100 Days, 100 Ties

Willie and the Poor Boys

As the royal wedding approached, I tried to busy myself so that I wasn’t watching my mailbox, waiting in vain for the invitation that didn’t come. Oh, I understand that being 2,004,345,610th in line to the throne doesn’t automatically get me a seat in Westminster Abbey…but still, it hurts. I needed the perfect tie, just in case I made it, miraculously, onto the list.

Well, I found a good one, another treasure. My Tie du Jour comes from Turnbull & Asser, a British clothier that is officially appointed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, aka the Father of the Groom. T&A—as they are probably not commonly known, among the nobility at least—are more known for their shirts, but this TdJ is pretty nice. Very close to that cornflower blue that is apparently my colorcrush these days, this strip has a very simple pattern, which would have fit right in should the noblesse have obliged.

Sticking with the British theme, but swinging way way off to the other end of the class spectrum, we had an encounter, theatrically speaking, with peasants. Julia performed in Mudlark Theater‘s production of Robin Hood. Her role was that of Fern, a lass as quick with the dagger (two daggers, actually) as she was with her sass. The play was directed by a GWT alum, Michael Miro. As he is a classy guy (or maybe he had been at the wedding), Mike sported a sweet tie.

And, lastly, we come back to the USA, with a little North Shore royalty, Tina Fey. Her Liz Lemon character got a tie from her Jack Donaghy boss, and I was able to snap it from the telly (more Brit-speak, sorry) for your viewing enjoyment.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Just finished Thursday’s post, so let’s get right to Friday, shall we?

I will need to re-classify the Tie du Thursday, as I said it was from Alfani. Actually, the Tie du Friday is from that designer. I have memory problems, most likely borne from the fact that this was Tie No. 230. I love this TdJ–the design is sort of an optical illusion (the one where it looks like the lines aren’t parallel but they are), although if you stare at pretty much anything for long enough you’ll hallucinate anyway. What is not a hallucination is that my crapiPhone camera did a pretty good job on this pic. Maybe if I give it some confidence it’ll come through for me a little more often.

Friday was the Mayor’s Annual State of the City address. Love the slightly oxymoronic phrase. There were about 250 attendees on hand at the Hilton Orrington, and very many of them wore ties. I only snapped a couple of them, but I’ll post a link to the professional photographer’s shots when we get them.

First we have Joe Liss, a GWT alum. He is a partner in the Evanston accounting firm Brown Kaplan + Liss, and he’s also Treasurer of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Then we have Jeff Cory, who’s the City of Evanston’s Cultural Arts Director. His tie is befitting of his position, very cool and artsy.

Julia’s friend Charlotte slept over on Friday night, and while they did some things that would be classified typical of a girls’ sleepover, they also had a tie-tying lesson. Here they are with the results…not bad!

tieCarly

And, for a while, Julia has wanted me to snap a picture of these ties, from the intro to the show iCarly. Jerry Trainor, on the right (duh, he’s not an ostrich), plays Spencer, Carly’s older brother. I actually think the show is pretty funny: it makes Julia laugh when I laugh at it.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

A couple of weeks ago, I think I mentioned that I had mailed 5 or 6 ties to my cousin, Beaux Jones, who is a law student at LSU in Baton Rouge. You may recall that he had sent me a tale of shopping for a tie in New Orleans. I told him then, which was months ago, that I’d send him a bunch of ties to use in time for his next internship or job (he may be graduating this spring). Well, you know how I am with the procrastination and all that fun stuff. I finally got around to it, with the stipulation that he take a couple of photos of them when he wore them. Since he is a Jones, I made sure to send him a couple of Jones New York strips. In addition, I thought it would complete the circle if I sent him a Lee Allison tie, since that is what he was purchasing at the Aidan Gill Store.

Well, good thing I sent them when I did…he was going to the national environmental law moot court competition in NYC. The part I loved most was his perfectly crafted subject line: Jones New York tie on a Jones in New York. Love my readers! The part I loved second most (it was a close competition, and the decision of the judges is final) was his followup email:

Lee Allison strip

You won’t believe what just happened…we just made it to quarterfinals of the competition and I won two best oralist awards, but that wasn’t the best part… After the quarterfinals the judge was giving his comments and said I want to give the “annual best tie award” to Mr. Beaux Jones. I kid you knot!

Okay, I put the ‘k’ on ‘knot’ in that last sentence, but isn’t that awesome! Way to geaux, Beaux!

Alfani

Once again, I am way late on my postings, solidifying my standing for Procrastinator of the Year Award, which is always announced several months after the year has actually ended. The Tie du Jour (from Thursday…at press time that is officially three days ago) is from Alfani, and it’s a fun red, white and blue number that would be perfect on July 4th. But, I evidently couldn’t wait that long to celebrate our independence. America! [Editor’s Note: this TdJ is from Countess Mara, not Alfani. Can’t spell ‘editor’ without I-D-I-O-T]

And yet another reason to love my readers…Anna, our friendly neighborhood barista at Other Brother Coffeehouse in Evanston, was crafting a dress made out of paisley ties. I brought her a bag full of some already-worn paisley concoctions, and behold! You can read all about it on her Little Green Pixie blog. As a proud former owner of some of these ties, I will say that she used one of mine for the straps, as well as four along the back. Good ti(m)es.

And, gosh darn, if there’s not another reason to love my readers…GWT alum Vince Roberts snapped a shot of young Busby Malone, grandson of Chamber friend Mary Berg (owner of Simply Chicago Art). The tie has dogs and bones on it…cute stuff.

Thanks for sending this stuff in, folks. It makes each day different and fun.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Yes, as expected, I forgot about Paisley Tie Week. Much too much to expect me to remember something as (un) important as that.

But, I did pull out a good tie this morning…the tie of a good man.

A few years ago, my parents fired up a long-distance introduction to my (now) great friend, Paula Kostuik. They knew from their friends Paul & Donna Kostuik (yes, relation) that Paula was moving to Chicago, so, weeks in advance, they said she would call. Well, she did, and I’m ever so glad; not many people out there as sweet and fun as PK.

Sadly, a couple of months ago, Paula’s dad passed away. My parents, I could tell, were very affected by the loss of their buddy, and I know Donna and Paula are still hurting. A couple of weeks later, they sent me a couple of his ties to wear for 100 Days, 100 Ties. Here is the first of the two, from the Italian designer Stefano Conti. Of course, it looks like I was falling down at the moment of photo-capture. Nice blurry.

Thanks to roving photographer (and another GWT alumna) Rebecca Berneck, we have a new member of the Girl With Tie clan. Her daughter Zoe is sporting a former TdB (Tie du Brooke), looking very stylish for junior high.

Thanks for reading…Brooke