A Couple of Tie Trivia!

Let’s get into some more tie trivia this week... they say there are about eighty five different ways to knot a tie that is of normal length. Imagine that and I thought it was more like some five kinds of knots. Ties evolved within the last hundred years during the time of Louis XIV. King Louis as we all know with his wife was all for fashion. Though the wigs used in those times were really awful don’t you think? To think that the tie persevered into our wardrobes even today despite it not having any function at all in our attire is amazing. Wanna know where I got this trivia from? The Belisi Fashions ties site. There is some interesting information there and also a display of many ties.

Anyway, if you are like me and clueless, here is an easy way out. I stumbled on some great you tube clips on how to tie the Windsor knot and the Victorian knot. You tube and eBay just took information dissemination to explosive levels, don’t you think? I’m planning to take some guitar lessons by watching you tube now. Wish me luck!

Best ties for formal events

Are you a casual guy like me? If you answered in the affirmative chances are that formal events can be a dressing nightmare for you. Every style-challenged guy knows - Talk about fine dressing to a formal occasion and the one thing one must have is a Tie. Oh yes, ties immediately make any outfit formal. Formal events can be either black tie or white tie events. However, they all render this stamp of formality on any occasion. So if you get invited to such formal functions you can go armed with these two basic things I learned up. First of all, you need to make sure that you wear a tuxedo with appropriate accessories such as a tie and a pocket square. Belisi Fashions is a great place to look for tie. Belisi Fashions ties cover varied styles and designs. Lastly, you also need to keep in mind that White Tie Events are more formal than Black Tie ones. By the way, with Belisi Fashion you cannot go wrong.

Thank you Shawn

Thank you Shawn, I am happy that you found the cleaning tips useful. The tie you have described is possibly made of tussar or ‘tussar’ silk. This is sometimes also known as ‘raw silk’. Ties made from tussar were very popular in the seventies when they were imported from Asian countries. The fabric is very delicate. I would suggest you clean it by dusting it with talc and gently brushing it off after a few minutes. The talc will absorb all superficial dust and the tie will be as good as new!

Caring for ties

So while we are still on the topic of ties, there is one fact I want to share with you. The information I share is sure to be of some use to you. How do you keep your ties looking good as new for years? It is not difficult at all. Whether you have a silk tie, a satin tie, a polyester tie, or a cotton tie, a few pointers need to be kept in mind and you are set to have your grandson wearing your tie to his graduation party. The key to maintaining your tie is proper washing and storage. While silk ties need the minimum maintenance, cotton and polyester ties are the most easily washable. I would suggest that you wash your tie only if you must and in that case, dry-cleaning is the best bet. I normally spot clean my ties when they are stained, This prevents the other parts of the tie from getting exposed to any detergent. As far as storage is concerned, ties should be kept in a dry place away from any excessive heat sources.

I have come across a link on the site of that company I had spoken about – Belisi Fashions. There are some good ties listed on this site, but of more use to me were the maintenance tips I found there. Here is the link guys - http://www.belisi.com/fashiontips/tipCategory.aspx?id=49&CID=1.

Just follow the tips mentioned on this site and your tie will love you.

How to strut your stuff in a tie

Hells Bells! Nothing like a well designed tie to create that dapper look. I don’t know about you, but I love my tie. This ‘noose’ does something for my confidence. I for one wear a tie almost everywhere…of course not to the game, but just about everywhere else - to the workplace as office wear, or the party. But I make sure to wear the absolutely right tie. Call me a perfectionist, but if there is one thing that gets under my skin, it is a mismatched tie. Please guys it does not take a genius to get the combination right. You would not wear a brown tie with a blue shirt, would you??? Or may be you would. I have seen people with weirder pairings. Of course, the tie is supposed to complement the shirt but there should be a sense of matching. I would go for a tie in the same color as the shirt, only having a different shade. Also, you would never go wrong with a plain tie over a striped shirt or the other way round. And please, I repeat PLEASE, if you have any respect for your fellow human beings, wear the right color for the occasion. I guess what got me into this tie matching frenzy is what one crass individual wore for my sales felicitation 4 years ago. He had the gall to wear an orange tie. It stung my eyes to see that bright color in front of me when I went to receive the award from Matthew Bernstien, our Director. The function was a strictly black tie event. So, here’s another TIP TO BE FOLLOWED – keep all your loud colorful ties for your wedding, for a serious occasion please wear a black tie or a pure white one. Enough for now. I will be back with more tips. Meanwhile, check this link for more interesting information.

How ties came about...

Did you know that the tie you wear everyday was actually worn centuries ago. I always thought ties were a modern concept, something worn with a formal shirt and stuff.

But in the Victorian era? You must be wondering what I am talking about. Sure you have never seen anyone wearing a tie in all those ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘The Man in The Iron Mask’ movies. But those frilly things they wore around their necks. They were the cravats - ties of those days. By those days I mean around 1660 give or take a few years. This period followed the infamous Thirty Year War. Historians say that our ties came from those cravats.

Supposedly, Croatian soldiers wore those cravats to wipe their faces of sweat. Maybe those cloths were even used to wipe off blood or to bandage wounds. Later, when the French king Louis saw them, he was pretty impressed. He started using the cravats for style and soon even his subjects began to use them. I am calling those things cravats but they were not called cravats then. That name came later, maybe influenced from the word Croats only. Hey, I came across this link where they have given almost the entire history of a tie in details. We will explore more about ties in the next post. Until then enjoy!

this one is just to list myself in blogflux

and this one in fashion directory

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