100 Days, 100 Ties

A quick one, while he’s away… The Who

Once again, I’ve let myself get about a day behind on the posting bit. But now…haha!…now I have an excuse. Drugs!

Sing it to the rooftops, shout it from the heavens. Wait, shouldn’t those cliches be switched around? Shout from rooftops, sing to heavens? Yes, that’s it–I’m smacked up/whacked out on narcotics. Actually, I am on a pretty tame myscle relaxer; so tame that it didn’t even have its own mysterious drug ad campaign.

I love those commercials (not really…it’s hate. two exclamation points signify sarcasm)!! There are two types: the first is mostly print, where it shows a field and the name of the drug, with no mention of what the drug does, what it treats or when it’s available. Then there are the ones that list every non-symptom known to man, to create a market. Do you wake up in the morning? Are you sleepy at 11pm? Do you urinate? Drive me nuts.

Anyway, my Tie du Jour is a beauty from Ermenegildo Zegna (remember, it’s pronounced Air-Men-A-HEEEEEEEL-Do). Somehow I paired it with this vintage Marshall Fields shirt, and even my pocket square (scarf) was a relative match. Too bad I didn’t have the foresight to take an ensemble photo. This is another that I found at the Wings Resale Shop. Is very nice.

Wednesday was the Chamber’s Business After Hours, or BAH as it’s affectionately called. I managed to get one fella on camera. Savio Dias is in sales for the Kingfisher Airlines, a newish airline in India. They don’t fly in/out of the US yet, but they’re working on it.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

After John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head (and, given the fashion of the day, they were probably BOTH wearing a tie), he shouted “Sic Semper Tyrannis,” which loosely translates to “Suck it, Dictator-breath!”

So, I spent part of Tuesday thinking that a couple of Booth shots to the skull may actually improve my outlook on a pain-free week. No, no, relax, it wasn’t so bad that I had suicidal tendencies, but maybe Mr. Booth could just rub those muscles. All that pent up rage could have been better served getting at my prolonged headache.

What's up

A visit to the family doc, Dr. Ettner, started me on the road to that pain-free nirvana. I hope. I knew I’d be in good hands when his MSdM (Medical Student du Month) entered the exam room wearing a bow tie. First things first, I had to get a pic. A 3rd year med student, Dr. Brian Holoyda refused all pleas to provide me with powerful narcotics (legally prescribed. of course.). His and Dr. Fred’s assessment did, however, get me onto a muscle relaxer, which will hopefully give those damn neck muscles some chill time so they can get fixed.

I grimace while I describe my Tie du Jour, since putting it on was pure misery. Buttoning that top button felt like tying a balloon, only if the balloon were my head and had a brain and blood and bone in it. So, I went a little casual all day, popping the top right away.

The TdJ itself is a red and blue plaid from Chaps. They’re still affiliated with Ralph Lauren, right? I have been out of the loop for so long, and I don’t know if I ever would have known something along those lines. Not sure where or when I got this one, but the keeper (thanks to Lee Allison and his tie construction page, I know the keeper is the thing that keeps the apron and the tail together) had partially detached, so it’s probably for all the better that I will only wear it once.

My Shirt du Jour, from Thomas Pink, gives me a good reason to talk about safe resale shopping. Maybe not safe, but smart. I realized that the collar and sleeves were slightly fraying, but that’s not necessarily a problem (according to GQ’s Glenn O’Brien). The problem was that I didn’t look all over the shirt, and therefore thusly didn’t find the two holes in the right elbow. Oops. I would have still bought the shirt, but certainly wouldn’t have worn it to the office (or certainly would have kept my jacket on). Moral of the story: Know that there’s a reason that an item of clothing is in a thrift store; try to find that reason.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Well, we’re movin’ on up.

Thanks, George and Louise (Wee-Zay!) Jefferson, for the inspiration for today’s (Thursday’s, actually) subject line. He may well be the blog’s only DCWT (Dry Cleaner With Tie) in history. One of my all-time favorite shows.

So, Thursday was Veteran’s Day, and my Tie du Jour was fittingly honoring to the men & women who have served, and are serving, in our military. I threw this (brandless, alas) red & blue college-stripe tie on a red, white & blue shirt. Very patriotic, don’t you agree?

