Knot a Blog: 2006年8月

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8月27日

Themes Like Old Times

When I began this blog, I emphasized thematic or pictoral ties, ties with recognizable images. Over the months, however, I've gotten more subtle, exploring my Lenten variations on dots, the dreaded diagonal stripes, solids, and plaids and going on to such oddities as asymmetrical vertical designs.

This week, I am returning to the major themes of thematics - people, things, animals, and plants. Monday (28th) and Tuesday (29th), the neckties bear images of people. The tie that inspired me to start this blog was a lovely Boxelder necktie bearing Native American symbols. This week's tie is a presentation of more mainstream (that is, white mainstream) images of the Native Americans themselves. (Mezzano Original, silk, US)

After a celebration of Native Americans, we move on to, of course, cowboys. (Nature's Museum Collection, "Coyote Nights," Fashion Neckwear Co., Inc., silk, Domincan Republic) Cowboys appear on some of the ties from the Forties and Fifties that I call "vintage ties." I have a splendid one of a cowboy on a bucking horse.

Although I'm looking back to earlier thematic ties, for a change, I'm not linking back to those earlier ties. Perhaps you will want to look back through the blog for these earlier ties, such as the tie which, like the necktie for Wednesday (30th), showed shelves of books. Both of these neckties remind me of my bedroom, glimpses of which you can find here. (Eagle Wings, polyester, Korea)

Animals have always been important in my life, and they also are important on my neckties. They are represented this week by this elegant elephant. Please do not draw any political conclusions about my wearing an elephant tie. Even a yaller-dog Democrat like me can appreciate a tie like this, especially for its lovely brocaded botanical designs. This tie with its grand symbol of Africa serves to welcome back to her home country my friend Anita, who has recently visited South Africa. (Wembley Endangered Species, silk, US)

I finish this week and begin September with a tie that makes me feel sorry for people who do not get to wear neckties. This tropical bouquet does not fit into what I call the "floral" category, which to me is a category of ties with repeating patterns of flowers. I would call this one a "botanical," since it is free-form.

Whatever you call it, it is splendid, with its rich colors of tropical blooms against a black background. The other tie-bloggers have featured neckwear from Hawaii, and now, so do I. (Kahala Creations, Hawaii, USA, unidentified fabric, probably cotton)

I know I'll enjoy wearing these ties, with all their fun and beauty. I hope you'll enjoy viewing them. Special thanks to my Designated Shopper, who found all five of these for me. This week is not only a look backward but also a hint of things to come with its tie from the Dominican Republic, a first for me. No, I do not plan a week of ties from the DR, but I do look forward to sharing with you ties from countries that are represented in my collection by a single example each.

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8月23日

More Big Ties

We are back on topic or theme to finsh up the week with two ties with labels suggesting different ethnicities, but both are silk ties from Korea. For Thursday, the 24th, there is a wild mix of designs - even a background of quadrangles, with a big design that suggests a guitar. (Zeidler & Zeidler)

And the week ends (25th) with a tie that goes beyond big to outright wild. There are quadrangles. There are asymmetical vertical designs, there are nutty samplers of all kinds of patterns - curves, triangles, and a domineering black quadrangle with a corner chopped off. (Ottimo Uomo)

And, after that, I need a couple of vitamin tablets, a stiff drink, and a long nap.

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8月20日

Big Ties

Once again, I'm not being exactly square with you, since these ties are not really big. They just feel that way, with big, sprawling designs that will challenge me to be "living up to my neckties" this week.

The designs of these neckties speak louder than words. In fact, they shout. Just about enough said on my part.

On Monday, August 21st (after a few mixed-up weeks, we are back on Eastern Standard Tie-m), the tie is a stately ivory with a black border. which gives the knot black borders on the top and bottom. The background has very faint yellow (almost like old ivory) tunning through it, and the design is a large architectural detail. It looks like a chandelier. (DiMoggio, silk, Korea)

I'll follow that on Wednesday with another tie with an architectural feel. I do believe that it has a large keyhole in the design. (Salvatore Gregorio, silk, Italy)

Despite the similarities, there is a significant difference. Monday's tie is more vertical, while Tuesday's tie is divided into wide horizontal bands, not particularly he best choice for someone as vertically impaired as I.

And on Tuesday... ah, Tuesday! When I originally posted this entry, those two ties were for Monday and Tuesday, but, this (Tuesday) morning, something strange happened. I got in my car, got about a quarter of the way through my 24 mile (one-way) commute, and noticed that I was not wearing a tie.

I almost ran off the road. Yesterday, I managed to lock my keys in the car, and AAA came through. Gee, I wondered, do they provide roadside tie service?

When I got to work, the ladies (I am the only staff member at this facility to whom the necktie rule applies) had a holiday. Well, I wear ties on Friday, which are officially tie-less, so I felt I could claim an early Friday pass.

That got me through the morning, but I was committed to some home visits, and I realized that I could not bring myself to go into the homes of "clients" (a word I hate) without a tie. So, I had "lunch" at the nearby Salvation Army store.

I hoped to maintain this week's "big tie" theme, but I was wearing a shirt with a reddish-brown plaid, not something that would suffer just any tie. So, I was surprised to find a big-designed tie in shades of brown... also an ancient Countess Mara tie, with the dreadful diagnonal stripes, in reddish-brown and gold. I can never resist the Countess, no matter how tacky the monogram is, maybe because the monogram is so deliciously tacky. (The esteemed Burl Veneer has recently held forth on Countess Mara here.) I took my treasure to my car, planning to put on the thematically appropriate tie, but, I swear, I could hear angels singing the Beatle's song, "Let It Be," with the words "Mother Mary" replaced by "Countess Mara."

