Royal finish.

Thursday April 17, 2008:
Today marks the last entry in this illustrious series. I have to say it's been a lot of fun picking through the selections and getting to make interesting combinations. Today's choice offers a bit of symmetry. When I began my life of wearing ties in Washington, DC I chose this tie, a deep purple Ralph Lauren tie with silver stripes. I found this tie on a shopping trip with Katherine and her mother at the Woodburn outlets. This, I believe, was our then-annual early wake-up day after Thanksgiving bum rush of stores. The two women who have purple in their veins decided that this would be a great new member to my growing family. I chose my favorite gray suit, a french cuff shirt and my cordovan Cole Haans. It was a good day to dress well, I thought.

So yes. This is it. The end of the trek through my ties. I ventured into this crazy blogging world, I didn't know anyone. It was scary. But I soon became accustomed to my surroundings and I settled in for many late nights of typing.

This trip has taught me what I like about fashion's power of self expression. It creates an individuality that is both sets you apart from the world you live in also entirely part of you in your world.

As I am sure you have ascertained, the ties were the real stars of this story, but I have to say there were many, many supporting actors. I would like thank my shirts, the many that I have worn over the weeks and weeks. This blog has set a baseline for me and also opened by eyes in terms of combinations that work and don't work. I would also like to thank my suits and jackets. They have been there for me every step of the way and I appreciate the role they have played in this. Without them I don't know what I have done.

But most of all I would like to thank my friends and family who have humored me in this little adventure of mine. And of course I would like to thank those of you who were lucky enough to be on my guest tie blog - but really, shouldn't you be thanking me?

I am trying to decide why I should continue this blog, since my task is done. Saturday I will pour out my ties and rehang them. It will be different to see them all again. Maybe there is some other, perhaps additional and superfluous reason for addendum, but I can't figure what that would be.

"For duty, duty must be done; The rule applies to everyone."

Tuesday April 15, 2008:
Being of proper upbringing, I was exposed to the works of the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan at a very early age. I remember the Kevin Klein and Linda Ronstadt version of The Pirates of Penzance and then the numerous rentals of The Mikado and The HMS Pinafore, and then the performances at the University of Portland until I was a teenagers. I am probably sure that those productions weren't all that great, however, it was nice that our parents kept us interested in wit and frivolity. One of the continuing themes in the works of Gilbert & Sullivan was duty. This sense of duty committed people to carrying through with their, well, duties. From the Pirate's Frederic, to the Pinafore's Ralph or the West Wing's Sam Seaborn, their sense of duty brought them to realizations of right and wrong, their past and their future, and how to cope with seemingly unsurmountable odds, and above all, carry on and shoulder the burden. And sing about them. It is this outstanding trait that brings me to wear today's tie - a bow tie. It bought this tie as a surprise to wear for Katherine's med school graduation ball, but, since I cannot keep a secret, I showed it to her. Oh well. It is black with purple and gold stripes (Go Huskies! Go Dali Llama!). Because the world now knows about this tie, I felt the duty to wear it. However, since I am on the brink of completion of this journey I couldn't wait till a Friday to hide it away from the world so I jauntily paired with my herringbone suit, white button down shirt, tied the tie around my neck and left to face the world, as the I am the very model of a modern gentleman.

*Blogger's note: You don't have to have my upbringing to catch Buttercup references; you could have caught Gilbert & Sullivan references in the TV shows The Simpsons, Mad About You, Animaniacs, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Veggie Tales, Frasier, and The Muppet Show.

Found Gem

Wednesday April 9, 2008:
This tie falls into the category of astonishing. It is everything I have learned to love: shiny, purple and patterned. Oh, and inexpensive. I spent the day shopping (I do other things, too.) and ended up at Marshals in Pentagon City where I was going to scoot through not planning on finding anything. This is a great idea if you weren't actually shopping, ie looking and investigating. Discovered in the tie section was a Ted Baker tie and this tie by Alby. I have always liked the pattern of glen plaid because of the formality of the texture. I had my eye on a wool one at some point, but I lost track of it and instead found this one. When I first looked at it I got excited about the pattern, but I soon discovered that there was a thread of purple woven in. On top of that it has a little bit of sheen to it. I wore it with my favorite gray suit and my cordovan shoes for a really cool classy, evening look.

