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.

Pink and Ink

Tuesday, April 1, 2008:
Again Spring passed on it's opportunity to show itself, but I chose to bring out another spring tie. This tie was found in the spring in 2004 languishing in the sale rack of the Banana Republic at the Cherry Creek mall in Denver. The tie cost, get this, $6.99. When I brought it up to the counter, the cute girl at the counter said, "Wow, that's a great deal." And I replied, "Yes, you have to love the pink and ink." I think my knowledge of catchy, swank fashion jive caught her off guard and thus ended conversation. Oh well. The combination of a dark navy with a light, almost candy pink is the perfect mix of masculine and feminine for spring. Obviously when you start approaching that 50/50 balance and the tie becomes more pink you need to have different conversation with yourself about what you want to pull off. The neat thing also is that the tie isn't set on the square and the dots run slightly at an angle. I wore it with a simple light blue shirt and a dark gray suit.

More Stripes

Tuesday, March 25, 2008:
Today's selection was a striped tie that I found on the bed at my parent's house when I arrived for a visit. I believe it was lying next to the vintage YSL tie I wore on February 12, 2008. I kind of fell for this tie because of the color combination: It has a green and yellow stripe (rather Duckish) against a dark inky navy, almost midnight, background. It's a Brooks Brothers, and I imagined if I had found it in the store it would have been on the clearance rack like all of my other finds. It is really nice up close. Also, I have decided that my brown herringbone cotton/wool suit will now be treated as a neutral since I seem to be pulling off wearing it with just about every tie I didn't think I could, so I am pretty pleased.

tiny dots

Thursday, March 6, 2008:
I continued my excursion of mixing up the tones I would normally select with other options. I wore my herringbone suit with a blue shirt with a navy tie silk with tiny green dots. Yesterday I chose a suit/tie combination with a cooler tone and I wasn't truly happy with it. Today I worked with the same theory but I think I chose a little wiser of a combination and I felt better about it. It's funny how you can feel uncomfortable in a combination that you feel doesn't work. Yes, I know, my girlside is showing.

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.

Peacock stripes

Friday, February 29, 2008:
I continue to be amazed with the ties buried on my rack. It's actually fun to find these lost treasures and bring them out and be surprised with how much fun they are. I try to buy ties that exist on the edge of ordinary while still being professional and I think this one is definitely one of those. I remember buying this tie early after I had moved to DC. My clothing collection exploded once I got here because I felt an enormous amount of pressure not to consistently wear the same thing over and over again and that's hard since you have to come to work ready to represent the office and look professional and I think, memorable. The stripes are in peacock greens in a herringbone pattern against a steel blue background. Not only is the green eye catching, but the herringbone adds so much to the experience. The tie is from Banana, and since I couldn't see this tie compete with anything I just wore a gray suit and a new white shirt I got on a recently shopping spree.

The one that started it all.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008:
Today I chose to wear one of my favorite ties ever. No surprises it is a Ted Baker creation. This was also my first Ted Baker tie. I bought it in the spring of 2006 at Nordstrom, and I remember being so excited, but at the same time a little astonished that I spent the amount I did (a lot). But after I wore it and liked how abstract the tie seems at first glance, but how it actually is stripes made out of what look how a child would draw fireworks in the sky. I liked the playfulness of the color selections of fuchsia, green, light blue and purple set against a very dark background. I also paired it with a red striped shirt because I have found myself wearing safe solids, and it turns out that it looked nice.

The Oldest Tie Ever!

February 5, 2008:
In honor of Super Tuesday I wore the tie I have owned the longest. This JCrew tie I bought my sophomore year in high school. I bought it to wear at a dinner party I threw at Christmas 1996. Crazy, huh? It is a dark navy tie with frogs in a dark green and green eyes. This tie has gone everywhere with me. I paired it with my Banana Republic cotton/wool brown herringbone suit and a white shirt. It's funny that I don't jump for critter ties because they aren't generally subdued - it seems that I found the most subdued one in the pond. I can't believe this tie continues to tie so well. It's flatter then when I bought it - it's taken a few trips to the cleaners - but the windsor knot still works. This is the tie I will frame when I retire it.

