The Official Vanda Fine Clothing Thread - Page 7

Gshen,
do you have more silk for the tie on the right? If yes,I'd be interested in it.

-TTO

These my friends, are some sexy assortments of ties. Bravo!

Pause.

Gshen sent me one of his ties a month ago and I've been wearing it quite often ever since. It's an absolutely amazing tie, and I wanted to throw my two cents in for a review.

As others have already noted, Gshen has gone with Adamley and Vanners for his silks. For those unfamiliar with the silk market, Adamley and Vanners are some of the best mills in the world, so I appreciate that Gshen didn't skimp on materials. He also has an impressive eye for spotting handsome patterns. The fabric swatches he sent me all look like they'd go very well with a white or light blue shirt, as they often have those colors in them in subtle ways.

Construction wise, the one he sent me is a handmade, half-lined, six-fold tie. It has a very light, "airy" quality to it. Most of my ties are "meatier," so when I first put this on, I wasn't sure what to make of its lightness. After a day of wearing it, however, I began to realize the kind of quality I was dealing with. You get a sense from the tie that it's indeed artisanal and handmade. Of course, many of us here already buy handmade ties - that alone is nothing special. However, there's something about this that makes me appreciate its hand-craftsmanship a lot more than my other pieces.

The most important thing about the tie, however, is in how it knots and drapes. It's not just the dimple that I can achieve with this (which is great and has a lot of depth), but I also like how the tie's tail tends to hang. I can often get more interesting knots, like this. I personally like having the tail end pulled a bit to the side, but of course, you can also wear this tie much more traditionally. If you like the rakishness of that, however, this is the perfect tie to go with. Either way you want to wear it, you'll find that these ties will give you a wonderful, unique knot and drape. You can see this demonstrated well in the fit pics people have been posting in this thread.

Note that, like unlined 7-fold ties, Gshen's tie will "flap" in the wind a bit more since it's light. This shouldn't pose to be a serious problem, however, since most men button their jackets when they're walking around outside.

Other details I appreciate:

• The bar tack is a bit higher, which allows me to peek at the folds more easily.
• There is no label or keeper in the back, which keeps things simple and clean. I understand that Gshen will put a keeper in the back for you, if you want one, but I would opt out of it even if he made that the default. Keepers are for nerds.
• There is no tipping and the edges are handrolled. The detail on the edges just underscores some of the handwork that goes into these.
• The patterns match up on the back. A basic, but nice, detail.

All in all, this has become one of my favorite ties and I'm absolutely going to be a regular customer of his in the future. Do I think everyone should change their entire tie wardrobe to Gshen's? No, as their lightness and "scarf like" nature might not make them appropriate for some days. Should everyone have at least two or three of Gshen's ties, however? I think absolutely yes, at least for people who consider themselves menswear enthusiasts. I already hope to get four or five of these over the next year or so, and am just waiting for Gshen to get new fabrics in. These are going to occupy a very special place in my collection.

Pictures of the tie he sent me:

Just saw the announcement. See http://gshen65.tumblr.com/

Love the ties, good luck with the new venture gshen! Can't wait for 2012!

+1, waiting for the full-time shop!

Derek - thank you very much for the review. You've set the expectations so high now that I hope i don't f*ck it all up!!

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and words of encouragement - we really appreciate each and every comment

It's honestly one of my favorites and I can't wait to get more. I'm able to get a knot and drape out of this tie in a way that I simply can't get close to with any of my other pieces. I think its character is evident in people's "fit pics" here, especially Spoo's.

Congrats on the venture, by the way! I saw that you're opening up a store in early 2012. I'm really excited about the launch and hope others take the opportunity to try your wares. I sincerely think they'll be the talk of the town soon.