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366 Bow Ties: Day 12

When we first started, it was summer and we did seersucker bow ties because we didn't think anyone had done that before. We were wrong, but they were nowhere on the sartorial radar. That first winter of 2009, we still hadn't figured out how to source necktie silk, so we thought we'd try wool, thinking  (again incorrectly) that we were doing something utterly unique. I was far less convinced that wool bow ties were a good idea than I was that seersucker was a brilliant innovation. In particular, I didn't care much for this very fabric. It turns out that the customer is smarter than the merchant. The William not only became a best seller, but one of my favorites. Wool in general not only turned out to be the thing for The Cordial Churchman in the winter, it proved to be the very place neckwear was going in the last few fall/winter cycles.

We spent the week in Flat Rock, NC, among people who, as usual, thought Ellie was was cooler than me--since she runs a bow tie business. I'm just the goober who, in an effort to try to capture some of her coolness, childishly decided to wear a bow tie every day for a year. Confidence, Andy--confidence!

I enjoyed playing djembe for a fireside service we did at the end of our church planter retreat. Everything is better with fire.

As any bow tie wearer knows, the late evening undoing of the bow tie is one of the most gratifying things about wearing this peculiar piece of neckwear. This nonchalance is more dignified by far than the undone necktie, and it demonstrates conclusively that this bow tie is indeed a tie-it-yourself piece. I kind of enjoyed the way the William tucked itself into my pullover.

Grab the William in any cut for the time being -- like the classic butterfly pictured here.  

But grab January 12th's William in straight batwing cut at a discount now, before it's gone!

366 Bow Ties in 2012: Day 11

All my blue and white oxford shirts seem to be in the laundry at once. And my navy blazer needs replaced. So I headed to the mountains with a pile of sweaters, an assortment of odd jackets, and a stack of bow ties. What's the problem? It's tricky to find complementary patterns and colors when each of 4 potential layers are all patterned and colored.

Usually when I'm in this situation, I reach for a solid colored bow tie--a chambray usually works. But I'm a mere 11 days into this 366 day project and I've already done a lot of chambray. Anyway, today I opted for a brand new, never-seen-before Donegal Tweed in straight batwing. It looks kind of ridiculous with all the other patterns and colors. But then again, I'm the guy with the Wellies on, who's wearing a bow tie every day for 366 days. So 'ridiculous', in my case, is pretty relative. You be the judge. Does it work?

I spent the day in lectures. The lecturer lectured in front of a fire in a stone fireplace. This is good.

You've only got one shot at purchasing this gorgeous tweed bow tie. After this single one is gone, the Bow Tie of the Month Society members will have first crack at them at a whole line of them in February. At the end of the month, if there are any left, you'll get another shot at them.

What's Donegal Tweed? I'm glad you asked, because it gives me the opportunity to point you to the fantastic piece Put This On recently did on a new-old weaver.

And if that didn't do anything for you, watch this: if you're not moved, you probably don't have a soul.

Who's ready for the planned, nubby imperfections of a beautiful Donegal tweed?

366 Bow Ties: Day 10

The consensus is that this photo turns out to be more creepy than funny. Oh well. Spent some time with some colleagues on the 7th floor of a YMCA in Uptown Charlotte today, and had to seize the photo op with the CPR dummy.

Spent the rainy morning in my Wellies, which garnered the typical equal mix of compliments and funny looks. A stylish black colleague was among the complimenters, and after asking about the boots and how they relate in sartorial history to the bow tie, decided that my nickname out to be Wellie. So if you want to call me that, I'll gladly answer to it. Goes nice and ridiculous with "Ellie", too, huh?

Of course it cleared up and got sunny and warm later. The Wellies, sweater and tweed jacket had to go.

The bow tie of the day today is the Dedrick--a great example, in my opinion, of how to wear madras in the winter. Stay away from pastel colors, and you're legit from my perspective. The one-and-only Jan 10 Dedrick is available right now on the store--at a $5 discount.  You can order one in any cut here.

Thanks for reading,

Andy

And the winner is …

The Reverend James McDonald, number 11.

