Buying Ties Online in Canada

Despite way too many hours spent on SF over the last year and a bit, I still struggle finding quality ties that are modern, somewhat narrow (2.5-3"), and even remotely unique.

It baffles me that in a small prairie city, I can find decent suits, decent shoes, and decent accessories but nothing other than cheap, tacky, and "obese" ties.

Via SF, online, I'm able to find great suits at great prices (TaT), great accessories at great prices (Kent Wang), and the odd good deal on shoes. I am aware of FIH Ties, but to this day it doesn't seem like those at this community have a favorite online resource for ties.

As an example of what I have to go through in order to get a desired tie to me, I present this: (Keep in mind that delivery would take a solid 10 business days on average.)



How ridiculous is that?

At this point, the only success I've had buying a decent tie online is via J. Crew. Needless to say, I'd like to get a bit more for what I pay with my next few purchases.

I think next time I go to Holt Renfrew (as overpriced and stuffy as it may be) I'm just going to have to spend $500 to get a weeks worth of neck dressings.

Unbelievable.

Any thoughts?

Really, all I'm looking for is a nice matte mid-grey, something with a purple colorway, and something with a nice brown palate. A bonus, would be a navy with a thin white chalk line. It really shouldn't be this hard.

Bad example. Look just about anywhere else.

Steven Alan doesn't ship directly to Canada. You are using a third-party mail-drop service that places the order on your behalf, receives it, and then re-ships it to Canada. It assumes you are desperate and charges accordingly.

A tie is the one item of high-quality clothing that is easy find in Canada (or shipped to Canada) at a price similar to the US.

I don't understand why you are having trouble.

Try eBay.

Too funny, where in saskatchewan are you? I remember years ago Saskatoon had store a called Elwood Flynn. It was the best option for nice mens clothes and had some decent stuff. But it been altelast 10 years since I shopped there.

I am out in Vancouver and at the right time of year you can have a reall feeding frenzie on good ties. Both Harry Rosen and Holts have some major markdowns in the summer and I pick up a few Canali, Zegna, talbot for $20 - $60 - no need to go online.

As I live a few blocks from the US border, I keep a us mail box and have my online shopping sent there, wich eliminates the duty/extra shipping issue. So I can't be much help on to get nice ties mailed to Canada for cheap.

If you really need an online US source, try Shop The Finest. Ian is great to deal with as many members would attest. He has many ties, serious names too, so should be able to help you out (and let's just say you'd be able to avoid some of those silly fees you're paying with the likes of Steven Alan).

Virtual Clothes Horse is regarded similarly, but I haven't bought anything from them (yet).

Originally Posted by B1FF

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Bad example. Look just about anywhere else.

Steven Alan doesn't ship directly to Canada. You are using a third-party mail-drop service that places the order on your behalf, receives it, and then re-ships it to Canada. It assumes you are desperate and charges accordingly.

A tie is the one item of high-quality clothing that is easy find in Canada (or shipped to Canada) at a price similar to the US.

I don't understand why you are having trouble.

Try eBay.

Thanks.

I happen to strongly disagree with you, but I do appreciate the bit of advice you gave. I've always been one of those that won't buy from eBay; perhaps that must change.

Really, I'm not one of those that posts a new thread solely to get other people to do my dirty work. I'm just surprised by the lack of threads related to tie-purchasing on this forum. It's obvious that everyone else is finding ties they like in local stores; I'm not having the same luck with anything less than an 5 hour drive.

Originally Posted by JeffsWood

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Too funny, where in saskatchewan are you? I remember years ago Saskatoon had store a called Elwood Flynn. It was the best option for nice mens clothes and had some decent stuff. But it been altelast 10 years since I shopped there.

I am out in Vancouver and at the right time of year you can have a reall feeding frenzie on good ties. Both Harry Rosen and Holts have some major markdowns in the summer and I pick up a few Canali, Zegna, talbot for $20 - $60 - no need to go online.

As I live a few blocks from the US border, I keep a us mail box and have my online shopping sent there, wich eliminates the duty/extra shipping issue. So I can't be much help on to get nice ties mailed to Canada for cheap.

I seem to recall relating your name to Saskatchewan at some point in the past...

I'm in Saskatoon, and yes, Elwood is still our really only option for anything "big city". The service there is unbelievable and I know most of the guys quite well, but even they admit that their knowledge and their product is much too ancient for what I want/need. We make things work, but I really feel like I'm "teaching" them more than they're offering me sometimes.

