Blog

366 Bow Ties: Day 52 - NYC Trip!

I didn't actually get to see this from the airplane window, because I was sitting next to the aisle and a couple ditzy rich girls' noses were blocking my view. (Thanks Stephen, for the photo, which I stole). This was my first trip to NYC. Wow. What a town. So much to reflect on.

We began in Chinatown with what for my friends has become a NYC tradition: the Nice Green Bo. Great dumpling place.

Apparently the Nice Green Bo used to be the New Green Bo, until it wasn't new. See there?

Afterward, we subway'd off to Brooklyn and hit up Hickoree's Hard Goods "Floor Two" store. Hickoree's is owned and operated by the folks who run The Hill-Side, makers of snazzy neckties, scarves, handkerchiefs, and--we now hear--bow ties. Make sure to take a peek.

It so happened that Emil, co-proprietor, was in the store. We enjoyed talking shop a bit.

They've got a beautiful array of Red Wing and Wolverine 1000 Mile boots. Yowza!

And I saw the chair, the picture of which has been floating around the internet for a while. Snazzy chair. Want.

The leather was beautiful, too, though I forget who the maker is.

And right on the first evening, I was able to get presents for my two eldest boys:

The greenish-gray plaid bow tie cut not on the bias and rendered in straight batwing shape served me well for my first day in the City. It's peach undertones clicked with the peach oxford button-down, which I wore even though I noticed it had some dead guy's monogram on the cuff.

Get this very bow tie before it's gone.

More on NYC tomorrow.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 51

Sometimes you put the jean jacket and the desert boots away and you dress like a bona fide grown up. Maybe even like an old man. This was one of those times. For no particular reason, of course. Just 'cause.

I'm fond of the notion that one should never have to feel like one should apologize for, as people say, "dressing up". Dressing up by Downton Abbey standards, of course, meant putting on white tie, not a gray chambray like this one with a pale green button-down oxford and a herringbone tweed. And khakis--how casual! Loafers?? (Oak Street Bootmakers loafers, in this instance. Boy do I love these shoes.)

But in our day and age, this sort of rig is really pushing it. I went into the bank to get some cash and received the "sir" treatment from every teller with which I made eye contact. I like this, I'll admit. They probably all laughed at me upon my exit, but hey--I made off with cash and at least the lip service of respect. I'll take what I can get.

We've done a few gray chambrays already in 2012, but this is a new fabric, and hence a new bow. Get this very bow tie, in all its diamond-pointed glory, along with a heap of "yes, sirs", at a slight discount here.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 50

Sometimes you have to go to the Farmers' Exchange. For me, it's just when we run out of dog food. The poor dog had nothing but dog biscuits and stale pretzel sticks for a whole weekend. Ah, well...

This is a bright, primary-colored madras in diamond point. Get this one for just $28. More pictures to come. But you really should just take my word for it--this is a superb madras.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Mardi Gras Edition

Mardi Gras is kind of a big deal for our crowd. My friend Stephen lived in New Orleans for a year, and has infused a bit of the Big Easy into our communal rhythms here and there. His annual Mardi Gras party is the least subtle of these NOLA cultural infusions.

Ellie made me a green, purple and yellow gingham and seersucker bow tie for the festivities--and one for my good friend Andrew. Stephen, of course, supplied the Mardi Gras bling.

Ellie also made a colorful supply of Red Beans and Rice--a great, easy "Washing Day" New Orleans dish, so called because you can just throw it in the crock pot in the morning, spend the day catching up on laundry, and it's ready as soon as the last load is folded and put away. Yum.

The main event, however, was the gumbo. The Gumbotron (the big apparatus including the tripod that suspended the cauldron over the fire and the pavilion that kept the rain off the gumbo) was almost as awesome as the gumbo itself.

The gazebo was crowned in purple.

Various NOLAisms were emblazoned on lips as well as upon paraphernalia.

Much joy was exuded outside and inside.

It would be ridiculous to say something like "Most importantly, go HERE to get the official Mardi Gras bow tie!" Obviously the most important thing is the food. But that's all eaten. Actually, the most important thing is the people. But they're not for sale.

So, my advice is to get this bow tie and get cracking on planning your own Mardi Gras smash for next year. Here she is. Get it while it's available.

