Lafont
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2007
- Messages
- 1,491
- Reaction score
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There seems to be an odd sort of situation around the world, a little comparable to ladies' skirt lenghts....
What on earth is goin' on with tie designers? In my nearly six completed decades, and all I know about menswear history for several centuries, there appears to be no other time when so many tie widths were manufactured and considered acceptible at the same venues.
The trendy men's magazines are showing lots of young guys wearing slim (i.e. "skinny") ties - periodicals such as GQ, Details, Esquire, and many, many others. Ditto the magazines featuring the trendy in general - People, Us, etc. Lots of actors and other "beautiful people" featured wearing these ties. And, of course, the shops where these people purchase - and in general the stores catering to young guys.
Meanwhile, at the very same time, most of the more established tie manufacturers and designers are still producing and featuring ties of at least medium width. I'm talking the general, middle-of-the-road (read typical department store, discount store) ties. Stores with Italian ties - you know, those really bright-colored ones - are selling frequently particularly wide ties. Brooks Brothers is actually showing and selling two distinctly different width ties.... My, my.
When in London last year I saw the same thing as in the U.S. The traditional Savile Row and Jermyn Street tailors and stores like Pink or Burberry were showing the reasonbly wide ties. The trendy (incl. "punk," etc.) shops were showing the narrow.
I've been trying to build up a fabulous collection of neckwear and hope to be able to wear these for many, many years to come. In fact, I've discarded every last narrow tie I acquired in the '60s.
Thoughts, please!
Incidentally, a recent mens magazine (was it Vogue Mens?) showed several bowties; is that a growing trend or were the designers/editorial staff just trying to show looks that are "different?"
Also, the resale shops have gotten to the point - the past few years - of showing few really wide, polyester-type ties from the '70s era. The quality vintage-type shops are showing very narrow - i.e. '60s - as well as the very wide '70s, sometimes - especially if they're particularly heavy and wide. Then there's the further complication of most of these lacking the loops.
What on earth is goin' on with tie designers? In my nearly six completed decades, and all I know about menswear history for several centuries, there appears to be no other time when so many tie widths were manufactured and considered acceptible at the same venues.
The trendy men's magazines are showing lots of young guys wearing slim (i.e. "skinny") ties - periodicals such as GQ, Details, Esquire, and many, many others. Ditto the magazines featuring the trendy in general - People, Us, etc. Lots of actors and other "beautiful people" featured wearing these ties. And, of course, the shops where these people purchase - and in general the stores catering to young guys.
Meanwhile, at the very same time, most of the more established tie manufacturers and designers are still producing and featuring ties of at least medium width. I'm talking the general, middle-of-the-road (read typical department store, discount store) ties. Stores with Italian ties - you know, those really bright-colored ones - are selling frequently particularly wide ties. Brooks Brothers is actually showing and selling two distinctly different width ties.... My, my.
When in London last year I saw the same thing as in the U.S. The traditional Savile Row and Jermyn Street tailors and stores like Pink or Burberry were showing the reasonbly wide ties. The trendy (incl. "punk," etc.) shops were showing the narrow.
I've been trying to build up a fabulous collection of neckwear and hope to be able to wear these for many, many years to come. In fact, I've discarded every last narrow tie I acquired in the '60s.
Thoughts, please!
Incidentally, a recent mens magazine (was it Vogue Mens?) showed several bowties; is that a growing trend or were the designers/editorial staff just trying to show looks that are "different?"
Also, the resale shops have gotten to the point - the past few years - of showing few really wide, polyester-type ties from the '70s era. The quality vintage-type shops are showing very narrow - i.e. '60s - as well as the very wide '70s, sometimes - especially if they're particularly heavy and wide. Then there's the further complication of most of these lacking the loops.