Trying to spring spring once more.

Monday April 7, 2008:
Today's inspired selection came to me in effort to comfort my soul because of the lack of spring. The selection was the inspiration of Katherine, even though she doesn't remember suggesting it. We were in the Banana Republic at 13th and F St NW and saw this shirt which was a loose graph check of blue and purple set on the bias. Sitting on a nearby table was a light green linen tie. It was her inspiration and insight that lead me to think I needed this. Oh. No, I did need this. This is the kind of push that I needed into something that is completely different. This shirt has also worked well with my solid purple tie for dressier occasions.

Lavender selection.

Thursday April 4, 2008:
I don't have much to say about today's selection. The tie from JCrew was purchased at the Park Meadows mall south of Denver on one of the MANY shopping trips with Katherine. The tie is a light lavender with white dots. It may be that it's not really lavender but could be considered lilac. Feel free to weigh in on that statement. Regardless of the color, in the long string of spring ties I have to wear, I picked this one. I decided to wear my herringbone suit because, as of yet, spring has yet to show itself. I paired it with my favorite white shirt. Everything looked smart, but I am not totally convinced this is my favorite of my options. Whatever my reasoning for buying the tie, it must have come down to the cost = fun equation. Yes, it was $19.99 of fun. Actually, now that I look at it, I do like this tie. Good choice today Nils.

Not Hip Enough, I Guess

Wednesday, March 19, 2008:
Today I found out that there is difference between being hip and well-dressed. My friend Chris and I went to a photo show tonight, for the The Sartorialist, and I found myself in the middle of a love fest of actively fashionable people close to my age. I should have had a good time scoping out the scene and all the young women circling each other in attempts to prove their fashion street cred to one another, and don't get me wrong, it was a terrific show, but it was probably 130 degrees in the gallery and the stench of bad merlot evaporating into the air was a little too much for me. So, back to me. Today, to look well-dressed, I chose the remaining knit tie - which is purple - and a light blue oxford with my favorite blazer - this is probably the last time this year I get to wear it this season. The tie is a recent acquisition from Brooks Brothers. Once again, I proved that the good ties at Brooks Brothers are found on the clearance table. It met the threshold of the cost per unit of fun equation so it came home with me. I can't find the words, or an SAT analogy, for the difference between hip and well-dressed, but I know I am happy with the one I am. However, if I wanted to try the hip thing, there are plenty of people in the photos with Wayfarers, and I have Wayfarers. . . I'm just saying. However, I have about 25 more lbs than they do, too. Maybe it's the same as the difference between a job and a career? Feel free to correct me.

Last Minute Inspiration Works

Friday, March 14, 2008:
Most of the time I solve the riddle of what I am going to wear the night before, knowing my propensity to waste mountains of time in the morning. Well, Thursday night fell apart on me so I found myself with the shot clock running down Friday morning in front of dwindling options on the tie rack and a desire not to do something simple - these two parts of the equation don't really pencil out to punctuality. During my whirlwind first H&M experience I had purchased a solid purple/mauve tie that went well with a graph check shirt that I until recently owned (it's spring evacuation here at 222B). At some point that tie got a snag in it, and if you've ever had a snag is a tie, you know as well as I do that it is a disastrous feeling as they basically ruin the tie - anyways, I had the occasion then to NEED a tie. The replacement was found at Target and it is by their house brand Merona. I bought it in time to wear to the memorial service of Frank Bates, a man that I greatly admired and Katherine's grandfather.

Finding myself back in front of my closet, I scanned across my shirt spectrum and suddenly I saw something that looked the appropriate level of spring - a shirt with green and purple vertical stripes. I grab a the Merona tie, but also a green tie and laid them across the shirt. I was disappointed instantly with the green one but hesitant with the purple one still. Knowing that the best part of this game was the consequence free experimentation, I decided it was OK that I looked redder than usual and threw on the shirt and tie with my gray suit from Banana, snapped a photo and was out the door. The compliments I received throughout the day proved that genius comes from being pressed for time.

