Forbes Tie Rankings

Paul Smith ties used to be great, when they were manufactured in england. Now that they are made in Italy by some probably big tie factory, their design is uninspiring, and the quality is down. Just like everything by Paul Smith in the PS or London lines, by the way.

Luc

Manton, I've been wondering what ties hang in your closet. Obviously Marinella, Drake's and Charles Hill. What are the Manton Tie Rankings?

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Yeah, manton -- do you have any RJ?

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(AlanC @ Mar. 29 2005,05:59) Manton, I've been wondering what ties hang in your closet. Obviously Marinella, Drake's and Charles Hill. What are the Manton Tie Rankings?
Yeah, manton -- do you have any RJ?
I'm Rick James, *****. (yeah, I know that has nothing to do with shirts, I just wanted to say it) Jon.

No RJ.

Nicky outnumbers all the others.  My favorite make.  Not a 7 or double-4 in the bunch, but their "standard" construction is really great.  Perfect, asymetrical four-in-hand knot.  Great length, great width (on the wide side, but never more than 4&quot.  Nicky specializes in wovens, and theirs are the best, in my opinion.  The golden mean between too garish and too boring.

I like Drake's and Marinella for prints.  I have a handful of each.  Also some (two, I think) Marinella wovens and one Marinella repp.  At least one Drake's woven, which I love.

Charles Hill makes a great woven tie -- more subtle than T&A, which is too eye-poppingly "colorful" for me.  But on the narrow side.

I have two (I think) Kiton 7-folds, got at tremendous discounts.  They are subtle for Kiton.  I see their quality, but don't like the styling enough to chase after them.

I have one RL PL tie which I absolutely love.  It's at least 7 years old, and made in England.  (Does that mean it's T&A?)  It's got a good width, and makes a perfect knot.

And then I have a lot of random ties picked up here and there.  Some department store private labels, some really old Flusser ties, some Ben Silver, N&L, various Jermyn Street ties, etc.  Of these, I have at most one or two each.

I have 2 (older) Charvet ties. The styles and woven silks are not my favorite patterns, but they provide the most beautiful dimples and knots.

Simple devine.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. I have three Charvets, too. Two woven, one printed. Nice ties, not my favorite. I generally find Charvet wovens to be too "shimmery" or "iridescent" for my taste. Mine aren't, though. I deliberately picked more low-key examples. One of them knots well, but one (the one I like better, alas) doesn't.

Maybe we should do our own ranking, and send it off to Forbes.. My faves: 1. Enrico Isaia (I know- they don't make them anymore, but I'd put Gianluca's up there too- maybe #5 after Nicky's) 2. Robert Talbott 3. Borrelli 4. Nicky's 5. Kiton (because they vary widths and I don't like narrow ties) 6. XMI Platinum 7. Brioni/Santo Stefano/Italo Ferretti (all made by same maker, I believe) 8. Armani Classico and Zegna (tie - Zegna used to be much better IMO) 9. Charvet 10. Stefano Ricci I haven't mentioned Duchamp or T&A- love the designs, too narrow. Also haven't mentioned Marinella, Carlo Franco, FIH, Breuer, Drake's, Carrot and Gibbs, or Garrick Anderson because I don't own any...YET...

Maybe we should do our own ranking, and send it off to Forbes.. My faves: ...

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Stumbled across this some time ago... http://66.170.193.77/cgi-bin....latinum

Someone asked about Lee Allison. This is a small tie maker based in Chicago. You can find him on the web at www.leeallison.com. I have never seen one of his ties in person, but I know he has some level of distribution locally. I once read that Neiman's carried him, for example.

Stopped by Plain Clothes in Homewood (ie, Birmingham) today, and they had the new season's Nicky's out--wow.. Just amazing all the way around. Alas, they were $145 each, I believe.

Also impressive was their offering of Roda ties--anyone familiar with them? Italian made, but of English silk woven on antique looms and using designs from 1930s. Very classic and vibrant.

Also impressive was their offering of Roda ties--anyone familiar with them? Italian made, but of English silk woven on antique looms and using designs from 1930s. Very classic and vibrant.

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I had forgotten about these. Very good ties. Almost Nicky quality.

I keep getting an error message when I click on this

Originally Posted by FIHTies

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Stumbled across this some time ago...

http://66.170.193.77/cgi-bin....latinum

it's from 2 1/2 years ago. let sleeping threads like - don't be bowtieguy.

Originally Posted by felixb

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I keep getting an error message when I click on this

it's from 2 1/2 years ago. let sleeping threads lie - don't be bowtieguy.

Originally Posted by felixb

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I keep getting an error message when I click on this

Who's bowtieguy?

Originally Posted by letmebefell

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it's from 2 1/2 years ago. let sleeping threads lie - don't be bowtieguy.