Info: Best Ties List

[Greenhorn]

Carlo Franco should be in tier 1. I have ties from Kiton, Isaia, Charvet, and Hermes. The Carlo Franco ties are equal to or better than any of them.

True, in the original post (in the Ask Andy forum, 2007) Carlo Franco and Sam Hober were nominated for Tier 1 with Kiton, Isaia, etc., but were left out from this post somehow.

 

[KObalto]

^ Assuming you receive them (Carlo Franco), I suppose.

 

[idfnl]



When did they start doing this? But I have noticed the best Thomas Pink ties I have are over 3 years old (at least). I've also purchased a few used that were made in the late 90s very early 2000s, and they were also not quite as nice.

Also ordered some cheap (price not quality) ties from you last night .

EDIT: Yup, my most recent purchase from them was made in Morocco. It feels fine, but we'll have to see how it holds up.

Thanks bro!

Re T Pink, its not so much construction quality as it is charging the same $ when you are paying much less to have them made. Would have trouble believing the construction quality is as good anyway.

Shouldn't Drakes be in tier 1?

Definitely.

Thomas Pink - I would put them in the same tier as Hugo Boss (which actually are OK design- and quality-wise IMHO) or Armani.
Edsor Kronen - These are very nice ties in my experience. I would put them below Drake's but above Thomas Pink / Hugo Boss / Armani.

Pink is better than H Boss, but many of these are made at the same factories. Very few makers actually make their own ties. Most of these large fashion houses outsource almost everything.

 

[staxringold]



Dunhill 7 folds are excellent

Judging by the regular Dunhill I've got I can only imagine how nice the 7 folds are.

 

[Kai]



^ Assuming you receive them (Carlo Franco), I suppose.

Last month, I bought 4 Carlo Franco ties.

No problems.

 

[newyorknoir]

RE the list above....
Aquascutum - quality varies widely
Burberry - quality varies widely
Bvlgari - generally good, especially the 7 folds
Dior - the high end are nice, made in France
Dolce &Gabbana - come from the same factory as many other brands ehre
Gianfranco Ferre - good durable ties
Gucci - generally very good
Kenzo - average
Lands End - good value
Lanvin - quality varies widely
Marks & Spencer - average, lots of polyester
Paul Smith - generally quite good, especially the made in england ones
Pierre Cardin - the high end are nice
Pucci - good quality, crazy patterns
Renato Balestra - average
Thomas Pink - older ones are great, france, italy, england, lately they have been manufacturing in cheaper locations and quality is not as good
Tommy Hilfiger - average
Trussardi - average
Yves Saint Laurent - quality varies widely
Zadi / Andrew’s - generally good quality and good value

Burberry ties are meh.. Gucci ties are horrible.. Dolce & Gabbana ties..... all of these brands appeal to a contemporary aesthetic and make ties that are really too fashion-forward to be taken seriously in a discussion like this. I don't think quality is emphasized by any of these designers in the respect that we think of quality here on styleforum. I've never owned a YSL tie but I'd have a hard time believing that they vary widely—same with Lanvin. Do you know of different factories that these ties are produced in? I'm not sure about some odd back-catalogue tie that you'd find at 60% markdown ("special offer") on the internet, but the ties they carry at the boutiques all seem to be of similar quality/construction and are sold at a similar (if not universal) price point. Perhaps you were talking about Christian Dior? I always thought that was a diffusion line.. None of their ties have ever struck me as appealing either.

When it comes to high fashion, I'd never buy Gucci, Burberry, Lanvin, YSL, or Dolce Gabbana from an independent vendor aside from an established industry leader. As far as Dior Homme—all the ties are around $190 and don't vary much in price. The boutiques around the world all carry similar stock—primarily dictated by what you see on the runway. I've never heard of "high end" Dior... I've never heard of Dior Homme ties varying in quality unless again you are talking about Christian Dior or some sort of diffusion that they don't carry or market as mainline. All Dior Homme ties I've ever owned (or have seen in recent years) are made in Italy.. Aside from quality, again, would you even take a brand like Dior seriously in this kind of discussion?

 

[newyorknoir]

The Charvet prints I've seen for sale in Saks and Bergdorf have been uniformly ugly which is a shame since the quality of the silk seems to be about as good as it gets.

+1.. also a shame that this was posted 3 years ago and it appears as if nothing has changed..