I have been traveling quite a lot lately - Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, etc. and am well aware of Harry and Holt. Usually I purposely forget my wallet at the hotel when visiting though, so clearly I haven't hit these stores at this magical time that you speak of.

Anyway, beyond that, I thank you for the friendly Canadian suggestions. ...it appears I may have found a potential proxy friend.

I've collected 6 ties (thinner, 3 inches~) over the past year.

I found 1 through a thrift shop on broadway, a few from forum members, had 1 large tie shortened and narrowed, and bought 1 in Berlin that I really liked by Jil Sander at half price. My tastes in ties are rather conservative and I passed on "good deals" because I didn't like the patterns and would never see myself wearing them. 3 inch ties aren't a rarity.

Originally Posted by Notreknip

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I seem to recall relating your name to Saskatchewan at some point in the past...

I'm in Saskatoon, and yes, Elwood is still our really only option for anything "big city". The service there is unbelievable and I know most of the guys quite well, but even they admit that their knowledge and their product is much too ancient for what I want/need. We make things work, but I really feel like I'm "teaching" them more than they're offering me sometimes.

I have been traveling quite a lot lately - Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, etc. and am well aware of Harry and Holt. Usually I purposely forget my wallet at the hotel when visiting though, so clearly I haven't hit these stores at this magical time that you speak of.

Anyway, beyond that, I thank you for the friendly Canadian suggestions. ...it appears I may have found a potential proxy friend.

Next time you're in Calgary, try Henry Singer as well. It's in the same mall complex thing downtown as Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew, but if you manage to get in during their end-of-season sale, you can usually get ties on some ridiculous deal like 3 for $99.

For disclosures sake, I work there, and yes I'm shamelessly promoting my own store right now, but there really are some stupid deals there at times.

The other place worth stopping in at while you're travelling is Holt Renfrew Last Call. I don't remember which cities have them anymore since they closed the one in Winnipeg (though I know Calgary is getting one in the next year or so), but it's worth looking up.

You could also try our very own B&S forum right here on styleforum. I've bought a few ties since I joined, and there are some really great sellers either in Canada or who will ship to Canada. It's very easy and rewarding.

I guess my beef with the sponsor sites mentioned above (VCH, STF) is that they're just a pain to navigate in terms of ties. There's little to no mention of width and it takes hours to sort through the sea of randomness. I mean, ties are the one men's clothing item that you kind of have to see and feel the textile/pattern/color, so potentially I'm fighting a worthless battle. I really should venture into a thrift store however. The notion of getting ties slimmed down is something I'm very used to - of my current rotation of ~20, at least 10 have been altered. Edit: I walked 20 minutes to go to the Holt Renfrew in Winnipeg last month to find nothing but a sign. Now everything makes sense. Thanks robasaurus.

Originally Posted by Notreknip

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Despite way too many hours spent on SF over the last year and a bit, I still struggle finding quality ties that are modern, somewhat narrow (2.5-3"), and even remotely unique.

It baffles me that in a small prairie city, I can find decent suits, decent shoes, and decent accessories but nothing other than cheap, tacky, and "obese" ties.

Via SF, online, I'm able to find great suits at great prices (TaT), great accessories at great prices (Kent Wang), and the odd good deal on shoes. I am aware of FIH Ties, but to this day it doesn't seem like those at this community have a favorite online resource for ties.

As an example of what I have to go through in order to get a desired tie to me, I present this: (Keep in mind that delivery would take a solid 10 business days on average.)

How ridiculous is that?

At this point, the only success I've had buying a decent tie online is via J. Crew. Needless to say, I'd like to get a bit more for what I pay with my next few purchases.

I think next time I go to Holt Renfrew (as overpriced and stuffy as it may be) I'm just going to have to spend $500 to get a weeks worth of neck dressings.

Unbelievable.

Any thoughts?

Really, all I'm looking for is a nice matte mid-grey, something with a purple colorway, and something with a nice brown palate. A bonus, would be a navy with a thin white chalk line. It really shouldn't be this hard.

I'm lucky, I have family living in Seattle who come to Vancouver frequently. I ship everything there and they drive it up

I think Canada in general sucks for good quolity clothes. You can't even find most stores (5th avenue) in Canada and stuff you find in small stores that have nothing to do with the manufactorer are extremely overpriced. It's pretty easily explainable why it is as it is but from now on I think I will look into making a 1 day trip to the US and get what I need there.