Ties: looking for the diamond in the rough.

[T4phage]

Originally Posted by FIHTies

Certainly. People need to come to the realization now that those smuggled worms are already dead.

I think the prejudice against silks from china is the subsequent mass producing of processed silks from those Chinese fibers. You know, the kind that you find on the printed ties you can buy in the street for 5 dollars. Or on my ties

I really wonder though if the prejudice towards Chinese silk fabric for ties is still valid. After all, many high end Italian cashmere weavers (and sweater makers) have moved some manufacturing to China, who knows if some of the Italian silk weavers have moved some production machinery there too.

 

[Etienne]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

A prejudice against chinese-origin silk seems to me the worst form of know-nothing first-worldism.
That does not really seem right to me. Indeed, if today's Chinese silk industry were the heir to those millenia of fine silk production, a prejudice against it would be ridiculous. But the prejudice against Chinese silk seems rather consistent with what I have read of the industry, namely that 1949 and the Cultural Revolution effectively put an end to quality silk processing in China, which means that they now have to learn again from today's top makers, mainly the Europeans.

 

[TheHoff]

I thought it time to expand my tie collection to match some recently acquired shirts so I put together an order at Fourinhand. Most of my ties are from Borrelli, Kiton, Brioni, and Charvet (particularly the last two). I've bought them retail, here on SF, ebay, and online but this is my first time shopping a store like Jonathan's where he sources the silks and self-brands the product. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. The quality for the price is excellent. My total order was just over $340 with $155 of that being one Marinella (top right). So other than that, I got 5 ties for $185 -- or $37 per tie. I didn't stick to the clearance rack, I just chose what I wanted. My favorite turned out to be a hard-to-photograph cream number (pictured on the shirt below). You can also see one of Jonathan's seven-folds....

Thanks, FIH!

 

[ltontheqt]

I bought the cream colored one from FIH and received compliments.

 

[T4phage]

Originally Posted by Étienne

That does not really seem right to me. Indeed, if today's Chinese silk industry were the heir to those millenia of fine silk production, a prejudice against it would be ridiculous.

But the prejudice against Chinese silk seems rather consistent with what I have read of the industry, namely that 1949 and the Cultural Revolution effectively put an end to quality silk processing in China, which means that they now have to learn again from today's top makers, mainly the Europeans.

While I agree that the Cultural Revolution did to a large extent diminsh the processing industry, there were still people who produced some wonderful silk embriodery during the 'dark age'.. and since this did not last that long, the expertise did not die off.

Regarding the silks for ties, now that is a different matter since processing for tie fabrics is quite different from that of clothing etc. Yes they are learning, and have learnt from the Europeans.. a few of whom have moved some processing and production machinery to China.

 

[edmorel]

Back to topic, the Holliday and Brown ties that chorse123 is selling for $40 (or wherever you can find them) are next to impossible to beat. I have no experience with FIH ties, but I do have experience with most of the other ties mentioned and H&B blows Marinella out of the water along with most +$100 ties.

 

[T4phage]

Originally Posted by edmorel

Back to topic, the Holliday and Brown ties that chorse123 is selling for $40 (or wherever you can find them) are next to impossible to beat. I have no experience with FIH ties, but I do have experience with most of the other ties mentioned and H&B blows Marinella out of the water along with most +$100 ties.

I prefer the construction of Marinella over H&B, especially the newer ones with the silks from Mantero.

 

[DocHolliday]

Ed, could you elaborate on why you're so fond of H&B? I can't see any great quality difference in H&B and some of my other nice ties. Maybe I'm a neckwear luddite.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Originally Posted by thinman

I once ordered a Marinella tie from FIH and Jonathan emailed me a picture along with a warning that the tie really is darker than the picture on the web.

FIH did the very same for me when I ordered a tie from him. On other hand, the one tie I bought from Carlo Franco resulted in a heated email exchange regarding how it only barely resembled the photograph in his catalogue.

Since I'm in the mood for some new ties, I might have a look through FIH's site..

