Archive for the ‘Tie du Jour’ Category

Can’t spell ‘Retirement’ without T-I-E…

August 13, 2010

No, I’m not going to retire, not for a while at least. Unless…I could beat the odds and win the lottery, which would really beat the odds since I haven’t bought a lottery ticket.

My Morning du Jour was spent with the gentlemen of the Mather Place of Wilmette, a retirement community in, well, Wilmette, Evanston’s ‘burb-next-door. Mather Lifeways is headquartered in Evanston, and they are a good friend to the Chamber. I was invited by the marketing staff to be the guest speaker at their inaugural Gentlemen’s Breakfast. As I am indeed a gentleman, I warmed to the task, regaling in their stories and jokes. I only barely remember one of my grandfathers, so it was particularly nice to ‘rent’ 18 or 20 for an hour or so. My speech was off the cuff(link), and I brought a bag full of ties for them to sport. We had a tie-tying contest, and as you can see, I took pictures of all of them. It was serendipitous to me that I brought EXACTLY the number of ties that I needed. Gentlemen…thank you for sharing your time with me; and to the MPofW…thank you for the lovely parting gift, a gorgeous Mather-orange (what else) tie.

So, here are the pix…in the interest of time and layout, I’ll try to put these side by side…

Bob-Tie No. 98

Russell-Tie No.

Bob & Russell were at my table during breakfast. Russell’s great line was, “A week before the wedding, I sat my wife down and said, ‘From now on, I make ALL the major decisions; you’ll make all the MINOR decisions.’ In 69 years of marriage, we NEVER had a major decision.” After a general table discussion about physical activity “below the waist”, Bob told a Churchill joke. Sir Winston walked into a cabinet meeting; upon being told that his fly was open, he said, “Dead birds never fall out of the nest.” Classic.

Mike-Tie No. 24

Norme-brought his own tie!

Like me, these guys aren’t retirees, either; they work for MPofW. Mike, Norme and Harold…

Harold-Tie No.

Norme had a great Salvation Army story. He was just out of the Marines, and he had a job interview but nothing to wear to it. He used the change from his car to buy a shirt and tie from a Salvation Army. He got the job.

Here are the rest of the guys…

Bill-Tie No. 77

Bill-Tie No. 42

Bill Nash-Tie No. 91

Bill Walsh-Tie No. 74

These are the Four Bills. That’s not their nickname…yet. But just wait until I infiltrate the poker tournaments.

Tie No. 70

Gerald-Tie No. 30

John-Tie No. 45

Lawrence-Tie No. 53

Tie No. 67

Pat-Tie No. 15

Thomas-Tie No. 22

All these guys were really great. And I wish I could have remembered all the cool things they shared. Many of them have outlived their wives, despite being outnumbered, in their age bracket, 6-to-1 in the ladies-to-men department. They did say that dinner inviters were aggressive. So, many thanks to my RWT gang! (Retirees With Ties)

Wow, that’s a lot of pictures. Now, let’s get to my Tie du Jour, and then let’s get the pix from the last couple of days.

My TdJ is from Daniel di Milano, and I have adored their strips on these virtual pages before. They just feel right when you tie them. While the field of the tie is gray, the purple flowers give the entire tie a regally purple tone. At least that what I’m going with, to keep up Purple Tie Week appearances.

Okay, I’m on quite a roll with the pix, so let’s go back to Tuesday…100th TieDay.

Dr. Bob-Tie No. 80

Coleen-Shannon-Tie No. 25

Carin-Tie No. 41

Ok, so this is the squad that is responsible for my pearly whites lookin’ pearly. The Stephens Dentistry team is amazing. They are on our floor, so I went over there hoping to get a couple of pictures. What does Coleen do? She gets the entire office, as should be obvious, to get out there, don a tie and pose. Awesome, awesome Coleen. [whisper: thanks!]

Olga-Tie no.

Lauren-Tie No. 87

Tanya-Tie No.

Sasho-Tie No.

Lindsay-Tie No.

Dr Jim-Tie No. 56

Randy Rocker

And, these two pictures should make two things patently clear (like my teeth): 1) You don’t have to wear a tie around your neck 2) Clean teeth rock!

