Compose two styles

Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.

How to divide the work

Composition
Follow Ivy Style: Keep natural shoulders and a straight body, never tapered
Type
Set in Ivy Style's manner (Leave the button-down collar unstarched so the roll stays), and let Mod's lettering (Pick one mark, a roundel or an arrow, and use only that) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
Material
Ground in Ivy Style's material (Oxford cloth, flannel, leather soled loafers, muted colors); bring in exactly one thing from Mod (Mohair sheen, slim three button cut, waterproof parka, chromed mirrors).
Colour
Build on #eae6de, #6b655c, #1a1815 and admit one accent from #eae6de, #6b655c, #1a1815.

Where they fight

  • Ivy Style and Mod share no intent, so the contrast has to become the subject rather than something to smooth over.

Caution

  • Ivy Style Perfecting the correctness turns it into a uniform, and the ease that came from wearing it loosely disappears.
  • Mod Assuming that a roundel and a scooter are enough drops the precision of cut the style actually rests on, leaving a pile of signs.

Image prompt

An original image that takes its structure from Ivy Style (Style, 1950s–) and its accent from Mod (Style, late 1950s–1960s). Structural cues: Button-down shirts; 3/2-roll blazers; Loafers; Deliberately relaxed wear. Accent cues, used sparingly: Slim three-button suits; Military parkas; Scooters and mirrors; The target roundel. Composition: Keep natural shoulders and a straight body, never tapered. Type and lettering: Leave the button-down collar unstarched so the roll stays. Let one material quality come from the second style: Mohair sheen, slim three button cut, waterproof parka, chromed mirrors. Mood: Trust, Intimacy, Nostalgia, Exhilaration, Rebellion, Technology. Color: build on #eae6de, #6b655c, #1a1815 with a single accent drawn from #eae6de, #6b655c, #1a1815. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.

Related entries

  • Ivy Style 1950s– / Style / Fashion History

    The practical menswear system of America's East Coast universities, whose button-downs and blazers taught a broken-in correctness that reached the world through Japan and became the standard of trad.

  • Mod late 1950s–1960s / Style / Subculture Style

    Slim Italian suits, scooters and modern jazz made a rebellion carried out through refinement, and completed the marriage of consumerism and youth culture.

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