Thursday evening I attended the Grand Re-Opening of the Premier Apartments at the 415 Howard building. It was a gala affair, attended by the new owners of the property, as well as city dignitaries. Of course, there were a few guys in ties (I missed a chance to get a pic of one of the owners in a SWEET bow tie), so here goes:

Marco Rodriguez publishes Shop Evanston (and Shop Andersonville, et al), a magazine that pushes local consumers to shop locally. He does a great job banding Evanston’s retailers together, and getting some local marketing executed for them. Marco is sporting a great blue strip.

Robert Adam is a Chamber event regular, and is the owner of Adam Insurance Brokerage. Here Robert eschews his usual solid-on-solid choice for a very cool wavy number.

Leon Mitchell is the owner of Phoenix Security, a professional security service in the Evanston area. He’s a regular at the chamber’s golf outing, and his plus-fours outfit is usually the fashion hit of the event.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

So, Monday’s missive was on the war(s), and the soldiers coming back. I sense a theme here, but I swear that the timing, during the week of Veteran’s Day, was coincidental. Most of you know that, usually, I’d be BSing about this, but I’m not. Now, it turns out that it can turn into a nice little 4-day homage (we’ll leave out the UT Vols stuff) to our men & women in uniform. I don’t have a flag-post here at the flat, so let me put this out there, as simple as it may be.

A very good friend, upon reading about my desire to take Julia to see a welcome of soldiers returning from tour, suggested that she would like to accompany her kids to a somewhat more somber ceremony: the return of a soldier receiving a posthumous welcome. Great idea, J.

My Tie du Jour (and, as a preview, my Tie du Today) is a very simple red and blue striped strip. From the hallowed house of Christian Dior, I like it’s thin simplicity. I wish it weren’t 80% polyester, but even M. Dior was apparently wowed by the synthetics. It tied up quite nicely, and the tie clip set off the white pinstripes that separated red and blue. Oops, I guess the pic didn’t show the tie clip.

I was able to collect a couple of Guys With Ties on Wednesday, a couple of them new to the GWT fold. We had our first event at our new offices. Apparently we can be found.

First off, we have Joshua Sachs, who needs to teach me how to tie a bow tie like him. Such class in the big, unwrinkled knot. Since he has a defense attorney practice, you know that the bow has been his mark in the courtroom for a while. By the way, for all the crap I give my iPhone camera, this has to be one of the better pictures it has taken. I apologize if my iPhone, or any Applophiles, has taken it personally.

Next we have John Lynch, who came to his first ECofC event just yesterday. Now, he’s on the Internet. That’s pretty efficient, eh? He is a insurance agent, representing Allianz Life Insurance, and he runs an office called Financial Shape Up. Welcome to the Chamber, John.

And, after our SOHO event, I had lunch with a couple of folks from Rotary International, including their HR Director, Matt Switzer. He was kind enough to pose after the meal, for posterity’s sake, don’t you know.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

After a whirlwind early workweek that included a very fashionable Fashion Party, followed by a very fashionable Economic Breakfast (I know, you want my job, don’t you?), it was time to settle in somewhere in the middle and get down to some Chamber business.

Pumpkins brought to you by Bar Louie. And Mother Nature.

I love connecting people. Love love love it. I did it before my job at the Chamber, and I do it still. I am happy if, when someone tells me they need something, I can help them move toward that end. Sometimes that goes awry, like yesterday when I set up a lunch between some folks who I figured would be interested in each other’s businesses. On Monday, I set up a Wednesday lunch at 11:30 to meet these 3 guys, put it into my calendar and done. Wednesday rolls around, and at, oooohhhh, 12:07 I get a phone call from one of the attendees. I am not yet, at this time, an attendee, as I had set my lunch appointment for 11:30 PM. Smooth move, Ex-Lax. Lucky for me, these are good-natured guys, and had already ordered lunch by the time I screeched up, 45 minutes late. One of the nice guys is Michael Karras, of Fordham Capital Partners…he’s a tie guy, and his polka-dotted number from Thomas Pink is a great one.

