Americana vs Ametora
I know that Ametora is basically Americana from Japan but are there any concrete and noticable differences between those styles
7 Replies
Something something skewed lens, more focus on history
IDK I read the book like three years ago
Ametora is a shortened American Traditional so more a Japanese take on ivy than American
I think of Americana as being a very specific kind of workwear taking some reference from farmwear, some from New England logger wear, and some from construction wear. The meme outfit is a duck canvas chore coat over a flannel shirt, raw denim jeans, and Alden boots. A more unique less memey (and imo very cool) version might be a filson mackinaw jacket, a denim work shirt, some carpenter pants, and the same Alden boots.
Ametora is ivy - the book talks about how early importers of ivy clothing and style to Japan were very prescriptive about rules. These days it’s more relaxed but there’s still a piercing attention to detail - there’s also a lot of crossover with Japanese milsurp repro brands. To me a quintessential ametora outfit is a navy blazer worn with a white shirt, knit tie, olive fatigues, and Alden loafers - tailored but still casual and sort of disheveled in an ivy way.
You might notice the specific mention of Aldens - they kind of have a legendary status in both ivy and workwear circles because they’re an old school American footwear manufacturer that has somehow still survived with business and craftsmanship model still somehow intact. Quoddy and rancourt are other examples, but neither of those have shoe models as iconic as Alden indys or Alden handsewn loafers.
I should mention that ametora is also always evolving - it was also defined by Japanese interpretations of the evolving fashion scene on American college campuses, as well as a certain few individuals’ love for the American vintage scene in the late 20th century. There’s a whole other genre of Ametora involving puffer jackets, sweatshirts, and denim - that’s partly where your Rocky Mountain Featherbeds, your Iron Hearts, and even your Visvims find their heritage
So Americana is more specifically workwear. While Ametora includes workwear in some parts but is more encompasing of many US style variants. The book you are all referencing is it a good place to find inspiration?
Ametora the book (by David Marx) is a history book with few pictures about the history of Japanese takes on American menswear and it's ok but not great. Ametora is fairly specficially American menswear through a Japanese lens.
The original 'inspiration' book that you can probably sit alongside it is called "Take Ivy" which bascially helped create the Japanese Ivy movement that Ametora is about : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Ivy / https://issuu.com/fiyero109/docs/takeivy
More contemporary takes on Ametora are in Japanese fashion magazines like Popeye : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_(magazine)
Here's a massive folder of scans of Japanese magazines and books for inspo, though all quite dated by now: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0jc0NJQ4qefcXdpS3hoNjlySjg?resourcekey=0-2ZsYev2oUDgKMs06qHr6uQ
Take Ivy
Take Ivy is a 1965 fashion photography book which documents the attire of Ivy League students from the 1960s. The New York Times described it as "a treasure of fashion insiders". Take Ivy has been the Ivy League bible for Japanese baby boomers and has also influenced a "neo-Ivy" style in recent years. The book has sold over fifty thousand copi...
fiyero109
Issuu
Take Ivy
A Scanned Copy of the very rare Take Ivy by T.Hayashida, soon to be republished. Thanks to The Trad for the scan. All the rights to the document belong to the author and the publishing company.
Popeye (magazine)
Popeye is a monthly fashion and men's magazine based in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the oldest magazines featuring articles about men's fashion. Its tagline is "Magazine for City Boys". The magazine is considered to be the Japanese version of Nylon magazine.
Thank you:)
Still trying to figure out my style
Found my inspo