I'm as much a sucker for such signs as I am for the sheer vulgarity of the Countess's monogram. So, today (Tuesday, 22), I unexpectedly wore another offering of Countess Mara. Notice the monogram.

Until I got my current car, I carried in my wallet a spare car key. It is obviously time to renew that practice. Also, I notice that the "glove compartment" could just as well be a "tie compartment" and hold a spare tie or two.

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8月14日

Comfortable Ties

My friend. the Designated Shopper, showed up last week with these three beauties. They do not really make a theme, but they are three wonderful neckties, given in a spirit of friendship that makes them a group.

I have looked for a tie with butterflies. I'm not sure that the tie appointed for August 16th really has butterflies on it, but it is close enough. It has a large, sprawling design, the most noticeable fature of which is that the blade (bottom tip) is solid. I cut off the tip in this illustration, so that I could show the large butterfly shaped form, with two of the smaller gold buttefly shapes on it. When the "butterflies" (if that is what they are) join along the long sides of the wings, they turn into what appears to be some bizarre marine creature. Then, there is a ladder of butterflies rising above it. I could go on and on about the design, but for now, enough said. I was surprised, after wearing it, to discover that it is polyester. (Fratello, Korea)

The group includes two vintage ties, not very common in the boutiques where I shop. I wish I knew the story behind the tie for 8-19. It is pink, with brocaded quadrangles with a snazzy black diamond or rhombus with an almost sexy capital m. Hmm... Marlene? Mae? Marilyn? I suppose an s would be a more appropriate monogram for me, but, what were the chances of finding this tie with either of my initials? Like many of these older ties, this one has a solid area (black) for a solid knot, although this comes down low enough that it would show below the knot. The only label seems to be from a store, not a manufacturer, "Levine's, Waterford, Maine."

Every time I watch Pulp Fiction I catch a line or image that I have missed in previous viewings. I really expect, the next time I watch it, to see this tie roller-skating in the background of John Travolta and Uma Thurman's date which better not be a date. Notice, I did not say someone wearing this tie. This cravet has enough personality that it could get around without a neck.

I have several older neckties with patterns of autumn leaves. I suppose that the warm shades of a cooler season (which we don't really have here in central Florida) were more comfortably masculine than the muted pastels of spring. This tie stands out from the others because of its lively background. The other ties wth leaves have solid backgrounds. Although it has a solid area, as does the previous tie, it is too far up for the knot. There is a cloth label, "TownCraft DeLuxe," and a sewn-in paper label, "Rayon, J.C. Penny," which seems as if it might have had a price, which has - unfortunately - been cut off.

Another reason for grouping these three ties together is that after missing two days in a week, I needed a three-tie group. So, I am still not being honest about the dates. But, by next week, unless something else bad happens, I shall be.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

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8月9日

Ties "4" Squares - 4

I am not being very "square" with you. My blogging is upset not so much by my father's death as by the bizarre changes going on in my blog-host. For a couple of weeks, I could not access any MSN space (now called Live) on my home computer, but I could access them at work and at other computers. As I snooped around on the Internet, I found that I was not alone with this weird problem.

Then, we made the big change. We came a-LIVE, and I cannot imagine why. My once starkly elegant blog - white letters on black background - is no more.

I had already posted photos for a another week of ties with quadrangles... my fourth week of that theme, so it seems an appropriate time to take a break from it. Actually, with the change in my work schedule, these ties were not or are not or will not be worn on the date indicated here. I've been scrupulous about that up until now, but after what will be posted here as next week's ties, we'll be back to our abnormally normal status.

The tie indicated for 8-7 (actually shown in the previous palm-themed week) is a little jewel, and I emphasize little: it is a skinny thing, not more than a couple of inches wide with four small,elegant diamonds on a black background. (City Streets, polyester).

The tie for 8-8 makes me think of an ancient floor, with square tiles in a soft, muted brown. There is a white label with white letters, "Enrico Coveri" and another label, "100% silk, Handmade in Italy."

And today, 8-9, I would have worn a tie that makes me smile. Its squares have a very un-square, improvised, downright jazzy feel. There is a label with two animals rampant, on either side of a monogram of CS with a crown over it (an improvisation on Countess Mara's monogram, perhaps?). Another label proclaims "Style, Seta Pura" (pure silk). When I rescued it from a thrift shop, it had a paper label that seemed to be from a dry-cleaner - in Italian - which I cannot find now. It is funny how this simple design just keeps on resonating with me.Also, what a luscious silk. It must taste good, but I'll restrain myself.

For 8-10, the tie is sufficient unto my needs. A little perky, perhaps, but I'm ready to move on. (Signature, Silk, US)

And the tie appointed for but not worn on 8-11 poses a Zen-like question. Is this a floral tie trapped in a quadrangular web, or is it a square tie exploding into bloom? Frankly, for me, it no longer matters. (Nino Cerruti, hadmade silk, US)

Doggone it, but it is fun to wear ties, as three of this weeks's oh-so-boring quadrangles make clear. And, it is fun to get back to my blog again. Back to my own particular normalcy, which, in my case, means showering with my parrot.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

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8月8日

Another Saturday Tie

In my last entry, I mentioned that my schedule of ties might change, since I was planning to take off to share a day with a friend and his grandson. My schedule changed, but not for any reason I had foreseen. My father died after suffering the indignities of Alzheimer's for years. As a friend whose father also died of Alzheimer's told me, "It's like losing him twice." (Sorry, but I do not feel like giving a link to Alzheimer's right now.)

The ties for Thursday and Friday of last week went unworn. For my father's funeral, on Saturday, I chose a simple but I think elegant example of my Countess Mara wannabes.

Years ago, when my parents planned their funerals, they even picked out the clothes to be buried in. My father, appropriately, was not buried in a tie.

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