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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

366 Bow Ties: Day 34

So I've been doing this silly thing since about September where I take photos of my socks. Why? I don't know. These are supposed to be pink flamingos, but they look more like velociraptors. This is probably me writing a blog post in Ellie's studio.

The bow tie is a new linen from the forthcoming Spring/Summer line, to be released soon. We're trying to make it so you can't stand the wait. Is it working?

100% linen--chalk full of texture and plaid awesomeness. I wore the classic butterfly, so that's the one up for grabs. I've shown these images here with diamond-point cut so you can see the texture.

Get one before anyone else. Get one before the thing even has a proper name. Get a bow tie and send $29 to Haiti. Get this bow tie!

PS--many of you have been after us to re-list the Maxwell neckties. By popular demand, they're back on in our store, available in point-end or square-end varieties. Pictured just above.

Your business supports our children's developing passions. This one has a loud developing passion.

366 Bow Ties: Day 33

Due to the encouragement of our friend and southern style photographer and writer Caroline Fontenot of Back Down South, I've been reaching for the denim jacket pretty frequently during this crazy bow tie-wearing run. It really only works with khakis, in my opinion. Denim head to toe would be a little too ... I don't know ... too much denim.

I know I sound like a broken record, or a One-Note Johnny as one of my professors used to say, but I like the way you can casual-ize things when you throw in a piece like a denim jacket. Khakis and penny loafers (and some would argue, even a bow tie) are already technically "casual". But it's all relative these days.

I could be mistaken, but it appears from Caroline's Instagram feed as though her husband Mark has grabbed a pair of Oak Street Bootmakers penny loafers just like mine. I'm going to be vain and assume that she's coaching Mark on his wardrobe purchases and daily ensembles with a bookmark in my blog series. Yeah right. That guy's got a great personal style.

I should mention that the visual identity of Caroline's blog was created by my neighbor and colleague in all kinds of mischief, Mr. Stephen Crotts. Pretty snazzy logo, don't you think?

I'm looking forward to meeting Caroline next weekend in Charlotte. They've been gracious enough to do a post or two about us on their blog. I might have to throw the Levi's jacket on again in hopes that she snaps a photo of me. (Vanity! All is vanity!)

Not all is vanity. I'm glad to have friends like Mr Cameron Bunce, bona fide artists, who keep it real for us. Here Mr Bunce is giving a handful of us our fortnightly impromptu art history lecture. Compelling. We were gathered for The Dead Preachers Society of Ebenezerville, and it spilled over into a critique of pop culture superficiality as exemplified in movie posters and DVD covers.

Oh yeah! The bow tie! This is a sold-out Vito, easily my favorite bow tie of this last summer. Ellie found two orphaned halves and reunited them. And now that I wore it, I have to sell it. Buy it, love it, thank me later.

Cordially,

Andy

PS--I mentioned Stephen Crotts. In grabbing the link to his portfolio, I saw this poster that he just produced. And I all but wept. Very good work, sir. 

366 Bow Ties: Day 32

We've talked a good bit about bow tie attitude. The discussion is really a bit overblown, actually. Bow ties don't really communicate all that much, inherently. And yet there is a certain amount of chutzpah required when rocking said piece of haberdashery.

I like to think of it like any other pursuit. You're an individual. You've got peculiar idiosyncrasies, a unique gift mix, particular passions, and a temperament all your own. You've got to take that 'self' with you into everything you do. Half the battle is convincing yourself that you're not a fraud. The other half is figuring out a balance between confidence and humility. It doesn't serve you or anybody if you're a punk; nor does it do anyone a favor if your self deprecation is not so much humorous as a perennially employed defense mechanism.

It's not so much about "image" or even "self-image". It's more about poise, countenance, bearing. How do you carry yourself? How do you respond to different environments? Are you uptight? Are you provocative? Are you pushy? Are you a pushover? Or have you learned to take yourself less seriously, and take others, and your calling in life, more seriously? There's the difference. You can wear a bow tie and still put everyone at ease. (So much for Tucker Carlson's funny line about a bow tie basically being a middle finger protruding from one's Adam's Apple.) Likewise, you can wear jeans and a t-shirt and still immediately demonstrate that you care about things, including your calling, and that you do in fact know what you're talking about. It's not the clothes that make the man (was it Alan Flusser that sort of said that?), but the countenance that makes the man. Same for ladies.

I think this idea goes a long way toward establishing the difference between vanity and personal style. Your poise should put people at ease, regardless of what people's initial reaction to your style may be. It used to be that a man's wardrobe in particular was about gentlemanliness--the art of wearing the right thing at the right time so as not to make people uncomfortable. But in our day, when everything is done with a high degree of self-consciousness, and in which there is no established "uniform" for the workplace, for dinner, or even for the Inaugural Ball, you're going to have to set people at was by your poise rather than your clothes. You're going to be "out of uniform" to someone in any situation these days. You'll have to let your bearing bear you along, and bear others along.

All this from a photograph where I'm looking like a punk. Huh.

At the end of the day, The Cordial Churchman can sell you bow ties. We can't make you cordial. You're going to have to look to another Supplier for that sort of quality.

But we'd still like to sell you this bow tie: a new Donegal Tweed in gray with subtle flecks of awesomeness. 100% wool. Diamond point. Poise not included. When you buy it, $29 goes to help change lives in Haiti.

As Cordially as Possible,

Andy

PS-- My comrade and distance mentor Steve Childers gives some sage advice on how to maintain poise and spiritual equilibrium. We thought it was so good that we put it on our chalkboard in the kitchen.

366 Bow Ties: Day 31

Lots of spring anticipation going around here. Hence the shades and the (formerly Brooks Brothers) berry bow tie. And, I suppose, the pink sweater.

It's funny how, since we deal mostly in non-traditional (read, non-silk) fabrics, wearing a silk bow tie feels odd. I'm going to be doing a bunch of it this year, though---and just yesterday I went through a box of about 200 neckties. I sorted them into 3 categories:

Category 1. "What was I thinking? This is a great necktie--perfect width (not too wide, not super modern-skinny), vintage, etc. Why would I ever demolish this and sell it so some dude on the internet?"

Category 2. "No one should ever, ever wear this tie, ever. But since I don't believe in legislating sartorial morality, these will go to Deacon's Kindergarten clothing drive."

Category 3. "Okay, this is a nice necktie. But we're in the bow tie business, and the cash is going to Haiti. It's maybe a little too wide, a little funky in this way or that, not perfect. Much better possibilities as a bow tie. Besides, these guys on the internet aren't that bad.

By the way, isn't this kid of mine cute? Doesn't he make you want to buy this bow tie? It'll be posted on the store as soon as I can wrest the computer from the Church Belles, who are frantically packing and printing shipping labels, trying to get lots of orders in the post before it closes in 10 minutes.

Cordially,
Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 29

When you get a new pair of blue jeans, you kind of have to wear them every day for a good while. Even if it's Sunday. With a new pair of 501s, blue jeans were my Sunday's best.

Throw on a bow tie, some longwings, a sport jacket with a crisp, linen, TV-fold pocket square (hand-rolled by Ellie some 2 years ago), and you have a respectable Sunday swag going, regardless of what my former Presbyterian self would have told you.

Sunday's bow tie, known as The Jackson, is available in our store. This is the very last one left, unless we happen to stumble upon a stash of lost Jackson fabric in some recess of the studio (which, if it should occur, would probably be approximately a decade from now). In other words, if you like this (which you should), get it like right stinking now or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Do you really want to live with that sort of regret? Think of the money you'll save from avoiding the therapy....