Sorry about the mishmosh layout today, and sorry I didn’t get to put all of the pictures on here. As I’m driving to Nashville today (adult camp at Camp Marymount, my favorite place on earth), I won’t be wearing another purple tie. But I’ll try to fire up a special ‘picturesque’ edition of 100D100T.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

The other tied of the mountain…

August 12, 2010

Whew, that 101st day hangover can be pretty rough. Thanks for the kind words and posts, and general excitement (or noticing and mentioning, really) about 100th TieDay. The feedback keeps me going.

Oh, and as a 100th TD present to myself, I have purchased a new URL for the blog: I can now be found at http://www.100days100ties.com

Tonight…will be a marathon. I need to email some PWT (Philanthropists With Ties) pictures to myself so I can upload them. This particular post is going to be a photo-phest…there may be about 50 on here before I’m done.

First, let’s get to my Tie du Jour, or Tie No. 101 as it shall be known. The first that didn’t make it into the Century Club. It’s a very nice tie, actually, and some on the committee argued for its inclusion. It was just being saved for Purple Tie Week, I guess. This beaut is from Nicole Miller, and its purple field has blue and greenish dandelion-esque flowers that change colors depending on the angle and the light. Kinda trippy, Nicole! I wore this with my seersucker today…something a little modern to go with a shot of tradition.

Okay, here we go with the PWTs…some have their own ties, and some are wearing a selection from the Already Worn. Sorry in advance if the layout is chock-a-block. I just don’t have the time to make it look extremely pretty.

My No. 1 w/Tie No. 27

Well, of course the first PWT I need to put on here is Julia, my daughter, who surprised me yesterday at the office with two BFFs from the neighborhood. She has so much dang fun, doesn’t she?

Isa-Tie No. 25

Here’s Isabella, BFF #1, with her tie…

Cece-Tie No. 41

…and her sister, Celia, BFF #2 after losing 3 teeth (the teeth did NOT come out whilst tying her tie!).

You know, I am so sorry, but I have to postpone posting these pics again. It’s 1:30am…I know I told many of you that you’d be on the blog by tonight (or last night), but getting them all catalogued and ready to put on here is not a quick task. I PROMISE I will put them all on here by Thursday night.

Thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading…Brooke

Tie Absolute Pleasure

August 11, 2010

Well, it’s after midnight and I’ve written nary a word. I call on thee, O Magic Biloba of Gingko, to assist with wordiness.

But, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on this very grand occasion. It is, as you may know, the 100th day of my blog which is called, as you may know, ‘100 Days, 100 Ties’, and I have spent a big part of the day preparing for the week that will be.

No, Purple Tie Week doesn’t take any particular massaging…I picked out my 7 or 8 remaining purple ties, chose 4 that seemed to have the most purple in them (and not just purple decor) and voila. Believe me, Ugly Tie Week will be much harder.

But, since I knew that, for the Century Tie, aka Tie No. 100 (Tie C, for the Roman numerators out there), I wanted to do a few things a bit special. I’ve mentioned the Ties For ChariTIES, where I am trying to raise some money this week for the Salvation Army and Evanston Community Foundation, by taking photos of People, or Philanthropists, With Ties (PWT). Man, Woman, Tall, Short, Young, Old…you, too, can be in the 100th TieDay celebration. If there’s a small chance that I’ll happen to run into you, just email me a picture of you and your loved ones sporting a tie.

To that end, I packed about 8-10 ties (from the Previously Worn collection), pre-tied in knots for ease of donning. I didn’t want my pix this week to be only for those who wear them to work, but for someone with the guts to care little about tie/shirt color coordination, as well as care for local charities. I ended up with, by my wonky count, 19 pics of PWT (People With Ties), well on my way to my goal of 100-plus.

Sw E

But first, my Tie du Jour. It’s a Giorgio Armani. It’s an Armani. Not many ties (or suits) carry cachet such as this. Oozes high class. Even the Armani tag on the back of the tie is a bit upper-catwalk. It was a birthday gift, and immediately I felt happy not only at the opening of the wrapping, but I felt at one with the selection process. Had I been the one shopping for myself, it is the tie I would have chosen, whether there were 10 or 1,000 ties on the table. I mean, just tying the thing is an experience in itself. You tie it right, and a piece of the brighter stripe shows up on the knot. I am positive this was planned, and they knew exactly where to cut.

