Final Days For Submissions For Our Ex-Presidents Bow Tie Portrait Competition

It is really very easy to enter the competition. Download the sketches from our previous post on the blog. Drag and drop a chosen bow tie from the Le Noeud Papillon website onto the portrait. Change the background. Post to your wall on Instagram. It should take you no more than three minutes if you know what you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing, maybe ask for some help. One app we recommend is Photoshop Mix which you can download from the app store. 

Final submissions should come in by midnight the 24th December 2016 AEST.

The winner will receive 500AUD cash wired to their account. Not a bad earning for three minutes of your time. But you'll need to do better than the ones below, which are pretty good if you ask me!

Merry Christmas and wishing all our blog readers and friends a happy holiday!

Dear Women - Here Are A Few Tips On Buying Good Presents For The Men In Your Life This Christmas

"I don't know what to buy him, he's so difficult and picky"
"I bought him a beautiful pair of slacks last year and he never wore them so I don't bother anymore and I just get him a voucher"
"I spent three days searching for him and in the end he hated the colour so I'm not doing that again"

I hear a lot of this, especially women coming to the Studio. This year, for my own family, I gave them a list of websites that they could shop at with the links to the brands I liked and I said 'anything from these websites on these links I will gladly accept.

This year I have created a potential buying list which will feature some of our own products and some from makers and websites I like. Click to enlarge the image to see the details. Here goes:

1. Canclini woven jacquard voile shirting - white with a kind of givenchy-esque geometric repeat, this understated but very beautiful fabric is ideal for shirts, shirt dresses for women, pop-overs and pocket squares. Canclini does not sell directly to the public but you can order their cloths through most reputable shirt makers. Reference 6738 0012 0101 . For more information go to: http://www.canclini.it

2. Aristotle Onassis may be dead but his sunglasses live on as legendary examples of eccentricity and a certain globe trotting swagger. Designed for Aristotle Onassis by French maker Francois Pinton, these glasses can be got from A Suitable Wardrobe in Texas. https://www.asuitablewardrobe.com/

3. Cutting up a limited edition Le Noeud Pocket Square for the sake of making a one off pair of silk eye shades was easier said than done. These eye shades are lined with a felted wool and the rear strap is enveloped in silk to ensure supreme comfort. Silk is made up of  fibroin and sericin, two proteins very similar to human skin which is why humans find silk so natural against the skin. Ideal for long haul flights, sleep ins and siestas. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

4 The silk is designed using the golden ratio principles to create a set of rolling waves fit for any summer outing. The silk is reversed with Mongolian cashmere by Zegna and finished with hand-tassels. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

5. On December 10th 1786 a strong gale wind forced the Danish ship "Metta Catharina" to seek shelter in Plymouth Sound in England but the prevailing winds forced the ship to break anchor and it struck Drakes Island before sinking. In 1973 a group of divers on Plymouth Sound found the wreckage which contained leather hides that originated from St. Petersburg. These reindeer hides had survived two centuries and been preserved in the black mud. The divers retrieved the leathers and in turn George Cleverley of London has turned the hides into unique products such as shoes, belts and leather trays and boxes. This stunning belt is a small piece of history - a time when the leathers were soaked in pits of willow bark and curried with birch oil. They are finished with unique cross hatched grain which has been embossed by hand. Find out more: https://www.asuitablewardrobe.com/

6. Iconic shoes are few and each maker holds onto a number of distinctive designs which often form the basis of the shoe makers DNA. When it comes to loafers you might think of Berluti's 'Warhols' or Lobb's 'Kiplings', or my absolute favourites, the standard penny loafer from George Cleverley with it's magnificent shape of toe box. A newer kid on the block but no less captivating is Gaziano & Girling, which many today refer to as 'the greatest shoe maker in the world'. These are their unique loafers, the 'Antibes' model, ideal for day to day wear and absolutely ideal for the Australian summer. https://www.gazianogirling.com/

7. Sloane Angell used to be a shoe designer for Marc Jacobs before he started his own brand 'Mercer Market'. Sloane is very talented and in his spare time he makes ceramics of equal distinction to his t-shirts and illustrations. We commissioned him to produce for us two designs in 2016, both of which were extremely well received. This scarf is hand-made in the south of Italy by artisan makers who specialise in reversing silk with cashmere and finishing the scarves with tassels. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

8. There is something about a velvet bow tie that prohibits many men from wearing them. It takes a certain type of personality to pull it off. A certain flair or charisma is needed because you can't fake a velvet bow tie, you either have the personality or you don't. This one is exceptional, made from a Holland & Sherry velvet and finished with a purple satin and green polka dot by Le Noeud Papillon. www.lenoeudpapillon.com

Richard Roxburgh For GQ Menswear Men Of The Year Awards 2016

My relationship with GQ Magazine was one of hostility when we began. It was just before the GFC and I was some pip-squeak parvenu who thought he had a self-entitled right to be featured in their magazine over and above the big European and American brands because I was making in Australia and because I was focusing on quality. In life I have learned that self-entitlement is a dangerous thing and can lead to great unhappiness. GQ often did nothing to support us and continued to remind me in emails that nobody could buy their content and if they didn't want to write content about us that was their God-given right ....

So in the end I spent a great deal of time writing my own blog content and generating my own following and hoped that one day they might see that I meant what I said. It was probably a good thing since it caused me to stay the course with keeping production small and local and trying our best to build our database one bow at a time. 

When eventually GQ saw that I wasn't mucking around they eventually included us in their magazine and this year, as it was last year, it was a privilege to see our bow ties on their Men Of The Year, not to mention this superlative shot of Richard Roxburgh which was styled by Brad Homes at GQ, who I think has a big future. 