 

[turnerxce]

Resurrecting the TJ Maxx option mentioned on the first page, d'este is another brand I've seen there that is well worth the money-- seven fold, Made in Italy, 100% silk. Patterns are obviously limited to what your store may have, but I've found quite a few nice ties with blues, browns, and burgundy or a combination thereof.

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by Tumbleweed

FIH did the very same for me when I ordered a tie from him. On other hand, the one tie I bought from Carlo Franco resulted in a heated email exchange regarding how it only barely resembled the photograph in his catalogue.

Since I'm in the mood for some new ties, I might have a look through FIH's site..

No surprises there.

 

[Etienne]

I also thought fit to give FIH a try. I ordered some ties two weeks ago.

Let me just begin by saying that Jonathan is really delightful to work with. We corresponded a lot by e-mail and he was ever helpful. Now if he could only learn to update his website more frequently, that would be perfect (and it would have rendered most of our exchange pretty useless)

.

Now a little more detail. I originally ordered 3 ties, but as some of those were not available any more, I had to reconsider (this happened again with my second order). Jonathan was always very quick to adress any supply problem: warn me about it, offer me a rebate to compensate. In the end I ordered 5 ties, and got quite a bargain. Ties were mailed on a Friday, I got them in Paris the following Tuesday (who needs UPS when USPS has that kind of service?).

I got 2 regular ties off the clearance rack. One is from Jonathan's first collection and does not have all the finishing he would later provide (no self-tipping, inferior stopper). The other one is much better. The 3 other ties are 4-folds (again a choice made after some lengthy discussion about the merits of 7- and 4-fold constructions with Jonathan). They are quite nice: nice silk, quite heavy, a good length. They came in a nice box with a very personalized letter (discussing the first tie, for example).

All in all, I think I can wholeheartedly recommend FIH.

 

[FIHTies]

Originally Posted by Étienne

I also thought fit to give FIH a try. I ordered some ties two weeks ago.

Let me just begin by saying that Jonathan is really delightful to work with. We corresponded a lot by e-mail and he was ever helpful. Now if he could only learn to update his website more frequently, that would be perfect (and it would have rendered most of our exchange pretty useless)

.

Now a little more detail. I originally ordered 3 ties, but as some of those were not available any more, I had to reconsider (this happened again with my second order). Jonathan was always very quick to adress any supply problem: warn me about it, offer me a rebate to compensate. In the end I ordered 5 ties, and got quite a bargain. Ties were mailed on a Friday, I got them in Paris the following Tuesday (who needs UPS when USPS has that kind of service?).

I got 2 regular ties off the clearance rack. One is from Jonathan's first collection and does not have all the finishing he would later provide (no self-tipping, inferior stopper). The other one is much better. The 3 other ties are 4-folds (again a choice made after some lengthy discussion about the merits of 7- and 4-fold constructions with Jonathan). They are quite nice: nice silk, quite heavy, a good length. They came in a nice box with a very personalized letter (discussing the first tie, for example).

All in all, I think I can wholeheartedly recommend FIH.

Two beggars are sitting on a park bench in Ireland. One is holding a cross and the other a Star of David. Both are holding hats to collect contributions. People walk by, lift their noses at the man with the Star of David and to further snub him drop lots of money into the hat of the man with the cross. Soon, the hat of the man with the cross is filled and the hat of the man with the Star of David is empty.
A priest watches for a while and then approaches the men. He says to the man with the Star of David, "Don't you realize that this is a Catholic country? You'll never get any contributions holding a Star of David."
The man turns to the one with the cross and says, "Moishe, can you imagine, Look who is telling us how to our business?"


Anyway... Here you started out only wanting to buy three ties and you bought 5! Tell me...Do I need help running my business???

 

[JesseJB]

Got my FIH ties on time..fantastic service! My broke ass even got to pay after they shipped! I keep getting compliments on them. Very well structured ties too.

 

[TheHoff]

Originally Posted by JesseJB

Got my FIH ties on time..fantastic service! My broke ass even got to pay after they shipped! I keep getting compliments on them. Very well structured ties too.

After ordering from STP and other discount retailers it is nice how the FIH ties arrived wrapped and packaged like a high-end store. I wore one today as well.