Hippos!

Friday April 11, 2008:
I cannot express the joy this tie brings, and the challenges. This tie presents the ultimate test for me and my demeanor. This is definitely not a business tie; it's a playful and meant for garden parties and weddings. It's so playful, in fact, that I think it takes a commandingly playful spirit to carry it off. In the midst of the strict time lines, black sedans, and the neoclassical architecture of my world I feel the need to insert a group of green hippos hiding amongst leaves on a pink field just to show everyone who's the boss. Go ahead, talk about my green hippos! Chances are you are going to end up finding it as perfectly juxtaposed as I do, and not help smiling at it. Katherine and I found this item at a store in Williamsburg when we ran down there for the weekend. We walked out of a ye'olde peanut'n'ham shop and saw pink and green in a window. We walked into the Pink Cabana and I was instantly drawn into the world of Lilly Pulitzer. My old roommate Lex had told me about her love of this label since she had gone to school in Virginia. The tie is cotton and definitely meant for summer. The first time I wore it was to my other old roommate's wedding in Denver. I thought I needed to bring a little east coast to the front range so I paired it with a navy linen blazer, a pair of light khakis and a great pair of shoes Katherine and I had found at the Cole Haan outlet in Castle Rock, Colorado. I smile pretty much all day when I wear this tie.

Bursting with color.

Tuesday April 8, 2008:
I had been waiting to wear this tie, but with the clock running out on options I needed to spring this selection. This was one of those selections I found at Nordtrom and took a chance. It is definitely a chance. I remember looking at it a couple different times in it's bag asking myself if I had actually just purchased it. It is one of my "crazy" ties, and perhaps I have one too many "crazy ties" but I think they all distinct. To demonstrate this fact my coworker, Dennis, asked me today if I had already worn this tie. I was totally shocked at this. Sure, this Ted Baker goes further than others to bring light into the room by bursting with olive and bright blue flowers with pink dots in the center on a dark navy field. You need to have an extra strong will to wear this tie. If I wanted to go extra flashy I'd pair it with a pink shirt and my chalk stripe suit. That is, if I wanted to also spend my day on Wall St. I have, it's awkward and does really get the looks I want. I paired it with a good textured, blue shirt so there are more options for this tie, and I will definitely explore them more this spring.

Guest ties!

Since the beginning of this process I thought it would be fun if I had a "Guest Tie" section, however I thought it weird, especially where I work, and who I meet with, to take snapshots of ties. Yeah, it would be weird. However, I did find two right in our own office and they were proud to pose for me.

Scott's flowers:
Scott works with me and covers foreign affairs (in the places in the world that speak romantic, slavic and germanic languages), the judiciary, telecom and housing, along with some other areas. Scott is from Astoria, and he likes orange. I like Scott for his like for orange. Orange is a hard color, but Scott does really well with it. Scott's tie is by Pronto Uomo. The tie is made of two oranges, one slightly lighter than the other, which disguises a really nice fleur de lis pattern unless the light hits it. It reminded me of the wall paper in the Mansfield Room on the Senate side, and several other rooms of the Capitol. The wall is plain vanilla until a flash of light hits it to reveal a very intricate pattern. Really cool tie.


Dennis's stripes:
Dennis also works with me and the tie I photographed is one that I have been interested in for a long time and is very "Dennis". It's a striped tie made of a series of different stripes over an orange background. The stripes, upon closer inspection - and I have stared - is made out of various colors like gold, purple, a light blue and a dark blue. The really good stripe is made up of a series of circles. Not to disparage the other stripes, they are fine, too. Dennis tied it with a graph checked shirt which works because of the different scales in the pattern - the thinness of the lines work really well. Yes Dennis, I stare at your tie, but don't worry, I listen to every word you say.

This was fun. I should do more of these. Maybe I could just take screen shots off of CSPAN for the more entertaining ties.

Kennedy Center debut

Friday, February 29, 2008:
Tonight I took Katherine to see one of our favorite groups, Pink Martini, at the Kennedy Center. A couple months ago I was procrastinating at work and was on the band's website where I found out they were going to be in town on February 29, 2008. Since I did the calculation that Katherine and I going to see Pink Martini at the Kennedy Center on February 29 wasn't likely to happen again anytime, soon I made the rare executive decision to buy us tickets and Katherine, who likes to be taken out to fancy things, easily compiled. Not to denigrate, since I love fanciness, too, and so we make a good pair. The show was simply fantastic - they played with the National Symphony Orchestra and did one of my very favorite songs "Brazil" as an encore which left people dancing in the aisles. We had seen them once before at Wolf Trap but we were WAY out in the grass, regardless the music and the people watching was priceless - and we had bought all our parents tickets for their New Year's Eve show in Portland - my father could not stop talking about it for the better part of a week. So anyway, I chose to wear a tie that I had purchased during my trip to Boston to see my dear friend and old college roommate, Carla. We walked on Newberry Street (fancy) and that's where I found Frank Stella Men's Clothier (fancier still) - how could I not go in? I had seen a tie in the window that I really liked, but when I went in and found their complete collection, I decided I needed this one. One quick consultation of the rule book, where I didn't find any mention of prohibitions on purchases made within the time allotted of blogging, I decided to buy it. The tie is a purple-ish navy field with burnt yellow, fuchsia, and emerald leaves drifting across left to right in loose stripes. I wore a blue french cuffed shirt from Nordstrom with cuff links purchased in Williamsburg with my initials on them - made by one of the resident craftsmen down there. I wanted to be worthy of the venue and the concert. After the show Katherine and I stood in line for autographs and we got our programs signed and chatted nervously with these great performers. I had commented on the guitarist's tie and he nicely returned the compliment, only to receive a jibe from the bassist about how I hadn't commented on his tie - they had actually done a very good job of coordinating that night, which we all laughed at. Then, for some unknown reason I blurted out that I had this blog, and in her unmeasurable good humored way, Katherine backed me up in explaining it. They were totally into it, and the guitarist asked how to find it on the web. So I told him. Looking back, I should have probably have written it down for him on something, but I hope he remembers it. Either way I can put this in the same column as riding an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, being told "Good Morning" by Speaker Hastert, meeting Lucy Liu and being introduced to Carl Castle by the President of NPR. God I love this town.

