John Fyfe ’60 Becomes an Instagram Style Sensation
By Jane Anderson, Editorial Manager
From Scholfield Barracks to Savile Row
A USMA Class of 1960 graduate is causing waves “across the pond”—sartorially speaking, that is. John Fyfe is the well-dressed human side of Instagram’s @dadanddolly: Created by Fyfe’s daughter Katie to celebrate her dad and his Pomeranian, Dolly, the page has led thousands of followers to check their phones regularly for updates on Fyfe’s natty wardrobe choices.
Fyfe, recently featured in a story in the UK’s Telegraph, has meticulously cared for his clothing since he was a freshly “oathed” plebe in 1956. As a result, items like his USMA-issued ringer T-shirt (that weathered many a gym class) and his silky green flight jacket have stood the test of time, as well as returning to the height of fashion more than once. Fyfe still sleeps under his Academy blanket, which he proudly displayed for the Telegraph story.
Katie started @dadanddolly in 2022 as a diary of sorts, logging their journey together as she moved her father into a flat next door to her in London’s Fitzrovia and began caring for him as he aged. But comments on their daily-life Instagram feed soon favored Fyfe’s style, and Katie decided to run with it. As she says in the Telegraph story: “The interest people had in [his] clothing was really surprising to me….It made me think about how clothing expresses our identity, and how well-made the garments in his wardrobe are—some of which date back to the sixties.”
As he enters his ninth decade, Fyfe may need a little assistance with day-to-day chores, but choosing what to wear is not one of them, his daughter says. And going through his closet is like entering a well-curated time machine: A hand-blocked batik shirt sits on a hanger, nearly as pristine as when Fyfe first purchased it from West Point’s civilian shop before heading to Hawaii’s Schofield Barracks with the 21st Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Division, famously known as “Tropic Lightning.
So how did a young man from Queens, New York, end up in London? Fyfe left the Army in 1964 and returned to New York to work for the Xerox Corporation. In 1967, the company sent him to London—where, in a pub not far from where Fyfe and his daughter now live, the young American caught the eye of a pretty Londoner named Sheila. They married; three boys and a girl (Katie) soon followed and filled the couple’s lives until ALS took Sheila in 1999, when Katie was 20. West Point stayed close to Fyfe’s heart, even across the sea: In 1986, he founded the West Point Society of Great Britain with five other graduates and served as president of the society for just over 20 years.
A career in marketing and sales led Fyfe throughout Europe, where there’s little doubt that he continued to refine his taste in clothing. His current closet reflects that time, too, in Jaeger wool suits that still fit the tall, slim, now-90-year-old. Fyfe’s daily attire is a bit more casual nowadays, but his turtlenecks, camp shirts, and tartans nonetheless have fired up the @dadanddolly IG posts. Soon after the sartorial spark was lit on social media, Katie launched a line of T-shirts and socks under the Dad and Dolly brand, with £1 per sale benefiting Alzheimer’s Research UK. The ringer tees are inspired by Fyfe’s USMA gym T-shirt, and carry slogans often said by Fyfe that evoke his character and lifetime of experience, as well as reflect this chapter of his and Katie’s lives: “Wise Guy,” “Keep on Truckin’,” and “Take It Easy”—a nod to Fyfe’s favorite hit song by the Eagles. Within five days, the first small-batch run sold out; now, the shop runs on a “drop” model, with new styles appearing in May and November.
More than a new shirt or pair of socks, though, @dadanddolly adds good vibes to whoever follows the lives of Fyfe and his poofy pooch; Dolly’s brother, Katie’s dog Nicky, also often dons stylish sweaters to wear while Fyfe carries the pooches around London or pushes them in a doggie pram through Hyde Park.
Queens to New York to London: West Pointers lead fascinating lives, and @dadanddolly’s 111,000 followers are grateful that they can follow along. Among those celebrating Fyfe’s newfound fame is his nephew, fellow West Point graduate Alex Fyfe ’00, who shared the original Telegraph feature with WPAOG and helped bring his uncle’s remarkable story to the attention of the Long Gray Line.
Photos courtesy of @dadandolly
[Featured image: John Fyfe ’60, Daughter Katie at WPSGB founders day, Gallery: John Fyfe ’60 Yearbook photo, John Fyfe ’60 still wearing ringer Tee, John Fyfe ’60 in Fatigue Jacket, John Fyfe ’60 and Alex Fyfe ’00, John Fyfe ’60 with ringer Tee and Daughter Katie, John Fyfe ’60 at West Point, John Fyfe ’60 dancing as a cadet, John Fyfe second year at West Point]
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