In the decade between 1955 and 1965 a coterie of discerning Hollywood hipsters appropriated the incomparable Ivy League clothing of America’s East coast elite. These West Coast actors elevated the Ivy look to the height of cool and defined a quintessentially American male dress code for a new generation of movie audiences.

This November, Reel Art Press delivers a pictorial celebration of the look and attitude of ‘Ivy’. Exhaustively compiled over 288 pages and featuring many previously unreleased images, Hollywood And The Ivy Look is the first large format coffee table book to take an in-depth look at how ‘Ivy’ established itself as the epitome of 1960s Hollywood style, gained a new democratic global following and a place in history as the look of modern America.

From the button-down hip of Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Anthony Perkins to the preppy sensibilities of Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman; the understated but carefully selected components of the Ivy look didn’t shout ‘look at me’ but instead gave off an image of approachable correctness and laid back confidence. Hollywood And The Ivy Look is an opportunity to take inspiration from some of the twentieth century’s most iconic stars: Clint Eastwood in ribbed woollen sweater; James Coburn in seersucker suit and sunglasses; Robert Redford in black polo-neck and navy blazer; Sidney Poitier in green, striped jacket with red paisley tie and Warren Beatty in pale chinos with perfectly polished loafers. All were worn with an ease which made even their immaculately coiffed hairstyles look relaxed and effortless.

Also featured are on and off-screen stills from some of the classic movies and television series that helped to make ‘Ivy’ so popular around the world, such as Mission Impossible and The Fugitive.

Hollywood And The Ivy Look also offers a rare glimpse behind-the-scenes at the making of many of these fashionable movies, including unseen shots on the set of Psycho, The Graduate, Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple.

With the autumn/winter men’s catwalk for 2011 continuing to take its inspiration from Ivy, its origins and enduring appeal are celebrated in this stunning photographic tome, published for the first time by Reel Art Press.

To see full article, with accompanying slideshow of images, click here.