Lavender fields

Wednesday, February 27, 2008:
I chose my Banana herringbone suit I love so much and paired it with a tie from Banana (it was a Gap, Inc day). The tie has simple floral pattern in green and dark blue on a iridescent lavender field. I generally wear it in the spring and summer with my lighter suits. I decided to mix it up with a brown suit and a blue shirt. I had a bunch of meetings and so I wanted to spiff it up and wear a comfy suit that had depth in the pattern. I love this suit jacket, too, and I have been able to match it with a good pair of khakis so I can pull off the same kind of look as with my favorite wool herringbone blazer but well into the spring.

My apologies to the blogosphere. . .

First off, my lack of entries isn't discontent with the concept of blogging, or a lack of commitment to my goal. I've been sick and then a general sense of malaise has washed over me beckoning me to sleep, rather than to keep up appearances on the net. However, a sudden creative spirit washed over me and I've decided to get my things in order and catch up. Sorry blogosphere.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008:
Today I decided to wear a sharp combination of a blue paisley tie (from Banana) and a blue striped shirt (from the JCrew outlet) with my gray JCrew suit. The Oregon State Society birthday reception was that evening and I wanted to be refined, but at the same time a little young and sporty. I liked to contrast between the strong verticals and the completeness of the paisley. I also like the cut of the shirt, which is more slim fit then some which is good. I also like the cut of the collar which frames the knot well.


Thursday, February 14, 2008:
I decided to wear one of my favorite ties today. It was my second Ted Baker tie, which was purchased in the summer of 2006. It was the second Ted Baker tie I purchased and I am pretty sure that it was purchased at Saks Off 5th Avenue with Natale and Ian. I paired it with my Banana navy suit with brown pinstripes. It like the unconventional pairing of the colors. I had meetings that day so I decided to dress up for the day. I paired the tie with a blue shirt as to highlight the blue flowers in the tie. This is one of Ted Bakers non-repetitive ties, kind of like a jungle, and a beautiful bramble of flowers. It makes me a little sad that I can't wear this tie for a while now, but it only makes me want to complete this task quicker.


Friday, February 15, 2008:
I made a bold move today and decided to go for the bow tie. The tie was a gift from Katherine's father, Splinter, for Christmas in 2000. Splinter had taught me to tie a bow tie, so he thought this was something I needed. I agree. It's by John Talbot and has a nice geometric design on a field of blue. I remember Katherine asking me what I was wearing when I came over for Christmas dinner and my choice of a white button-down shirt and herringbone pants seemed to be a fine selection as to be paired with the new gift. I went old school at work and chose the forest green sweater I got in Rehoboth, DE on New Year's Day 2008 and my favorite old blazer. Amid the hoots and the hollers from staff when I arrived at work I completely forgot I actually had meetings so I got to share the glory with more people. Thankfully I have another opportunity to wear a bow tie. I think I messed this one up because it was too loose and came out to floppy, maybe.

Ties on the road.

February 1, 2008:
Today I tied my tie in Portland, Oregon. I was on my staff retreat and we were doing site visits so I felt the need to wear a tie. I chose to pack a tie that I've had for close to ten years. It was selected and purchased to wear to a dinner my senior year in high school. Ah history, how it chooses to live on. The alternating blue and green circles on a field of navy in this JCrew tie has been a standby tie. I paired it with a Banana Republic blazer I've actually owned longer, since my sophomore year in high school and a dark blue shirt and brown pants. I felt the whole thing was age appropriate and good for field work.


February 4, 2008:
So in order to make it to work on Monday after taking a red-eye flight from Portland I had laid my suit and tie out on Friday. I chose a medium blue shirt and my Banana Republic grey suit, all sensible choices. The tie was a Ted Baker I had purchased on a shopping trip to Arundel Mills with Ian and Natale. I bought it at the Saks outlet. It was an interesting choice, I think. It's a silvery blue tie with a touch of purple with sketches of daisies in lighter blue and green. I think it's playful. I brought a little spring today. People were nervous.