Cordially,

Andy

PS--as most of our gatherings do, the evening trailed off into an impromptu hymn sing. It's great to have a handful of guitarists, pianists, a violinist, a banjoist, and a lot of vocalists in the group. And great to solidify the connection between partying, joy, and hope.

The Cordial Churchman in Southern Living Magazine

We're honored to be featured as one of Southern Living's recommended bow tie sources. They're right: we do Madras pretty well. Have a look at our current Madras offerings, and put some spring into your wardrobe.

366 Bow Ties: Day 47

Okay, I know--it was just a couple days ago that I wore these suspenders. Couldn't help it. The other day, when donning these braces, my good buddy asked me

"How am I supposed to take you seriously when you're dressed like that?"

Whoever said anything about taking me seriously? And just to make sure that nobody is accidentally under the impression I'm looking for people to take me seriously, I added two more ridiculousnesses today.

#1: A girls' bike. With a basket.

#2 An early attempt at a mustache.

The only thing I want you to take seriously is your opportunity to purchase this bow tie. This was hands down my favorite bow tie of last summer, and there are only a couple left. I'm parting with mine. This is serious business. Blue, red, yellow, white madras. Classic Butterfly. Looks great frumpy (pictured above) as well as tied with meticulous attention to symmetry.

Run and grab now.

-Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 45

Valentine's Day!

Ellie made me a really big valentine. She sewed it and painted it. Then she hung it in our room. All this on top of making me a Valentine's bow tie, pictured here.

For all this--and for the lady that she always is--she wins. Happy Valentine's Day to the Proprietor of The Cordial Churchman, to the mother of our 3 fantastic boys, to my lifelong fling.

Since the baby was under the weather, we had to cancel our dinner plans. We ate dessert, and lots of it, instead. Not a bad consolation.

But having skipped dinner, I therefore was not obligated to change out of my tweed and red bow tie and into formal dinner attire--a nice change of pace for an aristocrat like myself.

I ran across a blog on men's formal wear, the writer of which is something of an expert on the subject. He notes the transition in dinner wear from white tie to black tie with a dinner jacket during World War I. Above we have Downton Abbey's Lord Grantham in traditional dinner apparel; below, the relaxed dinner jacket that came with the war.

The author notes his lordship's mother's warm reception of such societal trends:

Lord Grantham: I nearly came down in a dinner jacket tonight.

The Dowager Countess: Really?  Well why not a dressing gown?  Or,  better still, pajamas?

If you haven't seen Downton Abbey, I hereby forbid you from reading this blog for one more day until you've watched at least the whole of Season 1. Get you to the website and start watching!

As a runaway style trendsetter, and with all the authority invested in me as a man of the cloth, I hereby pronounce that appropriate dessert wear with one's Valentine when you're stuck home with a sick baby shall henceforth consist of tweed, white oxford, Bill's Khakis, and a red bow tie. To prepare to comply with this new standard, purchase this one-of-a-kind bow tie turned from a 100% silk necktie, and we'll throw in the white twinkles for free.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 46

EDIT: Link to bow tie listing fixed!

I know I'm posting out of order. Valentine's Day bow tie will come later.

Ellie's Valentine's Day present to me was awesome. AWESOME. She set up a very manly dressing area for me. She took my valet and added to it a beautiful mirror, an antique bench, a tie hook, and a shoe horn. This in addition to pretty much overhauling our bedroom--new blinds, curtains, bedside lamps...the works.

It must have been this old fashioned gentlemanly environment getting to me when I reached for the suspenders (or as I should say, in old gentlemanly parlance, "braces").

An, of course, she made me some new bow ties from the pile of old neck ties. This one a 100% silk club diamond cut. I love this bow tie. But I'm going to part with it anyway. It's yours if you're quick.

I should also say that Ellie took these thrift store chinos in a bit in the leg for me. Which makes her even more awesome.

So awesome that, when she says "jump!", I am prone to say "how high?"

Thanks, hon.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Days 39-43

AKA, Catch-up post. I'm just going to throw these out there without too much play-by-play. Enjoy!

Day 39. I reached for a new spring TCC bow tie--the Chadrick-- a gorgeous madras thusfar only available to our Bow Tie of the Month Society members. Sometimes you just have to pack the family into the minivan and head off to Moe's. You don't necessarily have to rock a bow tie on such occasions, but if you're going to be interfacing with the world's greatest soda machine, you might as well wear the world's greatest piece of neckwear.