More now…

surprise visit to the office

Ok, as I mentioned before, I took about 19 PWT pix, and getting them all squared away right now and placed properly on the blogspace is too daunting for me right now. I will add some very special tie-sporters, though. Their individual pix will go up starting tomorrow, with the rest of the generous crew.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Tie be or not tie be…

August 7, 2010

…that is more of a statement.

So, I wasn’t much of a tie guy for this short jaunt to Milwaukee, even if it was slated to be day Nos. 98 & 99. I did just about everything totally ass-backwards. My planning was aces, at least whilst packing the evening before. I brought two ties and all the accoutrements—matching shirts, cufflinks, tie clip, etc.–to look my best. But things don’t always go so well when you’re getting out of your comfort zone. Why doth a one-hour train trip make for such comfort exodus? I haven’t a freakin’ clue, but it did.

Golf, anyone?

Yesterday morning, I donned my Tie du Jour, a nice, blue paisley. I don’t remember the label because, I actually changed it and don’t need to remember until when I wear it.. I didn’t like how the background gray was a little too close to my shirt’s tone…looked a bit Regis for me. So, I (sticking with the Blue Tie Week theme of course) switched to a different Tie du Thursday and, thus, probably threw off my tie mojo for the trip.

We hit downtown Milwaukee running at a quarter to eight. The Amtrak to Milwaukee, by the way, is fantastic. I don’t know if I’ll ever drive here. From downtown Chicago, it’s 90 minutes (only 65 from Glenview, where I got on) from smackdabinthemiddletown Milwaukee. The Frontier Airlines Center (formerly known as the Midwest Airlines Center…Frontier bought Midwest. Who knew?) was our destination, and we went straight into convention…stuff. I was pretty overdressed, even though I was not in a suit. Very few ties, because, well, duh, it’s in the middle of the day.

After a couple of seminars and an issues panel (oh, stewardess…I have issues!), during all of which I nodded asleep (getting up at 4am is not a good way to be well-rested) even though they were interesting and helpful, we went to the hotel to check in and get changed for the dinner. Since I had been gussied up, relatively speaking, all day I got casual. When we showed up at the awards presentation, I quickly realized that I went the wrong way: Everyone was rather formally dressed—mainly suits for the guys and little black dresses (give or take color and length) for the women. I, who had been easily the most formally (or close to tied) dressed person in whatever room I was in for the better part of a year, was now—by a landslide—the most casually-dressed schmuck in the room. I smirked at myself for the better part of three hours…some Mr. 100 Days, 100 Ties blahblahblah. As you will see below, I did get a couple of Guys With Ties (and even a couple of SWT), but my social faux pas destroyed my picture-taking mojo, as there was no way I was going to explain why I was taking everybody’s picture for a tie blog when I, Monsieur Schmuque, couldn’t even be bothered to sport one. Luckily, we ate dinner with some other Illinois chambers (Barrington, Highland Park, Bloomington) so it didn’t matter that I was so inadequately festooned.

Which brings me to today. Well, let’s jump back to Thursday evening…my cool, casual shirt came back in handy as we went to Lucille’s, an extraordinarily fun piano bar. Oh, the joy of Dueling Pianos! Well, at least the D.P. was fun last night with conventioneers and three or four bachelorette parties coinciding. Yee. Haa. Anyway, I highly suggest piano bars. And karaoke bars. Singing in general. Good for the soul.

Back to today. I was so flummoxed by my tie-less evening that I decided to swim along with the other salmon and eschew my chosen Tie du Friday, which was to have been Tie No. 99. Donc (French for, basically, “Sooooo, anywayyyyy”), my 100th celebration will officially begin on Tuesday, during Purple Tie Week. I’ll strive to regain my Tie-Pic-Taking mojo, I promise.