I also wanted to highlight Dennis' selection today. Awfully patriotic, and I appreciate that on a Friday.

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.

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.

Bright Stripes

February 7, 2008:
Some labels say bright vibrant color and creative designs, and some don't. I think that Brooks Brothers falls into the latter category. While extremely classy and well made, Brooks Brothers is very conservative in its fashion. Brooks Brothers prides itself in its conservatism shaped by double breasted blazers, bankers collars, French cuffs, and pleated pants, along with the upscale Eddy Bauer-ness it tries to do in its sportswear collection. Variations on the "old man" theme. Sometimes I feel like they could do much more then they do, and it's a shame. However, one bright spot is this silk tie in all shades of purple and blue. I bought this tie at the Brooks Brothers outlet in Castle Rock, CO. It was deeply discounted as it probably was undesirable for the normal crowd. There is no repeating pattern in the stripes, in fact, there is no consistency in the width which is the fun of the tie, $20.00 of fun.

Patchwork party

Friday, January 25, 2007:
See! I told you that I had a healthy amount of purple in my closet. What I love about what I chose to wear today was the richness of it all - the sweater is not a flat purple, but a it's an eggplant, and I managed to hide a complicated black patchwork tie under it, and got to wear my favorite blazer. It all comes together with a worn style, and a sense of a sophistication. I don't think I could wear this tie any other way, unless it was for a swanky cocktail party. The tie, which is by JCrew, is a patchwork pattern of other black ties they had made, which was a theme of theirs this fall and winter - they had a patchwork tie of plaids in greens and reds. Fall is definitely my favorite fashion time of the year, and I keep trying to inject my favorite parts throughout the year. It is important to note that each year JCrew totally wins me over. Whether it's their focus on dense fabrics and warm, rich colors or their inclusion of supermodel Maggie Rizer, I always look forward to what their catalogs hold. Since the tie was hand-stitched from 1 and 1/2 inch squares of other ties, each one of their patchwork ties was inherently unique. I chose one that didn't include the martini motif since I wanted to wear it at work at some point. But it still brings a little party to the day.

Analyzing purple

January 24, 2008:
I've always had a respect for purple, but never knew what to make of it and certainly didn't know how to wear it, or if I should. The connotations of purple have always been effeminate, which takes away from the historical value of the color as that of royalty, power and wealth, all very masculine things in my book. Needless to say it took some feminine direction and support and I have a healthy dose of it in my wardrobe and I am not the least bit ashamed - as you will see. The word "purple" comes to us from the Latin "purpura" and didn't make into the English vocabulary until 957AD. Tyrian purple, the "original" purple, was the color of a dye made from a mollusk that, because of its incredible expense (many times more expensive than gold), in classical antiquity became a symbol of royalty because only the very wealthy could afford it. I don't want to lay blame on anyone for making this color one that men stay away from, but I don't necessarily think that you should drape yourself in it. It should be adopted but modified to fit within your limits until you trust yourself with it. Today I chose a purple paisley tie Tasso Elba by Macy's, which I know pushes the limits a little, and chose a blue and purple striped shirt from the Gap, which pushes it a little more I think. I attempt to solve the situation with plain black suit from Brooks Brothers - my interview suit. I had worn this combination a lot in the fall of 2005 and I liked it, and I still kind of do, but looking at it now I am distracted by it quite frankly. Paisley is an interesting pattern concept but I think that it is better off much smaller than the one here. I think that this tie is a selfish look at paisley. The focus is in the lower, lighter vine thus hogging the rest of the visual effect. I think the paisley looses its richness when the focus is so intently on one feature. Maybe it's confused more by my choice in shirt in a completely contrasting manner. I don't know, you tell me what you think. . . either way I won't see the tie for a couple months so I have some time to mull it over.

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?