Brown tie on Tuesday

Tuesday, January 22, 2008:
Today I was in a pinch to grab a tie, but I wanted to wear navy. Also, I wanted try to reach back and pull out something I haven't worn in a long time, which by the way is a huge part of this journey. What is not part of this journey, well, not necessarily anyway, is that I will throw these ties away. Maybe, just maybe, I find that the luster has faded from a certain one, or that another no longer snaps into a perfect dimple, I will then, perhaps, find a nice shady spot in the back garden and place it to rest. Ok, having said that, today I paired a simple light blue shirt (I have a lot of those) with a brown tie with crosses of dark blue and light blue. It's Tassa Elba, which I think is Macy's top end brand, and I got it soon after I first moved here. I think it was my first trip to Macy's and I was unescorted. . . that day I also bought an orange tie and a striped shirt combination (which wins all the time). Needless to say this is one of those ties which is a little complex and therefore finds its way into the back, but it turns out a simple blue shirt and a navy suit brings it to the front again. Three years later. . .

The beginning of the diminishing selections.

I'd like to start off my saying that this is my first attempt at a blog. I hadn't thought that I would want to express ideas to my friends, or strangers, through this kind of medium, but I've decided that this quest requires 24 hours of freedom for comment, scrutiny, etc by my closest friends.

So this adventure, to wear a different tie from my closet each day without repeat, I figure, needs to be subjected to the public eye.

I'm a gatherer. No. I'm an amasser. It's hereditary, and I fight my genes everyday. I've found that ties are an excellent way to bring difference into the day. To paint the gray-suit-world with a little color.

I have 60 ties (58 at my house, and two hidden in my desk for emergencies) - and in the interest of full disclosure there are two of which I won't wear during this trek. The reason? Too formal - one black bow tie, and one solid red bow tie. Come on! Who wears red bow ties? I mean, unless you're at a Valentine's Day thing, and I can't think of when that will be. Besides, there are better things to wear anyway than red bow ties. And 58 days of better things.

The process is easy: each morning I pick a tie to wear, match it with a shirt and jacket/suit, take a picture and then walk out the door. When I come home at night, I simply take it off, roll it up and place it in a bag - it's almost like that tie never existed!! Which is good, right? I mean, "out of sight, out of mind" is actually a powerful, powerful phrase that carries a lot of W.A.S.P.y wisdom that we should all follow from time to time. That, and learn to drink a lot more gin.

So anyway, I have included the first four days below. And if you choose to comment, thanks, but please refrain from Corky Sherwood comparisons: there will be no detailed weather forecasts.


The stage is set, and the adventure begins on:
Monday, January 14, 2008:
Today I chose a tie my father got me for my 27th birthday, a blue/green wool tie he got from John Helmer Haberdasher in downtown Portland. It's Jonathan Richard of Ireland. Not to get too much into the selection process, but it was cold that day so I paired it with a brown merino sweater and my favorite herringbone blazer.







Tuesday, January 15, 2008:
I decided to wear a Brooks Brothers tie I got with my mom when we were at the outlets in Woodburn. It's a print silk tie. Don't get me wrong, I like print silk ties, but sometimes they slide and I don't like the knots. But hey, I thought it would go nicely with my brown herringbone suit. The purple and brown work, along with the bold print of the tie compliments the tight print of the suit. Also, I will forever remember this combination because Lorelei Elizabeth Deuel, Katherine's niece, was born on this day. Yay!






Wednesday, January 16, 2008:
Today I had a very hard decision to make: I had a dinner date with Katherine at 1789, a French restaurant in Georgetown. Of course, this meant the tie I selected had to be perfect for work and a fancy-pants dinner. Well, of course I needed consultation but I decided that the purple, blue and magenta Ted Baker tie I found at Marshal's for $24.99 (retail $85) would work, paired with a simple white French cuff shirt and my Banana Republic gray 3-button suit. I wore my engraved cufflinks purchased at historic Williamsburg, Virginia. I think it worked. I've decided I like detailed floral patterned ties, like those on Islamic walls or pottery, better than I do stripes, or Vineyard Viney ties. Those patterns paired with the strong look of a tailored suit look make really good matches.


Thursday, January 17, 2008:
For the final of this week's installments I chose the navy blue silk knit tie that I received as a present from my father, by Gitman Bros. from John Helmer Haberbasher. I paired it with a light blue oxford and my favorite herringbone blazer again. I thought it was very collegiate/1960s when my dad was in school. And never mind Brian Branton, who commented that "the 80's ended blah blah blah." What-ever dude. Besides, didn't you love the Eighties Mr. Branton?