100 Days, 100 Ties

I actually don’t believe that he kissed him goodbye, but President Obama’s farewell news conference to his Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was very tie-centric. Apparently before Obama’s speech at the convention, he, his wife and his staff (pfff…I said ‘staff’) were arguing about which tie to wear. Someone suggested they take Gibbs’…the rest, as they say, is restful. Take a look at this video (click about halfway and you can see the actual presentation that I’m talking about) for a very cool gift idea.

As for my Friday, no one gave me a framed tie, nor did I leave a high-powered Washington gig. But, I did wear a tie, as I have done a few times. And, yes, I did remember to close out Paisley Tie Week. I didn’t close it out with a flourish, which is kind of a surprise. My TdJ was rather plain: muted tones, small paisleys. It’s a vintage strip from Besley’s Inc., sayeth the label. A quick journey to the land of Google tells me that Besley’s was purchased by the Robert Daskal Group in the 80s, and that they still make ties today (or at least until their website lost a webmaster). I got this at Unique, and I actually have an almost-exact replica, which is only slightly varying in color. A few months ago, I bought a bunch of ties to see if I could figure out a way to make pocket squares out of the tips; I figured it out, but I never cut up the ties. This is one of those ties that were almost cut up for business.

Speaking of business, here we have a different kind of GWT…a Godfather With Tie. Michael Corleone, who goes by Al Pacino during the regular course of the day, was hanging out on my television this weekend, so I thought I’d put him on here. This is the part where he is plotting to get into the family business, by the simple act of executing an execution on Captain McCluskey and Sollozzo (aka “The Turk”) at Louis Italian Restaurant.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

RIP Marie Wuczynski

If any of you ever skulked around Wicker Park in the last, oh, 4 or 5 decades, chances are you ended up at Marie’s Rip Tide Lounge on Armitage. Marie–owner/bartender/songstress/therapist–had a heart of gold; alas, that heart gave out about 50 years after buying the place. ‘Twas a great place, and my old roomie, Brendan Kelly, was kind enough to pass along tidings of her demise. I will raise my next pint or dram to ye, Marie.

I’m still on the paisley kick, and Geoffrey Beene makes a consecutive appearance (don’t think I’ve worn two in a row from the same shop, in all of my 220 or so ties) with a blue, gray and pink number. Thought it went pretty well with my clown shirt, although you may disagree.

Just an update on a couple o’ things. My friend (and oft-times GWT) Paul Hletko is muy close to opening Few Spirits, a distillery that will focus on crafting gin and whiskey in the birthplace of Prohibition. In addition to my Chamber duties (which you can’t spell w/o T-I-E), I’ll be serving as brand ambassador on a part-time basis. Check out our FB page (there’s the link, again) to keep track of our progress.

At press time (yes, Mom, I’m late again), it has been one month to the day that my boss, Executive Director Jonathan Perman (another GWT alum), resigned. Wanna be my new boss? Go for it. Here’s the job description.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

I like to think that I’m being ironic, using a baseballesque title on the day after the Super Bowl. I will probably regret not saving Tom Hanks’ drunken outburst from A League Of Their Own for a more baseball-appropriate date (pitchers/catchers report date, opening day, Cubs’ being mathematically eliminated from playoff consideration, etc), but, hey, I’m gonna live in the now. I’ll just figure out a way to use a different sport phrase then, so there.

As the snow days last week affected my daily use of the noose, my Paisley Tie Week was stricken down to a mere 3 days. So, luckily I have enough paisley in that thar closet to fill this week, too.

For the Tie du Jour, a very good friend made me very happy. Not only did she give me a paisley tie, but she got it from TJ Maxx at such a bargain ($3!) that I was proud to wear it. It’s from Geoffrey Beene, and it was complimented by the first two people who saw it (and, no, it wasn’t my mother twice. ha. ha.). It’s just such a well-made strip…great texture and electric coloring. And, of course, I put it with such a damn cool shirt. That’s right, I cussed. Sheeit.

Emmett

Vasile

In the early part of my morning, I was able to add to the GWT numbers as I stopped into the Evanston branch of Wells Fargo (over on Howard, by the Best Buy Evanston). Branch manager Vasile Malutan and personal banker Emmett Higgin were both sportin’ ties and were kind enough to pause & pose.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

To be read in a panicked, high-pitched, B-Movie trailer voice: Run! Hide the children. Stock up your pantry. It’s the dreaded [insert one of the following: Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, Snowicane, Snowtorious B.I.G.] of 2011!

To be read in a pleasing, slightly British, public televisional announcer voice: And, thus concludes the overreactional portion of the blog post for today. Come back tomorrow as we detail cleanup efforts in your area.

Many of you have seen pictures, but it’s the 3-dimensional aspect of this storm that must be seen. Dotting our landscape are drifts that seem to have been created out of some random act of wind physics, and humongous piles of snow created by purposeful acts of large trucks. Peoples’ wish to get outside, despite the cold and not-completely-safe conditions, solidify the basal human need to socialize, be it only to shovel next to a neighbor.

It seems as if Paisley Tie Week will have to be extended, as this Tie du Tuesday will be the 2nd of 3 ties that I’ll be able to sport this week. So, what I’ll do is wear one on Friday, and then I think I’ll have enough paisleys (or partial paisleys will have to do) for next week.

Tommy Boy

On to the Tie du Jour. It’s a great brown strip, with slight tinges of green. It’s a really nice combo with this shirt, and this’ll be a pairing that I’ll look forward to wearing again. As is usual with Tommy Hilfiger, the navy blue with white polka dotted tail (the small part) is a different fabric than the apron (uh, the big part). Just a small, classy touch, in my non-humble opinion.

Speaking of a Tommy, that made me think of a couple of MSWTs (Movie Stars With Ties)…the late Chris Farley and the non-late David Spade, smiling and smirking, respectively in this promo shot from the movie Tommy Boy.

“And, thus concludes the social reference portion for today…”

We’ll be back to a tie on Friday.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Hey-o!

Getting a bit of a late start on this post, for reasons you will learn of in the next post. Oh, shucks, who am I kidding, I can’t toy with you.

If you live in or near the Greater Metropolitan Chicagoland/Cook Countyland Voting District Area, you are probably aware that we have been attacked/waylaid by a blizzard. So, on Tuesday evening, when I normally would have been crafting (tardily) an essay in homage to the Tie du Monday, Julia and I spent the night with our friends, the Frischers. Yes, normally, one does not let their 9-yr old have a sleepover on a school night, but you see we already knew that we’d have a Snow Day (yes, of course, it should be capitalized). So, I’m a bit discombobulated.

Anyway, the Tie du Jour keeps on the tradition (a tradition since last Friday!) of Paisley Tie Week. It’s a mainly silver/grey strip, with reds and blues tossed in, from Preswick & Moore. It was a gift from John Harris, a realtor with Koenig & Strey here in Evanston. John has become a regular participant in the Chamber’s networking events, and he always points out his ties’ brand and price (seems to be a resale shopper like yours truly).

A regular contributor submitted this GWT picture…it’s Charlie Day, one of the stars of the TV show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. If you haven’t checked out the show, it’s really damn funny in Philadelphia, too. Thanks, J.

Thanks for reading…Brooke