Rev. McDonald is sporting the Maxwell in a classic butterfly cut, in which, The Cordial Churchman and the masses agree, he looks natural, sophisticated, gentle, serious, and just plain good.  He has chosen the James as his prize, which will ship out in the next few days to him in Illinois.

Let this be a sign unto you.  Despite what you'll see in from me in the average 366 Days of Bow Ties series, sometimes easy does it.

Congrats, Rev. McDonald, on achieving dignified simplicity.  You are well deserving.

The Maxwell is available as a bow tie, of course, but can also be had as a neck tie--either square-end or point-end.

Run on over to the store and get yourself one, if you care to attempt to pattern your bow tying after the esteemed Rev. McDonald.

366 Bow Ties in 2012: Day 9

I think that if I had a couple pair of Wellies, I could easily live in some shabby place like Seattle.  I've been waiting, ever since returning from holiday vacation in Ohio, for South Carolina to hurry up and be rainy.  I'd been noticing all the ladies around here who have great rain boots, and wishing there were a manly option.  (You may debate the manliness of the entire notion of wearing such things when not gardening or hunting, but you'll not convince me.)  I found these from Le Chemeau, and they're just the ticket. Absurd. Provocative. Utilitarian. Incredibly styling. Classic.  Thanks to Ellie for a fantastic Christmas gift!

But this is about bow ties.  And what a bow tie we have here!  I'm going on the working assumption that whatever I part with, I'll eventually be able to replace with something at least as cool. That assumption is a stretch when it comes to this beauty.

This was one of the first bow ties Ellie ever converted from a necktie.  Vintage silk. Teal blue with a red & white floral foulard pattern.  Diamond point. Bursting with throwback personality. Don this to an audition for Bagger Vance II, and you're not going to be an extra; you may just replace Will Smith.

The great thing about being a "bow tie person" is that people already don't know what to make of you. That is incredibly liberating, allowing you to wear delightfully ridiculous things like Wellies. But the first step is to get yourself a bow tie. Start with this one. Available until it's no longer available, at our store.

Cheers,

Andy

Amazing Things are Done in our Bow Ties

Take, for instance, this:

Mr Brown is doing a new yo-yo trick every day for 2012. Kudos to him.

366 Bow Ties: Day 8

It's week two. Our bow of the day is the Morrison, named for my good pal. Houndstooth in blues on one side, olive on the other. One of this Fall/Winter's best sellers, and easily one of my favorites. Rendered here in narrow butterfly.

When you're just learning how to put a more traditional men's ensemble together, you can get pretty intimidated about what goes with what. Lots of people write to say they think they've got the guts to try a bow tie, but don't know what to wear with it. Here's the first thing to know: anything goes with a white or light blue oxford shirt, a navy blazer, khakis, gray trousers, or a gray suit. Get each of these things, and you essentially have a traditional wardrobe.

But at the most basic level, find a bow tie that looks appropriate for the season, put it with a white or blue Oxford and a blue blazer, and you're at once traditional and oozing personal style.

Today is an example of a variation on the basic bow tied uniform: a university stripe Oxford with a houndstooth patterned bow tie. Uni stripe Oxfords--especially blue--go with almost anything except ties that are striped in the same scale. Mixing up the pattern scale keeps things from getting too busy, but adds a level of interest that isn't achieved with a solid shirt.

We enjoyed a fantastic dinner today prepared by the first ever Cordial Churchman employee, Kay. It's hard to imagine having been able to sustain a business had we not had Kay's help and enthusiasm. Nowadays, she's running an international aid ministry, which makes her the most successful survivor of the Cordial Churchman sweat shop. Her agency will be the recipient of all the proceeds of our 366 Bow Ties sales. We look forward to telling you more about the partnership as it develops. It looks as though we'll be focusing our help on Haiti, perhaps with an opportunity to visit there later in the year.

Kay and Heiko and their 3 children spent a decade living and working in Berlin, and they have lots of neat Deutsche paraphernalia around the house. Kay is one of the most amazing non-professional interior decorators on the planet, I'd wager. Their home is beautiful without being even slightly pretentious or extravagant. Like in clothes, a good eye, a few basic principles, and a developed personal style seems to be the key.

