommend dropping into the New Haven J Press enough if you’re in the area.  The store feels like one would expect it to, and the charm is worth the trip.