100 Days, 100 Ties

Well, as I write this, the inaugural Evanston Business Mash Up is about 10 hours from reality, and I am a bundle of nervous energy. There are so many people who worked their butts off to get this thing together, and we’re all hoping it is a success. We are all 14 hours away from a very enjoyable, and very well-deserved, cocktail.

My Tie du Jour is another that may fall into multiple Tie Week tie categories. It’s definitely striped, and some may think it ugly (love that the Tie du Monday got totally ripped in the comments…thanks JL!). It’s from Morrisoni, which just seems like someone put an ‘i’ at the end of ‘Morrison’ to make it sound Italian. The tie is black with teeny stripes in pink, gold and green; one may need to squint to see them in this picture.

On Tuesday I went to a triple-billing ribbon-cutting (just one of the fun things you get to do with an Evanston Chamber title as long as mine: Manager of Membership, Marketing & Development) on Davis Street. FlowersFlowers, Grateful Yoga and My Panini were treated to the full-court press. The gang from Downtown Evanston joined 4th Ward Alderman Don Wilson (a great guy as well as GWT alum) to celebrate their new locations, and the vitalization of the Davis Street corridor.

In between staged cuttings of the ceremonial ribbon (it’s taped together for a staged cutting of the ribbon with the ceremonially large wooden scissors), I managed to welcome another member of the Guys With Ties fold. Emlyn Thomas is the new General Manager of Pensiero Ristorante, located in the Margarita European Inn on Oak Street. I ate there several times when it was Va Pensiero, and I’ve eaten there once since their new opening. It’s still wonderful, and the molten volcano chocolate dessert is perfection on earth. You just need one fork.

I also had reason to stop in at one of my favorite stores in Evanston. I have shopped in my neighborhood Classy Closet for years (it used to be known as Crowded Closet), and have found some great deals over those years. Proprietor Emanuel Wilder is an imposing man who drives an imposing vehicle (huge black Hummer), but you couldn’t find a friendlier fella. They mainly sell slightly used (pre-loved) men’s and women’s clothing on consignment, but there are some awesome treasures in there on any given day. I have found great tie accessories, and they have jewelry, art, handbags and other antique-type things. Emanuel is a member extraordinaire of my treasure-hunting brotherhood, and he does find some great things.

Like ties! Check out these two tie racks…I have to admit I had a might bit of sensory overload, trying to mentally wear a bunch of these ties. Some fantastic labels in here, very reasonably priced. I’ll be back over there very, very soon.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

It’s Monday, kids! And you know what that means…Martini Monday! Well, maybe not for me, but for my parents, perhaps. They are flexible on the coquetail du jour, as I’ve heard them mention Margarita Monday, Mimosa Monday (when brunch is involved, I assume) and Mojito Monday. Mmm.

Anyway, my Monday was gin- and vodka-free, unfortunately. Although, when you see the pic of my shirt/tie combo, you may think a white likker was involved in its choosing. For me, it was Mash Up Monday, which will pale in comparison to Mash Up Wednesday, when the actual event–The First Annual Evanston Business Mash Up–will take place. A lot of folks have been working their tails off to make this come together, and tickets are still available. My Tie du MashUp remains up in the air.

Purple Tie Week Reject!

There have been a few GQ pictorials lately (including this great one with SNL/30 Rock fella Jason Sudeikis) that have shown plaid shirts with (mainly) solid ties. For whatever reason, I gave it a go today. Not too shabby, although I got more comments on the knit knumber from Ron Chereskin. It’s purple, with a light stripe that has a little texture going on, too. As the caption indicates, this was a potential Purple Tie Week entry, and it was on the short list for Stripes Week, as well. Ah, so close to being famous…

Fore-in-hand!

My Dear Old Dad had a suggestion for the “With Ties” collection…DWT. Duffers With Ties! He texted me over the weekend to say that Ryan Moore, a PGA pro, was sportin’ a strip during the BMW Championships at Cog Hill, here in the Chicago area. Lucky for me and oh so lucky for you, there exists a photo of Ryan watching his ball sail off into the distance. I’d wear a tie playing golf…looks good. A couple years ago, Kevin Costner wore one for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and it looked pretty good.

This morning, I got in touch with the Lee Allison Company, a tie designer in Chicago. I mentioned them back in April, after my friend Patrick Hughes suggested I take a look at their website (which I love). I got a nice note back, inviting me to drop by their studio next Tuesday. Now I’m really nervous…I’m going to have to be sportin’ my best remaining tie, I’d think.

Well, I’ll deal with that next Tuesday morning. Thanks for reading…Brooke

OK, who else amongst you would, upon hearing “Bizarre Love Triangle”, or anything from New Order’s seminal album Brotherhood, get up and dance like you were still in college? Yeah, me neither, but why can’t we be ourselves like we were yesterday? I swear, New Order seemed to be on every mix tape at every party at U. of Illinois. Our football team may suck 9 out of every 10 years, but we had a good time.

toss me a lifesaver

My Tie du Jour, along with the Shirt du Jour, brings to mind the other basic shapes. The TdJ, with its light-blue Life Saver-esque decorations on a midnight blue field, contrasts slightly with the pink square pattern of the white SdJ. The tie is from Bolgheri, a mark under the house of Zegna, one of the preeminent Italian designing families. Cool first name: Ermenegildo. I read recently that the present patriarch goes by ‘Gildo’ (heel-do), but you know if you can get away with 5 syllables in your first name, you’re off to a good start. There have been no sociological studies to back up this claim, of course.