 

[idfnl]



Burberry ties are meh.. Gucci ties are horrible.. Dolce & Gabbana ties..... all of these brands appeal to a contemporary aesthetic and make ties that are really too fashion-forward to be taken seriously in a discussion like this. I don't think quality is emphasized by any of these designers in the respect that we think of quality here on styleforum. I've never owned a YSL tie but I'd have a hard time believing that they vary widely—same with Lanvin. Do you know of different factories that these ties are produced in? I'm not sure about some odd back-catalogue tie that you'd find at 60% markdown ("special offer") on the internet, but the ties they carry at the boutiques all seem to be of similar quality/construction and are sold at a similar (if not universal) price point. Perhaps you were talking about Christian Dior? I always thought that was a diffusion line.. None of their ties have ever struck me as appealing either.

When it comes to high fashion, I'd never buy Gucci, Burberry, Lanvin, YSL, or Dolce Gabbana from an independent vendor aside from an established industry leader. As far as Dior Homme—all the ties are around $190 and don't vary much in price. The boutiques around the world all carry similar stock—primarily dictated by what you see on the runway. I've never heard of "high end" Dior... I've never heard of Dior Homme ties varying in quality unless again you are talking about Christian Dior or some sort of diffusion that they don't carry or market as mainline. All Dior Homme ties I've ever owned (or have seen in recent years) are made in Italy.. Aside from quality, again, would you even take a brand like Dior seriously in this kind of discussion?

Re Dior, I would, actually. What you don't seem to grasp is that most of these ties all come from the same factories and its more about where it was made than the label on it. I have a Dior in my private collection, its a knockout in terms of quality. Truth is most Dior are not.

Having handled 100,000s of thousands of ties, I can tell you that quality varies widely among most brands. You are judging this by a single season and a single visit to a shop where you see one set of product all made in the same factory. The next season may bring a new trend, new factory, new silks. It changes. Designers come and go, silks change, tastes change, economics. I think the difference between your comments and mine are that I am looking at this from a long term perspective.

Take Zegna for example. The early ties were excellent. Then they went thru this period in the 90's when they went to thinner silks that fell apart easily (not to mention ugly as ****). Then they changed and went to much better quality again and found some taste. My judgement is against this spectrum, not a single season.

And most Gucci ties I have seen are nice quality. Maybe not patterned to my taste, but overall well made.

 

[Claghorn]

I can speak to Dior ties. The two I have are absolute POS. They don't even make it to the "ties I don't wear" hangers. They are in my "trash tie pile" (a pile of ties in my utility room...it's an actual pile). I'm sure they have a few good ones on the higher end...but I think higher end of any brand will be better than decent. I YSL was mentioned earlier. There are two YSL in that trash pile as well. Again, I'm sure that they make some good ones, but brands that depend more on name recognition than quality are more likely to try and get by on name alone (and invest less in some of their product lines).

 

[KObalto]



Last month, I bought 4 Carlo Franco ties.
No problems.

Good to hear.
http://www.styleforum.net/t/157494/carlo-franco

 

[katana man]

Wel l it seems that having reviewed this thread - one does get a sense of what are the better ties. I guess there are really two issues (discounting the price question) 1. Quality and 2. design pattern
Its a bit like a quality car - It may be superb quality but if it looks like %@, then what do you have? Since a tie is largely cosmetic to your overall look and really intended for the other person looking at you, then this is extremely important. I have liked Zegna ties but have seen a raft of terrible patterns and wouldn't wear some of them if they was free. My conclusion is that with a base level of ties that make one list of great ties. The list should be divided into two lists (same ties) one for quality and 2 for design. Quality might be self evident but design might be rated in terms of overall consistency.

My 2 cents anyways

 

[taxgenius]



Wel l it seems that having reviewed this thread - one does get a sense of what are the better ties.  I guess there are really two issues (discounting the price question)  1. Quality and 2. design pattern
Its a bit like a quality car - It may be superb quality but if it looks like %@, then what do you have?  Since a tie is largely cosmetic to your overall look  and really intended for the other person looking at you, then this is extremely important.  I have liked Zegna ties but have seen  a raft of terrible patterns and wouldn't wear some of them if they  was free.   My conclusion is that with a base level of ties that make  one list of great ties.  The list  should be divided into two lists (same ties)  one for quality and 2 for design.  Quality might be self evident but design might be rated in terms of overall consistency.

My 2 cents anyways

Consistently good or consistently bad, or does it make a difference?

 

[comrade]

Tier 1 Deadstock: Sulka
(if not alreaady mentioned)

 

[Claghorn]

Putting Thomas Pink in there for T2. Though their quality has gone down in the last couple of years, they make great knots and drape well.

 

[suited]

I always end up with a superb knot with Tom Ford. I have a Zenga that does the same, but I've seen a lot of so-so zegna.