Not my brother

My Tie du Jour is from the “346” collection from Brooks Brothers. It’s black with tiny, baby blue paisleys. I think it jumped off of my blue and white shirt pretty darn well, if I say so mydarnself. This tie is a good example of one that looks pretty boring up on the tie rack, but put it on and it gets to another level. I received a few compliments, one of them very nice and surprising to me, on this tie, and it just goes to show that you need to get these ties out for a spin once in a while.

Before I started 100 Days, 100 Ties, I know that I had 15-20 ties that I went back to, over and over. The above-mentioned Michael was saying a similar thing about his collection. I hear similar things, that guys have a bunch of ties that they don’t use, and are looking for a spark. I have been kicking around the idea of having a Tie Exchange; I’ll do it locally at first, but then expand it online, hopefully. If someone got 3-5 new ties, and knew that they have 2-4 weeks to wear them, I think it would liven up a wardrobe. So, in early- to mid-November, I’ll set up a lunch, and folks can bring ties and get some new (to them) ones.

Last night was our monthly Business After Hours, held at Buffalo Wild Wings Evanston. If you haven’t been there, you should. 74 TVs (including 2 in the men’s room) festoon the walls, and there are all kinds of sports going on. There were a few GWTs…some new ones, and some alums.

Vince Roberts was one of the first two GWTs…and he looks so young! As I may have mentioned, he made a great donation to the Evanston Community Foundation, based on the number of PWTs (Philanthropists With Ties) that I got on camera during 100th Tie Week. His purple tie kicekd ass.

John Harris is with Koenig & Strey, and I loved his tie. Perfect for a party.

Chris Tierney is working out of our office for a few weeks, selling space in the Evanston Community Map. Information about how to advertise can be found here.

And, then, we have David Blake, who is with Just For Fun Entertainment, a company with sets themes for (mainly) kids’ parties and then throws them for you. Or, actually, for your kid.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

So, I’m not sure how many attendees of Monday’s Fashion Focus kickoff event had an economic speech on their schedule, but I can’t imagine the number was much more than 1. Oh, life, you are crazy and you are polar.

Yes, I followed up the local fashion debut of 100 Days, 100 Ties with an early wake-up call to attend the Economic Outlook Breakfast, hosted by the Evanston Chamber, Evanston Inventure, Downtown Evanston and the City of Evanston. Did you just yawn? Yes, I think you did just stifle a yawn! What about economics would make you…oh. Yeah. Yawn away. I understand…I got a D in my sole Econ endeavor at the University of Illinois. Guns and butter, is all I remember.

Dais brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn

Podium brought to you by the Hilton Garden Inn

Anyway, we’ll start out with the inaugural EWT (Economist With Tie), Charles “Charlie” Evans, who is President of the Federal “Fed” Reserve Bank of Chicago. The gentlemen accompanying him in these pictures are: Bob Yohanon of First Bank & Trust (left to the left) and Ron Kysiak of Evanston Inventure (left to the right).

Mr. Evans spoke about the present state of the economy, and I’m proud of myself for staying awake (I did NOT during my U of I Econ 100 experience…thus the D). Just kidding, he was very engaging, and quite forthright in the face of a difficult-to-discuss topic. Forgive me for getting up on my soapbox here, but one thing from this session (which had about 100-120 people in attendance) forces my hand. If I could change one life, or one minute in a life, by saying this, that is worth it, so here goes: If you’re chosen to ask a question to a featured speaker, and if there are others with questions, please please pleasePLEASEfortheloveofGodandallthatisHolyPlease refrain from using 700 words, 5 minutes or both to ask your stupid question. Your oratory self-fellatio is/was groan-inducing, and no one likes hearing your voice nearly as much as you. Oh, and your shirt/tie combo sucked.

Ah, that’s better. Let’s see, I did get another GWT from the event. It’s actually kind of silly that I just got one other GWT, as the ties were out in full force. Kent Swanson, CFO of the John Buck Company, wore a tie with shooting stars, which he said were definitely symbolic of the day’s message.

I, too, wore a tie that fell into the theme of the economic day. It’s from Alynn, and, at first glance, looks like a pit of vipers (which kind of symbolizes the day as well). But, actually, it’s a ticker tape…yes, yes, that’s how I chose the subject. See, it’s not rocket science. Anyway, this is another tie from my friend (and GWT alum) Joe Smith; I think it’s the 3rd or 4th of his 8 that he gave me.

Thanks for reading…Brooke