Tags and Textures: Vintage cream / red / blue silk tie

While the good things about winter include re-discovering the joys of my vintage pea coat and nearly wearing out a heavy-duty Pendleton scarf from daily use, my patience is starting to wear thin with the cold temperatures. I probably wouldn't be so grumpy about it all if the skin on the tips of several fingers wasn't cracked and bleeding, and I'd probably even find it slightly tolerable if our furnace hadn't decided to stop working on not one, but two separate nights when the temperatures dropped into single digits, but seriously.

At least I'm getting some extra cardio with all the snow shoveling.


Really, though, I'm ready for some warmer temperatures and a brighter color palette. In anticipation, here's a vintage tie from the venerable Maus & Hoffman of Florida, who have been in business for over 70 years.


I've never been there, but based on their website collection and quality of this tie and others I have from them (including a really old Hermes), they're purveyors of only the finest of finery. Yes, they're pricey, but lest you think all their prices are out-of-reach, check out the sweet madras pants on clearance for only $59! Damn!


Made in Italy of some sturdy rough silk.


This particular tie was featured in this original post and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that it was not only frayed at the bottom, but had a couple stains (on the back, thankfully). I wore it once last fall during a particular Indian summer-ish day, but I can't wait to break it out again soon.

Walking contradiction

I'm all for following some traditional rules and not throwing everything out the window when it comes to personal style, but sometimes I wake up and simply glaze over some things for fun. If it's comfortable, it looks decent, and if my wife doesn't halt me before stepping out the door, it's a go.

Case in point was today.

First off, I remember reading a blog where a fellow once said,

"As I've mentioned in other posts, I often feel self-conscious about wearing hats (simply because they make me even taller)...

Oh dear, a rabbit fur cap.

Secondly, is that a freaking Australian Open golf tournament v-neck sweater being worn on a day when there's 8 inches of snow on the ground? Why yes. Yes it is.

Some dudes have Hawaiian shirt Friday; I guess this is my equivalent.

Pull your feet to your chest

After a nice warm-up later last week and the beginning of this one, we had another cold snap here today. Between lunch and the end of the work day, we got almost 4 inches of snow, making the drive home slow going and pulling into the steep driveway a hit-or-miss proposition. Fortunately, the front-wheel drive found success on the second try.

I knew it was it was coming, though, and tried to celebrate yesterday with some suitable hints of warmer color.


Up top, I went with a western-styled tweed jacket that's incredibly versatile on days that fluctuate wildly in temperature. It's warm, but only half-lined, so it breaths pretty well. Paired it with a pink and white university striped OCBD and even busted out one of my Hermes ties. Pocket square in gold (another one courtesy of Kleidsam, - thanks man!) seems like it might be a bit of a stretch, but bear with me here...


Down below, I went with cream corduroys, striped socks and my beeswax Clark bucks, which have aged nicely and are giving off a lovely patina of yes, gold!

Like I said, that's pushing it a bit, but I was trying to shove some subtle attention in their general direction. Their color is just too nice to not appreciate.

And now, I must go scoop the sidewalk.

Neck decoration and a confession

In addition to the sunglasses I wrote about in the previous post, my best finds lately have been a couple of accessories. It seems like I'm always finding interesting neckties, but it's rare that I come across something so interesting as the scarf that I ran across the other day.


Some time ago, I learned to always peruse the women's scarves while thrifting. Men's pocket-squares are often scattered in, and I found a an ascot awhile back as well.


My persistence was again rewarded the other day when I found this beautiful scarf hanging amongst the dregs and was instantly drawn to it. With a bold paisley print in 100% silk on one side and the other in 100% medium-weight black zephyr wool, it's about 10 times more flashy than the usual winter scarf, but I can't wait to drop it into rotation at some point and let the silk side flash.


Awhile back, I also ran across this lovely silk bow tie in navy with baby blue polka dots.

Now, I'm certainly lowering my style credit (not that I ever had any to begin with) several notches in admitting this, but I have to share that I've never worn a bow tie in my entire life. When I saw this tie, I saw it as a future challenge to myself, and bought it with the thought that owning such a nicely-constructed piece (in such easy-to-work-with colors) would certainly be the impetus to finally take the bow tie plunge.