So, here are the SWTs…Statues With Ties. First we have a zoot suit sportin’ mannequin. Not exactly sure why he/it is wearing it, but it was supposed to draw attention to one of the booths at the convention’s exhibit hall.

This one is downright freaky. This fella, Syl Sijan, was immortalized in the corner of the lobby of the Frontier Airlines Center, for some reason that I may know in a second as soon as I google him. This statue is extremly lifelike, very nearly to the point of creepy. I seriously had to be 2 feet away to know it was not real…I thought it was performance art of some sort. I mean, come on, if you wish to honor the legacy of someone, bronze is lovely and it makes it obvious to kids that the statue isn’t going to say, “Boo!” So, an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel give some insight. Still freaky-deeky.

And here’s a last-minute entry, thanks to Paul Hletko, my buddy who found someone who wore a tie to Lollapalooza today. Not much else, as it turns out…hey, at least he doesn’t have to match it with a shirt.

I have to go to bed. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your patience…Brooke

I’m tied. Tied of playing ze game…

August 4, 2010

Ja, it IS a fwiggin’ shame. Oh, Lily von Shtupp, you are ze greatest. May ye rest in peace, Madeline Kahn.

Sorry, a little Blazing Saddles channeling, probably because I am really tired. It’s not very late, but I know I need to wake up a little after 4am, so I can get to the Amtrak, bound for Milwaukee. As I believe I mentioned, I’m heading for LaverneShirleyTown–we’re gonna do it!–for the ACCE convention. I believe the term “Par-tay” was invented at a prior ACCE convention.

My Tie du Jour is actually one of my favorites. It’s a Geoffrey Beene, and I really like the three different shades of blue in the stripes that seem to complement the gray/silver fields between the aforementioned stripes. It’s a worthy inclusion into Blue Tie Week.

Okay, I need to hit the rack…I just fell asleep at my desk.

Thanks for reading this most short post…Brooke

What, you bein’ a wisetie?

August 3, 2010

We need to talk.

I did something terrible. I only hope that you can forgive me. I started two-timing today. I started a new blog, ‘Evanston Chamber Echoes.’ There, I said it. I don’t love it the way I love ‘100 Days, 100 Ties’, I swear; it means nothing to me. It was for work, I had to; a bunch of the guys were doing it, too! I had to start another blog. Can’t you see, 100D100T? You mean everything to me, baby. Give me another chance!

And…Scene. [Exeunt]

Thank you, thank you, you’re a great audience. You’re too kind, really.

Okay, so my Tie du Jour is Tie No. 96 ( Tie No. 2, in the parlance of Blue Tie Week ties). I can’t believe I’m knocking on the door of 100 different ties in 100 workdays (although I think I wore one on a weekend, for my flat-warming).

Bada-bing

The aforementioned, and herementionednow, TdJ becomes Tie II of Blue Tie Week…it’s from Bruno Piattelli, from his Versailles by Piattelli collection. It’s funny how things sometimes work out, or maybe it was just today. For some reason, I turned on Sopranos this morning (I don’t know, maybe I needed a good whacking to complement my caffeine today. Okay, alright, no ‘whacking’ jokes at my expense, please…), and they were having a guys’ meal with la famiglia–Tony, Bobby “Bacala”, Paulie “Walnuts”, Little Stevie from the E Street Band, Billy Batts/Phil Leotardo, and whoever had not died yet. A lot of the ties in that scene resembled this one, with the edges and the fancy stuff in the middle.

Sharp virtual suit, too

We have a new category today…TGWVT. Techie Guy With Virtual Tie. My main man, Mason Hoffman-Dana. Renaissance man. Barman at Nevin’s. Owner/Founder of Don’t Panic Chicago, a networking/technology consulting firm. Mason set up my wireless network here at The Flat (Lakeside, baby!), and then helped me buy my new laptop (this is its first blog entry! Mazeltov!). Mason set up the laptop with this lovely entryway into Microsoft 7, replete with tie. He gets a gazillion bonus points for putting a blue virtual tie smack dab into the middle of BTW.

