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366 Bow Ties: Day 101

If you were to mistake me for the President of Winthrop University in a bow tie like this, you could be forgiven. Garnet and Gold look pretty handsome with our fabulous local garden, Glencairn, in the background. In fact, the whole thing makes one think "school's great, but it's almost out."

366 Bow Ties: Easter and Seersucker

We started things off with a sunrise service at Glencairn Gardens, which was eaaarrrrlllllyyy, but felt quite right. It's easy to take for granted the fact that we have such a stunning garden right in the middle of town. Add to it sunrise and Easter, and, well---you get the picture.

Easter, of course, means seersucker. No, that's not all it means. But sartorially, speaking, the joy of what Easter essentially means is expressed through the donning of seersucker.

Our seersucker-donning friends took the occasion to pose together joyfully. I began the day with pale blue trousers, white oxford, and a pink/blue reversible seersucker bow tie in club diamond shape. The bow tie stayed all day, but the aforementioned blue trousers, of course, fell victim to a stream of coffee flowing from my defective 'travel mug'. Darn those travel mugs! Oh well. That just means I got to rock the Nantucket Reds, made by Bill's Khakis, with a blue oxford, for the afternoon. I continue to be amazed at the quality and fit of Bill's M3s. They're not hipster-fit skinny nonsense. But they're also not swimming pools. They look classy in weathered red, and not costumey and ridiculous---I'm sure this has a lot to do with the fit. Kudos to you, my favorite maker of khakis!

You do know, of course, that you can get a ton of seersucker colors on our webstore, right? And you can combine them just about any way imaginable, and in any shape we offer.  This one's yours for the astonishing price of $20. Just this one, just today. Maybe even just in the next 10 minutes if the deal is as sweet as I think it is.

We ate a lot of food, wore a lot of seersucker, and did a lot of church. I even took 2 naps, as I recall. In other words, a glorious day, as it should be.

Don't forget that all the proceeds from our 366 Bow Ties project are going to help the children of Haiti through MTW. Every last dollar. We've already generated more than $3,000 and we're aiming for $10,000 in 2012. Our first project is to provide tables and chairs for children to eat and learn upon at a very special school, which we hope to visit ourselves before too long. Thanks for your help.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 97

Good Friday.

It was one of those gorgeous Spring days when you wished that it was seersucker season. But you don't go jumping the gun on seersucker---especially on Good Friday. So what do you do? You reach for this linen striped bow tie in that classic seersucker blue. But of course it's not seersucker. It's not even cotton---it's linen.

And it's gorgeous. And it's yours here.  We call it the Grantham.

We had a little Good Friday service in my artist friend's living room.

Thanks for bearing with us while we get caught up on all these blog posts and bow tie listings. Happy Friday.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Days 92, 93, 94 .......

Day 92: Linen. Bold, blue, no-nonsense linen in all its versatile, goes-with-anything-but-black, textured, breathable, linen.  The Craig, we say.

...goes especially well with a folksy postlude.

Grab this bow tie at a discount now.

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And then there's Day 93: A patch madras day. Diamond point (classic is shown directly above; Day 93 is a diamond-point.) A double-date with the parents Uptown day. A blue blazer and khakis to keep things simple so that patch madras can do its thing day. A photo in front of the restaurant which is also in front of the historic First Presbyterian Church day.

And of course, an Oak Street Bootmakers penny loafer day. Oh---and a Bill's M3 khakis day.

In other words, a good day! Get this Emmett Madras.

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Day 94 meant pale blue-green linen. As plain and straight-forward as the bold navy blue in Day 92, but subtle. Kind of like my Classic Concentration props to my adopted town. Like that?

Nice, huh? Luxurious linen. The Day 94 one is in straight batwing shape. We call it the Bates. Grab this one.

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Day 95 called for navy gingham on a green linen button-down. I think you'll agree this is a strong combination. A good combo to wear while sitting on your intern's front porch doing sermon prep. We call it the Garrison. And it's handsome. Grab it.

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I think that's sufficient for one post, no? A couple more catch-up posts (and listings), and we'll be all caught up!

366 Bow Ties: Day 91 - The Bow-Stache Birthday!

[slideshow] In an effort to catch up, I'm going to have to just cut to the chase and rapid-fire some posts, mostly letting the pictures provide you--postmodern interpretation-style--with whatever 1,000 words you want them to provide. I will say this, however: get this classic silk bow tie now or it's gone forever. And enjoy the photos of the Bow-Stache Birthday party. A splendid surprise, and a wonderful time.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 89

"Boy are you looking mustachey today." Indeed I am, honey. Thanks for noticing. And thanks for the gorgeous green and blue plaid cotton madras bow tie, too. Too bad I'm going to have to part with it.  I'm even going to have to offer it--the Irwin in diamond point, just this one--at a discount.

