On Collecting Bow Ties

A customer, mentioned in an earlier post, prompted me to frantically run around my apartment looking to see what bow ties I did still indeed have in my own collection. As was mentioned earlier, I rarely keep any of my own work, preferring either to give away the bows I kept for myself out of my own collections and also giving away those that I had collected from other companies over the years. I gathered all my bows up and took them to the studio to tie them against the mannequin and it was a really interesting experience because it gave me a new perspective by tying each of the bows up individually. I am going to tell you a few things that I learnt.

1. Charvet - my first ever bow tie is the black satin silk batwing bow tie from Charvet pictured at the base of the image. It was the biggest surprise of the lot in terms of tying the bow tie. I always wondered why I had struggled so much the first time I tried to tie a bow tie. The problem with this bow is that the satin silk is too slippery and not structured enough so it didn't make a nice bow. Looking back now, it's not the bow I thought it was. But on the other hand, the other two Charvet bow ties in this image, the deep blue mogador with sky spots and the black and white ropey styled bow are both amazing examples of woven jacquard silks and in my opinion the deep blue with spots is possibly the best bow tie I own, surpassing our own mogadors. Hard to admit but true. Weight, handle, finish - it's all there in that particular bow tie.

2. Tom Ford - the great disappointment. Both bow ties from Tom Ford, the printed silk on the top right and the woven natte silk in the centre with the houndstooth have problems. Once the foam inserts were removed the volume of the bow disappears. There is an issue with the hook system used too, this particular hook, when you tie the bow, often gets jagged when you make the first knot. As a tie your own bow tie, these bows are a let down. As pre-tied bow ties they look sublime, but, more with the natte rather than the printed silk, the natte silk frays quite dramatically after wearing it even just the once. I will actually write another post based on this observation to show you how to trim and repair this if it occurs on your bow. There is, after all, nothing worse than paying $325AUD for a bow tie and not having it look top shelf.

3. Leonard of Paris - Great looking bow tie, not particularly well executed. Love the print, don't love the construction. As such, never worn it much.

4. Turnbull and Asser - love the velvet bow tie and the paisley bow tie from them. Love the ribbed red grain for the adjustable size strap. Don't love the shapes and don't love the materials in terms of quality.

5. Hermes - not a great bow tie. They basically have taken a tie silk and made a bow tie. Which is fine, but the shape is pretty ordinary and the bow lacks body so it doesn't make a great centre knot.

6. Le Noeud Papillon - Sevi limited edition and Mio Capitaine. At Christmas this year I gave away a stack of my own bow ties to my partner's brother and a handful of friends. Because I am always working on the next silk I tend to want to wear my next work and don't hoard enough of my own stuff. I will have to work on siphoning off a few from each limited edition silk and not giving them away. Of the two featured, the Sevi I have kept because it is named after my cousin's first child and because I wanted him to have a playful silk. The Mio Capitaine I kept because I love my Greek heritage and the fact that once upon a time, so I am told, we used to own some ships in Greece before the first world war.