Well, 100 Days, 100 Ties is headin’ outta Dodge on Thursday. I’m heading up to Milwaukee (bonus Alice Cooper linguistics lesson in that link) for the…are you ready for it?…Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) national convention. I must pick my blue ties wisely, so I am not thought to be a Brewers fan. Illinois, I bid you adieu, and I apologize for taking Tie Nos. 98 & 99 across the state line, thus depriving the state’s coffers of, what, tens of cents’ worth of tax revenue. And you thought Blago hurt this state!

Anyway, thanks for reading…Brooke

Don’t it make my brown ties blue?

August 2, 2010

No, I do not possess the power to change a tie, or any garment for that matter, from brown to blue. And my eyes are hazel, more on the greenish side than brown. I am simply using a cheesy 70’s tune by Crystal Gayle to call attention to the fact that it is time to celebrate Blue Tie Week, the second week of Tie Week Month here on 100 Days, 100 Ties. After being slightly disappointed with the offerings of Mad Men Tie Week, mainly due to poor photography, I will pull out the stops during BTW. You can’t stop me, you can only hope to contain me.

The Tie du Jour is from Claiborne, and it is a flowery affair. I picked it up last week at Hadassah House Resale Shop, along with another strip that will likely make the Blue Tie Week cut. I liked this hue of blue for some reason, and when I got home, I realized why: It’s nearly the same color that I painted my bedroom at the flat. So, after tonight I can pin it to the wall, and you’ll never know it’s there! Well, except for the flowers, that is. And the pins.

Still gearing up for ChariTIES Week next week, during Purple Tie Week. I’ll be a picture-takin’ fool (as opposed to just a normal fool), trying to get as many GWT (Guys OR Girls With Ties) as I can. Let me know if you can help out the Salvation Army and the Evanston Community Foundation, by donating a certain amount per PWT (sorry, forgot they will be Philanthropists With Ties) or by having a picture taken with one of my first 100 Ties.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Thank you, Tieghmaster!

July 30, 2010

And, lo, the first week of Tie Week Month comes to a close. Mad Men Tie Week is in the books, and I’m planning for Blue Tie Week next week. I may have set Ugly Tie Week for next week, but I think I’d like to lead up to Tie No. 100 (scheduled for Aug. 9) with some nice ties. And, so, Blue Tie Week it shall be.

My Tie du Jour will have to go unnamed, as it no longer has a label. It has diamond-shapes floating on a dark blue field with smoky, gray lines all over. This tie, like several of these thinnies this week, looks much better in person, but my flashless camera doesn’t really bring out the best in dark blue ties (so, by all means, dumbass, have a Blue Tie Week). And, as it is Friday, that makes this baby the Friday Freebie, so comment away and win a thin, label-less tie. Impress your friends!

Did you just lick my neck?

So, as we celebrate the end of a celebration of 60s ties, we can revisit the sad, sad 70s, and the fashion of Britain! Once more, titters abound as the cheese is passed ’round. I am quite glad that there is a bright red tie tucked into that bright red button-up sweater vest, because it gave me reason to include this SAH-WEET cable-knit, button-up, BELTED (oh, yes, nothing says, “unbelt my sweater vest, baby” quite like, well, a belted sweater vest) sweater vest.

Ok, so I have a few things to do next week to get ready for my 100th Tie ChariTIES Celebration. I’d like to get some sort of coupon from a place that sells ties, so that I can give something out with a donation. That’s my Saturday task. I should also start tying some ties so that I can loan them out to folks who want to be GW(T)T—Guys With (Temporary) Ties or, of course, Girls With (Temporary) Ties.

Well, thanks for reading.

That’s about the ties of it…

July 29, 2010

Just like the high temperature today, we are in the 90s. Home stretch time for getting to Tie No. 100. That was, what, March 16?

Well, I have decided on a couple of things, which will of course be subject to change. ‘100th Tie Week’ will kick off on Monday, August 9 and will coincide with Purple Tie Week. I will be raising money in a couple of ways. I’m going to try to get 100 pictures of PWT–I’ll say what that means in a minute–per week. Or per day. Or for the rest of August. Whatever, I just don’t know how many I can get. I can go to the train stations in the morning, and try to get some. I’ll walk around with a sampling of some of my (pre-tied, of course) worn ties, and will ask folks I know (and those I don’t) if I can snap their picture in one of the ties. I’ll ask for a small donation, like a buck.