Sometimes you just want khakis, a blue blazer, and loafers. Doesn't get more classic. Bill's Khakis do the trick, as do Oak Street Bootmakers penny loafers. A blue blazer can be had at a thrift store or made-to-measure by an experienced tailor. Either way, you need one, and you need to wear it 3-4 times/week, in my humble opinion.

Classic attire is especially called for when you're going to be one of the youngest fellas at a gathering called "Entertaining Southern Style," an event at our beloved Museum of York County.  It's a good thing I restocked my wallet with TCC business cards, cause they were gone by the end of the evening.

Delicious food, delightful company. Glad to be a part of our community with such fine people and such a fine institution.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 87

It's a crying shame, but I'm afraid that the time for wearing boots in South Carolina is coming to a halt. Sadly, this comes just a month or so after receiving the best pair of boots I've ever owned, and one of the most well-made, American-made items I've ever owned in any category, period. Wolverine has been making boots for people who actually need them to do their jobs forever. They kind of know what they're doing.

It especially shows in their heritage line, the Wolverine 1000 Mile Boot. The things look, feel, smell, and most importantly, wear perfect.

Mine are this gorgeous "natural" shade shown above. I figured I'd be my usual just-a-little-off-centered self and deviate from the standard brown finish. Glad I did. Thanks to the kind folks at Wolverine for participating in the 366 Bow Ties shenanigan, and thus helping us help change children's lives in Haiti. Save up--do whatever you need to do--and get yourself a pair of 1000 Miles. They'll last you the rest of your life.

Madras again! Patch madras again! See what I mean about boot season coming to a close? Grab this snappy patch madras today! There might not be a tomorrow, you know. At least for this bow tie.

Along with patch madras and the end of boot season comes the beginning of Eating Outside Season. (I am an avid indoorsman, but here I make a glad exception. Or not an exception, really, for I reckon a meal out of doors to essentially be a temporary extension of the dining room.) With Eating Outside Season comes the need for places to eat. We're helping Mission to the World build places for school children to eat with revenues from January and February's incredible 366 Bow Ties project. They're probably even better tables than this cheapie, the sign of which proclaimed that assembly could be done in 5 minutes without tools. Yep. Maybe for a non-indoorsman.

But eventually my children saw me actually complete the assembly, and we had a lovely meal with our community group that evening.

Enjoy Eating Outside Season. Enjoy it with a Cordial Churchman bow tie. Enjoy it with a pair of Wolverine 1000 Mile boots on if the weather happens to dip below 58F. If above 58F, do it barefoot. Or if you're doing things more properly, with a pair of Oak Street Bootmakers penny loafers, without socks, of course.

Cordially,

366 Bow Ties: Day 86

Madras is kind of a theme, huh? It's mostly for this reason: it's not time for seersucker until Sunday (Easter). And it's warm and sunny. Hence, madras. Patch madras, in this case.

These are pretty much gone forever after this one goes. Grab it now. 

If you need to do music at the last minute for a good old Presbyterian revival service, this bow tie is the obvious pick.

Also perfect for picking your eldest son up with your youngest son in the bike trailer.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 85

Another fine madras, happily worn at the beach. Formerly a Rooster neck tie, too too wide. Now perfect. Happily for you, now available.

We had a grand old time at Guys to Gents. Sunday brightened up quite a bit, which meant Ray Bans. Those are always good days.

Somebody told me to pee in the ocean for them. I forgot to even go in the ocean. Sorry about that, Atlantic, and buddy. Nothing personal. I still think you're pretty. Atlantic, that is.

366 Bow Ties: Day 84

Guys to Gentlemen. Went on a retreat to the beach with 6 friends from the church to explore this topic. I insisted that the leader include me in a breakout session on grooming and neckwear, but he must have thought I was only kidding, because it didn't make it into the agenda. Oh well.

Look closely: it's a double rainbow. Really cool, huh?

Stephen affectionately offered this impression of me. Not bad, not bad...

The bow tie is a little tough to see. But it's an old madras Lands' End necktie. A little too wide for my style---so it went into the "make into a bow tie" pile. Gorgeous blues and reds and yellows. Yours for $29.