This one will be continued at some point in the future.

Thrift karma in action

Years ago, when my wife was a poor undergraduate student, she decided to splurge a bit and treat herself with a nice pair of Ray Ban sunglasses (about $100). After owning them for only a couple weeks, she accidentally left them on a desk in a computer lab after writing herself bleary-eyed. When she returned, they were gone, and she swore to never spend more than $20 on a pair of sunglasses again.

My thrift scores have been few and far between lately, but when I saw the almost brand-new pair of Ray Ban's sitting in the sunglasses pile at my local store (including their original case and cleaning cloth), I knew I had to buy them. At the time, I wasn't quite sure they were in a style that my wife would like (and I hadn't yet heard the aforementioned story), but they were nice enough to buy regardless.


Needless to say, she was stoked to see what I'd found, as the dark tortoiseshell Ray Ban's were the same exact style of the ones that she'd lost so many years ago.

As I mentioned above, they're immaculate, without a single scratch and had only a single fingerprint smudge on one lens, which buffed off easily with the enclosed cloth. Not too bad for $4.

Gray days and gray things

Today was one of those weird between-seasons days that tempts you with some warmth then quickly reminds you that it's actually still winter. Brisk and cold in the morning with a glorious warm-up in the middle, then clouded up and dreary by the end of the work day.

I was lucky enough to experience all three of those temperatures firsthand, as I rode my bicycle to work for only the third time this year. I didn't set out to mirror the late-day cloud-over with my outfit, but it seemed to fit quite well by the time I pedaled home and the sky was a sheet of gray.


As I mentioned in my last post, I've gotten some amazing gifts back from people that have participated in Style Share. In a way, it's sort of become Style Swap, and in this outfit both the lovely tie and pocket square are courtesy of Kleidsam, who's always tearing it up stylistically.


I paired them up with a sort of multi-sized hounds tooth jacket in black and white that I have a hard time working into the rotation. Here, the soft grays seemed to melt the dramatic contrast almost perfectly, and it all sort of blurred into some thick black wool pants and wingtips that kept me warm while pedaling away.


On a quick eye-scan, it's almost like a fade from white to black from the top down, with little flecks of color here and there (the jacket has some threads of blue and purple going through it), perfect for a day that hinted at sun then faded to something a little more subdued.


I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my steed, which I mentioned in an earlier post then promptly forgot. It's a bicycle that I built from the ground-up (it started out as a vintage road bike), with loads of parts that I picked specifically for turning it into something that's close as possible to being the perfect commuter bicycle.

If you're a bike geek and want me to do a more detailed post on all the details, let me know, otherwise I'll just let it be and say that I came pretty close to hitting my mark. I can ride in a jacket and tie with leather soles and have no worries. It's comfortable, minimal, and a bit throwback, and I love it.

Can't explain it

There are a few items of clothing in my wardrobe that I have a somewhat hard time explaining why I like so much. They either have somewhat dubious and/or dated styling, and yet I keep them around and break them out on various occasions.


This oxblood leather jacket is one of those items. The styling is very 80s (see detail picture below), with zippers on the chest and a slim cut that makes it looks like something out of The Warriors crossed with a jacket that a backup dancer in a Michael Jackson video might wear.


That said, I like it. The color is deep and rich and it fits me really well (if a bit tight when I'm wearing a sweater underneath), and really, there's not a lot more to explain than that. On this particular day, I paired it with an older Lands' End knit tie, a Brooks Brothers v-neck sweater, my Pendleton driving cap, some cream corduroys and rather nondescript Florsheims.

Speaking of the aforementioned tie, it was actually a gift from The Cable Knit Collegian, who sent a great selection of them to me awhile back. When I started up Style Share, I certainly didn't expect anything in return, and yet I've gotten several awesome things from those who have participated. I've been incredibly flattered by this gesture from my "internet friends" (as my wife calls them when she sees me opening a package), and I've been working the pieces into my wardrobe recently and will be featuring more of them in the near future.

Considering all the outright dissing and petty bickering that I read on some men's style blogs, the return kindness is one of those damn cool things that proves there are plenty of good guys out there. More to come.