TIES for ChariTIES.

I could donate half the proceeds to the Salvation Army, since I’ve gotten such great stuff there for over a decade. For the other half, the proceeds will go to help pay my tuition so that I can attend the Leadership Evanston program with the Evanston Community Foundation. Any other suggestions are more than welcome, even if said suggestion suggests that I should use it to pay the Leadership Evanston tuition.

Also, I thought that if anyone wanted, they could pledge a certain amount for how many PWT (Philanthopists With Ties!) photos I posted during a certain day or week or whatnot. Just say, “I’ll give a dime for every PWT pic you take this week” or something to that effect, and I’ll get out the handy-dandy calculator.

So, my Tie du Jour, on this, the 2nd day of Mad Men Tie Week, which is the 1st week of Tie Week Month is a good one. The tag says Bruno – Zurich. I’m afraid to google ‘Bruno tie’ because it may take me to some Sacha Baron Cohen porn site from his last movie. A very cool thing about this tie is that it’s a square-ended tie. Of course I didn’t put that in the picture, but if you pretend the bottom of the picture is the end of the tie, you get the drift.

The original picture doesn’t do it justice, so I slipped this one in so that you could see the detail of the blues. Pretty trippy, not that I’d know.

Hmm, I guess that’s it…no guys with ties today. I guess I’d better practice…

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Tie Tie Birdie

July 28, 2010

Thin’s in, baby. Thin is IN. Don Draper and his co-workers at Mad Men‘s upstart ad firm Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Rowan Martin Comet Cupid Starsky & Hutch all got a new chance to show off their newest vintage ties at this past Sunday’s season premier. I had a front-row seat (on my couch) for the TV event of the summer (not counting the World Cup, LeBron James’s bad decision, CNN’s coverage of Hurricane Petrol, Pillars of the Earth, and Sanford & Son reruns).

I was so touched, that I skipped a day of wearing ties to play golf. Oh, just kidding, I could have worn a tie, it would have been too hot. Sweat stains on a tie? Not. Pretty.

My impressions of the first episode of MMIV? It was a mulligan (golf term). They laid up (another one) and Sallied the putt up to the hole (I’ll stop). They had a lot of transitions to cover–divorced Don, divorced Betty, new office digs, new Peggy wardrobe, same Joan buxomitude–and I think they just wanted to gurge them all up in Epi #1. But, in the last minute, it’s obvious that the show will quickly get up to no good. In a good way.

And, so, to honor this slow start out of the gate that will undoubtedly (please, writers?) turn into another great season, I bring you MTTW, Mod Thin Tie Week. Or just TTW, in case I’m misusing the word “Mod.” Or should I go back to MMTW (Mad Men Tie Week), my original premise promise? Nonetheless, it will be a short week, but I will make it worth your while (please, writer?), and I will have settled on a name by then. Or afterwards. By Sunday, I swear.

Less tie, less chance of hitting it w/soup

My Tie du Jour is a muted, two-tone electric blue (I think I just invented another oxymoron) from Wembley, and not only does the label create a new synthetic fabric–WEMLON (Orlon, Dacron & Rayon were just not cheesy enough)–but they give you matching ideas. Right on the label, it says (for Blue, Black or Gray Suit).The print, alas, is too small to take a picture.

All blue, black and gray suits--any Wembley ties?

That just slays me for some reason. In the 60s, when this tie was likely created (pretty sure that WEMLON was outlawed in the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed by Nixon & Brezhnev in May ’72), blue, black and gray suits just HAD to have accounted for 99.1% of all suits worn by non-pimps and non-Frenchmen (French pimps wear blue suits, ironiquement).

I wonder how many times that closed the deal. “Well, honey, this tag says ‘Blue, Black or Gray Suits.’ I could wear this tie every day!” And he probably put it onto a short-sleeve shirt. Sigh. Gotta show cuffs, guys, unless you’re freakin’ Sipowicz from NYPD Blue.

Until tomorrow. Thanks for reading…Brooke