I found this tie on the rack at the Hadassah House resale shop on Dempster. I tell you, their ties are mostly ghastly misses, but they do have some hits over there. And, now that I look at this picture, I see that I can convince myself that it looks like a bunch of Muppet eyes. Guess that’s what I get for writing this late at night.

I did manage to recruit a new Guy With Tie today, at our SOHO networking event (that’s Small-Office, Home-based Office for you acronymophiles out there) today. Russell Vilt is the new sales manager at the Best Western University Plaza hotel in downtown Evanston. I can’t believe I took the picture with him standing directly under one of the lights; I wish you could really see how cool his striped tie is. So many striped ties are diagonal or horizontal…I really like this vertical look.

As I may have mentioned (or not), I had the good fortune to be interviewed by Jessica Rudis, an editor with Evanston Patch, a brand new localized online news source. That said, I had the further good fortune to have that interview published on their website, along with a new moniker: “Necktie Fashionista.” If that’s not something for the headstone (or the urn), I don’t know what is.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

A wise man once said, “Honey, could you turn that down? I’m trying to read.” I don’t know which wise man said it, but don’t you think it’s possible? I have always enjoyed reading the Bartlett’s Book of Familiar Quotations. All this wisdom, prose, poetry…bound together and categorized by subject. But didn’t these people say some dumb things? Mundane things? Those would be more the familiar quotations, right?

I mean, we have George Washington and his “I cannot tell a lie” myth; Abraham Lincoln’s much-proven Gettysburg Address, which began with “Four score and seven years ago…” But, even those guys must have said silly things, right? George could have said, “Wow, Martha, do you think you could have food that’d make me forget that I have wooden teeth?” Abe: “This sucky play makes me want to blow my head off.” See, now that would be a great book of quotations.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re saying. This sounds like stoner talk, but I’m not a stoner. What does this have to do with ties? Nothing. Someone said something really amazing to me the other day, and it’s never going to end up in a quote book, and perhaps that person will never be known as particularly wise. I guess what I’m trying to say is, Pay attention to the wisdom you’ve chosen to surround yourself with, and don’t hunt down those who claim to be wise.

Sir, step down from the soapbox.

Look closely...

Okay, on to my Tie du Jour. It’s from Lord & Taylor, and it was treasure-hunted at Unique Thrift Store, like so many of my strips are. From a distance it looks pretty staid, but up close it is quite complex. This picture actually may bring out the best in this tie, strangely enough. For a camera that has left a lot to be desired on many a tie-occasion, it really came through this time. Well done, iPhone camera.

The Chamber hosted a networking event this evening, called Lawyers, Guns & Money. Maggie and Dean Noonan from WineStyles were the gracious hosts. Pretty sure I’ve taken pictures from the event before, and tonight I got a couple Guys With Ties.

Joel Lipman is a real estate/business attorney who lives in Evanston, and offices in Rogers Park. I like the color in this one.

Square to be hip

Tom O’Hare, of North Shore Community Bank, is a GWT alum, and his square-patterned tie gets him in once again. Here, the camera disappoints slightly again, as his tie is actually much more detailed.

Thanks for reading, especially through that first part…such drivel.

Brooke

Second day of school! Second day of…nah, it doesn’t have the same ring to it.

As I mentioned yesterday (or, actually, about an hour ago, when I finished posting about the Tie du Yesterday), I counted my remaining ties, and I had some thoughts on how to wear multiple strips in one day. My Tie du Jour, from Marshall Field’s (bought famously by Macy’s), is a fairly simple red tie with small decorations on it, very much like 2 or 3 other ties in my collection. I thought I’d bring them all, and change them every time I went into my office or something, and see if anyone noticed.

Pretty crazy, huh? Sorry I may have spoiled the surprise.

I ran across a great article in GQ from their summer issue. Sex, Drugs & Neckties. As I have been one of the small percentage of the Evanston work force that dresses formally for work, I have established somewhat of a philosophy on this. I see dozens and dozens of professionals, ranging in age from 20 to 60+, walking around in casual dress, in obvious work mode. And that’s fine. While the article suggests that ties are the new casual, I go a bit further and say that wearing suit and tie is the new casual. At least in Evanston, there are so few of us, that my tie, pocket square and cuff links, for example, are looked at with more fanfare and wonder than the Gap-cargo-shorts/brand-spankin’-new-Target-vintage-rock-tshirt/latest-expensive-sandals trifecta. Some call me a snob. Some call me the gangster of love. Some people call me Maurice.

Hey! Steve Miller, everyone!

I have to admit that I was pretty stunned to learn yesterday that I have about 75 ties left to wear and write about. Today, though, I had a fun interaction when I walked into First Northern Credit Union, my financial institution that holds the money I have, fleetingly. I walked in as Rod was describing his MOST awesome tie. It’s got skeletons riding motorcycles on it. Skeletons! Riding on Motorcycles! That would immediately move into my Pantheon of Ties subcollection. I’d have a Motorcycles and Skeletons Week, and wear it every day. And I will strike down upon thee with vengeance, and FUUUUURIOUS anger, to those who would defy my tie-wearin’ authority!

Hey! Samuel L. Jackson, everyone! Playing the role of Julius, in Pulp Fiction.

Okay, enough with the cameo appearances. Thanks for reading…Brooke