And when we posted this particular image to our wall it was met with a comment from Brad who wrote 'best bow ties in the business'. We're still a niche marketed product, we're still making our bow ties in Australia, we still have no prospects of becoming the next Ralph Lauren - but hey, that's nice to know we got one product line right. Let us hope we crack the unisex market now with our silk eye shades!

Thank you Brad for the compliment and GQ for taking your time to appreciate what we do. It helped keep us on the straight and narrow. 

Why We Value Your Feedback

The internet is a strange place as you very rarely get to meet anyone face to face in my experience. The closest most get is by phone or online chat. But the simple fact is that for the most part some human interaction had to occur for your transaction to place. At one end is the customer with his expectations, at the other a supplier of the goods or services who is hoping to keep that customer happy and funnel them into becoming a repeat customer. So it doesn't matter how automated your systems are or how clever you are at marketing, you can't avoid that relationship and mostly what we really love about that is the final human interaction or that finesse of being in the hands of someone competent and capable - that is why I love buying perfumes from Hermes in the city.

Over time, it's not the customers that come for one thing and never speak to you again that you build your business on but those customers that feel comfortable enough to text you on whatsapp or drop you an email to tell your about a recent tailor they met on their trip to Italy. And it is for the most part these customers that keep you going, because, as I have said too many times before, a predominantly web based business can be a lonely place at times. It is for this reason that we encourage our customers to post our bow ties on Instagram and Facebook so we can at least see how they went, be it a wedding in Tulum, Mexico, or else the Botanical Gardens right here in Sydney. But it doesn't need to be that glamorous either, sometimes it's just seeing a bow tie en route for work.

Yesterday we received a wonderful email from a customer that had potentially been a disaster in the making. I will let Dafir tell the story but needless to say I am grateful he wrote in as I am to all our customers who stay in contact. There is no Le Noeud Papillon without you.

With my wedding imminent in late 2016 I had almost everything organised, almost. The theme was classic black and white and while I took great care and effort on having a bespoke tuxedo constructed for the big day I made the assumption that finding a nice bow tie to go with my ensemble would consist of a simple outing to one of any fine menswear stores in Melbourne.

You know what they say about assumptions don't you?

After searching high and low I realised, with one week to go, that finding the right tie, one that wasn't just a preformed, nasty, generic piece of shiny afterthought, was going to be tougher than I imagined.

After much research I stumbled across Le Noued Papillon's website and immediately called. I spoke with Nicholas and related to him my plight and exactly what I was looking for. He told me he might have what I was after in front of him and sent me a photo of this impeccable one piece diamond tipped bow. I purchased it and it was promptly sent to my home. Upon trying on the bow, to my dismay I realised that it was too short by 1-2cm. It was a gamble that didn't pay off as a one piece has absolutely zero tolerance and this bow was already made for a particular neck size which just fell short of mine. I spoke again with Nicholas, this time a little distraught as my wedding was a couple of days away, and he pointed me in the direction of P.Johnson tailors who might be able to help as they stock a limited number of his ties here in Melbourne. Upon entering their store, the day before my wedding, they were able to provide me with a tie even more suited to my tuxedo and one of absolute singular beauty. Nicholas immediately pledged to return my payment for the first tie upon receiving it back and wished me a happy wedding.

Now you see gents I go on about this and I'm sure some of you think I sound more like the bride than the groom (I'm actually a bit of a "bloke" to be fair) However if you place importance on quality then details like this definitely matter. You will not find better quality than this anywhere.

More important is the quality of service. The service you have shown me is so rare these days it is to be applauded. I would recommend to anyone looking for the best quality in both product and service to definitely reach out to Nicholas and his team at Le Noeud Papillon. You will not regret it.

All the best,

D. Ettakadoumi
Melbourne, Australia

So Here Comes The Christmas Sale #2

Now concluded. We will have one more sale before Christmas. 

The Le Noeud Papillon Christmas Window With Thanks To Artist Peter Howard

Peter Howard used to run the best video store in Sydney, back when VHS and DVD were still required for entertainment. He used to write these fantastic reviews on post-it notes on the front of the DVD and they were so spot on that people would come from all around because they trusted his judgement. How did those days come and go so quickly? It was a wonderful congregation point that video store and a great way to touch base with people as it often formed a hub on a Friday night.

These days Peter works in retail and paints on the side and it was such a great chance encounter that we chatted not twelve months ago and decided to deploy his skills for the purposes of window dressing. He has since painted three paintings for our window, the last being hung yesterday for Christmas.

You can follow his work on Instagram at www.instagram.com/peterhoward1000 . He is a gun for hire - but not for any other bow tie retailers.... 

Wishing you a very merry Christmas and I think Peter did a good job of morphing yours truly into Santa Claus although in the end, nobody got to see my bow tie.

The Ex-President's Portrait Competition Continues - And Right Now You Will Be A Shoe In....

It would not take much to win our portrait competition and win 500 Australian dollars. Right now there has been only one entrant. The competition is really so easy. You take a portrait from our Ex-Presidents Series, which was completed with the help of illustrator Victoria Louise Watts, which you can follow through our page on Instagram (@lenoeudpapillon )  and then you grab a bow tie from our website, add in a filter or a background, like the one we chose below, and post it on your wall and tag us. I would estimate it's no more than two minutes of your time and right now you would be a shoe in with only one entrant. 

Yes, our competitions require a little more web work than others and maybe you might not know how to do such a thing on your smartphone but rest assured, most of them can. So if you don't know how, ask your children to help you. And with the winnings you can shout them all their first bow tie from Le Noeud Papillon :) .

Good luck!

The First Christmas Sale