So run over to the store, grab yourself a Morrison bow tie. Grab this one in narrow butterfly. Or grab one in another style. Grab one for your boss, your assistant, your preacher, your professor, your husband, your son, your girlfriend, your dog. Stick it with a blue or white shirt--or a uni strip, and make your an everyone else's world a little more interesting, and a little more classic, all at the same time.

Cordially,

Andy

PS, we had a Downton Abbey premiere party this evening. I "dressed up" to go as a period bicycle repair man. Ellie looked as fabulous as--nay, more fabulous than--Lady Mary.

366 Bow Ties: Day 7

Bow ties on Saturdays are going to be tricky. It was incredibly warm for January, perfect for my boy Owen's backyard birthday party. So I picked something that was kind of summery, but not seersucker or linen.
This used to be called the Patrick when it was a reversible bow tie with another fabric on the reverse. Get this for St Patrick's Day. Madras and bold, but not "loud". I write from the Chick Fil A playground, which stinks worse than a high school locker room. But the boys can run off their sugar high.
Run over to the store and grab today's tie. More interesting prose promised tomorrow.

366 Bow Ties: Day 6

. Buy it or it's gone.
Found both a corduroy shirt and a knit wool zip-up sweater in the back of my closet--in the "I'm Too Fat For This, But Someday" thrifted pile. Navy and gray gave me another shot at yesterday's Solidarity Palate. The red velvet doesn't really hint at brighter days, though. Instead, it embraces the bleak midwinter and meets its frosty throwdown with a cheap shot of luxury and warm elegance. What is the deal, however, with these ridiculously long sweater sleeves? Tuesday's sweater's sleeves were also much too long, but this is just nuts. I cuffed them 3/4 of the way to my elbow. It's a "detail"--right? Put that on Tumblr...let's start the next big thing.
Ellie tailored these trousers for me this morning. Wow. What a woman. More on this in another post, I hope.

Loving these Made in USA longwings--can't tell who by. But they were affordable!

Happy first Friday of 2012. Go put on a bow tie and head out for some pizza and beer.

Cheers,
Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 5

This is only sort of contrived. I actually bought Ellie these flowers and carted them home on the bicycle just the other day. And Deacon always asks for "hard bread", so I frequently bring him home baguettes. It was Man Date day for Deacon and me.

Today's bow tie is a simple gray chambray in diamond point; one of our best sellers.  Not as rugged as the denimesque blue chambray from Day 3.  I decided, on this sunny and warm winter Carolina day to symbolize my solidarity with those suffering from the gloom of SADD in the grimly gray and icy blue Chirstmasless Ohio snow belt. Gray and blue from head to toe. Seems boring and nearly monochromatic. But what adds interest (to me anyway) is the textural variance: narrow-wale gray corduroys, blue/white university stripe oxford button down, grosgrain ribbon navy & white watch band, gray herringbone jacket, soft cotton gray socks, and our gray chambray bow tie.

Two details remind us that, even for an Ohioan, the sun does in fact exist, even if it can't be seen for 6 months. First, a silk orange floral pocket square, peeking out of the herringbone breast pocket like an apocalyptic sunrise. Second, a horse hoof pick belt I scored at a new local consignment store for just a few bucks the other day. This actually may be the most contrived thing on this post, as I have no clue how a horse hoof pick is actually used, or any interest in things equestrian. (I'm more of a Vespa tie bar kind of guy.)

I got a little something in the mail today. Man's Face Stuff Mustache Wax, made in Portland, Oregon. Gin and Tonic scent for me, please. While I'm being ambitious here in the first days of 2012, I figured, why not try a handlebar mustache? We'll see. Even if the mustache is ugly, it serves as a yummy smell holder just beneath my sniffer. No guts, no glory, right?

And really, that's the kind of chutzpah that's called for to be a bow tie wearer. You've got to take neither yourself, nor the people who think you're a big dork, very seriously. That's the way I look at it, anyway. "Yes, I have a piece of cloth knotted up in a bow around my neck. Yes, I know that's kind of silly. But so is life, sometimes."

Get this very gray chambray bow tie for just $29.  You never know--I might throw a baguette and some flowers in for free.

Cordially,
Andy