Style Share return: Polo tie

After a bit of a lull, I've had a load of Style Share returns lately, including the following entry. This one goes back a couple months, to the fair month of September.

This classic Polo tie was claimed by Prinz Ulrich von Boffke, who runs a couple interesting niche blogs of his own, and who layered this one up right.

photos courtesy Prinz Ulrich von Boffke

On a lovely fall day, the tie absolutely pops with a dark suit, a contrast collar shirt, and a super rad tweed overcoat. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that I was really jealous of his leather briefcase bag.

Thanks again, PUvB, for your photos, and for everyone else who has played along and participated in my little attempt at spreading some style.

Style Share: November

A huge, special shout out to my good friend Ryan, who donated the rad tartan ties below to Style Share for this month. He had a surplus and decided to spread the love. How's that for getting into the spirit?

As always, the only thing I ask is that the recipient of said item of free* clothing email me back a photo or two of them wearing it for a follow-up post on this site. First three ties claimed will be sent out.

Brooks Brothers tie a nice navy / baby blue / cream pattern. Play it up, play it down.

Polo tie in emerald and off-white. Kind of a slubby, rough silk and perfect for fall. Goes just as well with a suit, a loden coat, or a Barbour. Versatile.

Lovely tartan in red, blue, and dark green with a hint of gold. Straight-up lovely and perfect for the holiday seasons.

Another tartan tie in somewhat similar colors, maybe just a little more understated. Goes with just about anything.

Tie Rack Tie for Leonardo Strelli in a lovely, repeating inverted flower motif. Kinda deco, classy, and playful all in one.

As usual, claim your item in the comments, then email me through the address listed on the site. Happy hunting.

*Seriously, it's free, and yours to keep forever. No strings attached. I won't share your name on the site or with anyone else unless you have a blog of your own that you want me to link. Please note that all clothing will be used (but certainly not stained, smelly, or damaged, as I do have standards), so please only agree to participate if this sort of thing doesn't gross you out. Thanks!

Non-Discrimination Policy

If you're a thrifter who seeks menswear accessories on a regular basis, you probably already know that one of the best places to find certain items is actually in the women's accessory area. I personally scan through scarves and silk shawls and squares just about every trip out, as there's often something great to be found. In fact, I've run across both of the ascots that I own this way (and passed on several others), and have found a lot of great pocket squares by digging through mounds of polyester discards as well.

Really, though, I'm not super picky when it comes to pocket squares, and even use women's scarves on occasion. I have a couple smaller vintage Vera pieces that pop with color and fit into my breast pocket nicely, and I've even previously posted about a souvenir scarf that sometimes pokes a corner out of my pocket.

It's a good thing I don't discriminate, either, because otherwise I probably would have passed on the following vintage cotton ladies handkerchiefs.

A couple with organic colors and flower prints.

A couple more with brighter colors, and more flowers.

A simple, purple handkerchief, with the most glorious worn texture.

At 13 by 13 inches, they're exactly the sizes they need to be, and depending on whether I'm feeling simple or want a bit more dash of pattern, I can let nothing but block colors and lines peek out, or more of the flowery prints. I've already worn a couple on separate occasions and their lovely colors and unique texture make them new favorites in the collection.

Style Share return - Brooks Brothers tie

Continuing a nice string of recent Style Share returns, another photo hit my inbox recently.

This one courtesy of Mason, who snagged the above tie from the August edition.

Although I mentioned in my original post that I thought it was a fairly conservative print, he paired it up with a really cool, dark Glen Plaid jacket and a pink Brooks Brothers OCBD to set it off a bit. Shows you how much I know.

Thanks again for the return, Mason, and for everyone who has participated so far. Another installment will be arriving this month yet at an unspecified day and time. :)

Layers and textures and fading rays

After an incredibly extended late summer and mild fall, we've gotten our first few tastes of actual winter here lately. One day, it was so overcast that it was still dark when I arrived into work, and another found rain turning into sleet and snow. Although long winters tend to make me feel a bit cuckoo, I have to admit feeling a bit invigorated when those days with a real crisp chill in the air finally arrive.

It's been enough of a change that I finally hauled my winter bins out of the basement and stashed all my summer garb for hibernation. In doing so, I was not only excited by things I hadn't seen in months, but items I'd picked up in the off season and had yet to wear. The act of layering for fall and winter always makes for much more exciting possibilities (for me, anyway) when it comes to texture and patterns.

With one of my first real cold-weather outfits, I perhaps went a bit overboard. Here, I paired a tartan tie with my trusty herringbone tweed jacket, a red cable-knit v-neck sweater, and a brick and gold pocket square. Oh yeah, and some cream-colored corduroy pants.

Hey, at least the shirt is a solid color, and yes, I did mean to leave the button-down collars flicked out like that. It was close to Halloween and I thought they looked like vampire teeth, so gimme a break.

Just kidding, actually I really like how they visually flow with the neck of the sweater, as well as mimic the natural "V" pattern of the herringbone. It most definitely leans towards sprezzatura, but it felt right to me for the aforementioned reasons.