Just this one's available in straight batwing for now ... until the spring line is released to the general public later this month.

____________________________________________

Day 40. A guy has a couple sartorial weapons at his disposal: the carrot and the stick. The stick is loud, obnoxious, GTH. The carrot says "I don't need to be noticed, but don't you enjoy noticing me?"

This is all a bunch of nonsense, of course. I just happened to be having a low-calorie snack when my photographer was available. This is a truly original bow tie: the Alan. It's about as out-of-the-box as we get. Brown with reddish-orange, silver, and tan threads of of different sheen and weave mixed in. I think it looked good with my JandHP lapel flower, dark jeans, ridiculous green argyle socks, longwings, and my favorite Donegal tweed. This very bow tie is available here at a discount.

I used to head to the hospital several times every week. In my newer line of work, hospital visitations are pretty infrequent, and actually constitute a nice break in the routine. Special enough occasion to photograph myself in the mirror-laden elevator, at least.

____________________________________________________

Day 41. I keep stealing bow ties from the forthcoming spring collection. This is the Barrett: probably my favorite. It's a simple red linen, which almost looks like chambray. The texture is rich. The fabric is luxurious and costly. Rendered here in diamond-point, this one alone is available to you at a preview discount.

(A classic butterfly cut shown here for a closer look at the color and texture.)

One more wear for my Oak Street Bootmakers penny loafers before they're due for their first cleaning and treatment. These things still smell so dang leathery. A glorious shoe.

The whole family headed to Amelie's French Bakery in Charlotte to meet our friend Caroline Fontenot of Back Down South. All the boys wore bow ties, of course, including Wycliffe. Here he is just before he ripped a bust off the table, which went crashing to the floor and ended up on the counter in a pile, pictured below. Smooth move, son.

Deacon doesn't mind dressing up a tad, though Owen despises it. We had to bribe Owen with "doughnuts" (i.e., gourmet eclairs). Sometimes Deacon can seem like such a grown-up, like when he was patiently sitting in the car waiting to leave.

____________________________________________________

Day 42. Ellie raided the enormous pile of death-row neck ties for this yellow silk with purple foulard. She made a beautiful straight batwing shaped bow tie that seemed appropriate for another hospital visit, this time to see our friends' and my colleague's newborn.

Saturday night was the coldest it's been here all winter. It all started just at dusk while we were snapping these photos. Brrrrrrrrrrrr.

You can snag this one-of-a-kind bow tiehere, until it's gone.

_____________________________________________________

Day 43. Sometimes I go a little nuts and get all the accessories coordinated. Red, white and blue on the straight batwing silk bow tie, the socks, the grosgrain watch band, and the pocket square.

When you pull something like this off, you get a little spunky and start karate kicking the camerawoman.

Grab this one-of-a-kind former necktie-turned-TCC bow tie now, or it's gone.

___________________________________________________

And there you have it. 5 days of bow tiedness. All in one post. Almost more than any of us can handle. Don't forget that all the proceeds of the 366 bow ties I wear go to our favorite project in Haiti, helping children in poverty have a chance to be released from its clutches into lives of personal flourishing. So buy often.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 37

We're real high brow, you know? Which is why we hit up Chick-fil-A almost every Monday night for free kids grub. I'm not alone in bow tie wearing when we go, either. There's a gentleman who refreshes beverages that always wears a bow tie. It's probably subconsciously why we crave a Number 7 and a chance to let our boys get all their energy out of their system at least once per week.

Monday's tie: the Dexter. It's been elusive. Hard to capture the color exactly. Blue. Green. Subtle check. Definitely wooly, but soft. Very much wintry. Only one left--part of my personal collection. I'm willing to part with it. You should be very willing to take it off my hands.

Kids playgrounds smell like feet. You can tolerate it for a few minutes, but phew.

The little guy has been very much anxious to participate in whatever nonsense his older brothers happen to be up to. Wrestling before bedtime, and now apparently CFA playground tag, too.

Felt like the blues and browns played nice off each other: blue in the bow, brown in the sweater (looks like I copied Winthrop, our mannequin) blue in the 501s and a tad in the argyles, and then brown again with the Oak Street Bootmakers pennies.

Grab the last Dexter now or you'll quite regret it. There's a reason the fabric's all gone and mine's the only one left--it's a snazzy bow tie.

Cordially,

Andy