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Tie me a river…

April 22, 2010

I was robbed.

Three simple syllables. Sometimes they convey a feeling of being slighted, by a prospective employer or by a panel of award judges. In my case, it goes deeper than the ‘we wuz robbed’ category; my new apartment was broken into yesterday. My laptop (recently backed up, incredibly), camera (obsolete) and my wedding ring (um…) were taken, along with the 100% great-to-ecstatically perfect feeling that I have had about my new place. The robber–burglar, thief, asshole, punk…take your pick–was too stupid to take a couple of things that were really valuable in here, so I have chosen to take a lighter view upon the situation. Funny is how I roll.

And so, I beg you, dear reader, to forgive me for not posting yesterday’s tie until now. Without further ado, or further larceny, I present the Tie du Yesterday. It’s from Jones New York, and it’s definitely one of my favorites. I think this may be one of the most photogenic of my ties, at least so far. My flash-less iPhone camera makes it look metallic to me in this shot…

The Evanston Chamber hosted its monthly Business After Hours, so I had to get into full peacock mode. I hope this ensemble passes muster.

At last night’s event, I was able to snap a couple shots of Guys With Ties…

Here’s the President of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, Randy Usen. He’s a Senior VP at Evanston’s First Bank & Trust, and he’s been great to get to know during my time here at the Chamber. He sports some great ties, and this multi-blue striped number is no exception.

Next is one of my bestest buds, Paul Hletko. Don’t ‘hlet’ that loosely tied, unbuttoned shirt fool you…he really doesn’t like the suit/tie look. He is a man of many talents and careers: mild-mannered patent attorney by day, he also is the founder of Custompbox, a maker of custom guitar effect pedals. He’s also a guitarist for The Canfields, my favorite band, and he distills fine spirits in the comfort of his own home.

Well, gotta run…thanks for reading. Brooke

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Knit to be tied…

April 21, 2010

As I continue to bask in the glow of the start of my 42nd year, I want to present another present. I mentioned it during Red Tie Week, and it’s now on Prime Time (btw, can’t spell ‘Prime Time’ without, well, you know)!

Thanks, Sarah!

Sarah Burghardt, my very good friend (and girlfriend of my stepson, Steve McClellan), is the artiste who knit this gorgeous teal blue tie. She even blogged about it, with instructions and everything! It went quite perfectly with this shirt, and the Murano glass cufflinks and pocket square/scarf were nice additions, too, if I say so myself. Really must start photographing the ensemble, I guess…

The proud creator

So, in honor of Sarah’s hard work on behalf of the elderly, I hereby name her as the charter member of the Girls With Ties sector of 100 Days, 100 Ties.

Three White Horses = One Happy Girl

And, if that wasn’t enough, look what she did to Julia’s new bedroom here at the flat. While Julia was on spring break, Sarah came and painted these horses on Julia’s wall. Let me know if you’d like Sarah to paint a mural on your child’s wall. Or, hey, if you’d like one, too, that’s fine by me.

EddieBaby paid a fiver for them to dim the lights

So, just a bit after the inaugural Girls With Ties entry, we have yet another from the Guys With Ties world: Ed Greenwald. EddieBaby* and I have been friends since our kids were in swimming classes at McGaw YMCA together. For the past 8 1/2 years, basically, our families have spent Saturday mornings at the Y and then breakfasting at Panera Bread on Sherman in Evanston. After hearing about my separation, EddieBaby wanted to take me to dinner…such a nice boy. We had a great time catching up at Pete Miller’s; amazing how much one can talk when the kiddos aren’t around.

*This Monty Python sketch will show you where I got the name EddieBaby.

Thanks again, Sarah, for knitting the latest Tie du Jour, No. 26, I believe. And, thanks go out to Coleen, for yesterday’s excellent No. 25! It’s so nice to have friends who know just the perfect tie for the perfect situation.

While I’m doing some thankin’, I will also say, Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Can’t spell ‘Gifted’ without T-I-E…

April 19, 2010

Yes, I like those “Can’t spell…” bits, and No, I’m not calling myself ‘gifted.’ I’ll leave that to my Mom, who knows that I am.

But putting all maternal favoritism aside, I wanted to tell you about a couple of gifts that I received for my birthday.

Thanks Coleen!

Today we have fantastic silk tie, like none other than I have, from Versailles by Piatelli. It was given to me by my friend Coleen-Shannon Licar, office manager extraordinaire for Stephens Dentistry here on the 8th floor (Ste. 807–take a left out of the elevator and follow your smile) at One Rotary Center. Drs. Bob & Jim Stephens took over the practice from their Dad, and just recently they celebrated their practice’s 50th anniversary! Coleen had been reading 100Days, 100 Ties and knew that my birthday was coming up. She took a trip to a resale shop in Arlington Heights, where she lives, and shelled out 60 cents (probably 64 or 65 w/tax) for this bit of psychedelia. I don’t like it…I LOVE IT!

As I mentioned, it’s just nothing like anything I have, or anything I’ve seen. It’s hard to guess if it’s 5 years old, or 50, and it’s really well-made. Because of the uniqueness (and because it looks so freakin’ awesome with it), I thought I’d pair it with my black shirt and go a little Johnny Cash today. By the by, I’ll bet there are other folks who wear black all or most of the time–golf player Gary Player, Supreme Court Justice [insert your favorite SCJ here] and the Grim Reaper–who are pretty upset that Johnny C is the one that gets the ‘Man in Black’ moniker. Evidently the Grim Reaper did something about it. He’s a cold-hearted bastard…who doesn’t wear a tie to work.

A Dad-Guy w/Tie!

We have a couple of Guys With Ties today…this first one was sent to me by my parents, without identifying the wearer. I found out it was one of those very parents! My D.O.D.–Dear Old Dad–Bob Saucier. Unfortunately they didn’t include his head in the photo. I promise you he has one, and he used it to impart a sageness that knew no…yeah, yeah, here’s the picture.

Well, I guess I did say, "Show Your Ties!"

The other GWT is Geoff Brown, a former neighbor and present friend. I tried to get him just to show the knot of his tie over his sweater, but apparently he’s bared his chest at Mardi Gras a few too many times. After admitting that he wore the exact same outfit yesterday, I promised not to mention it in the blog. So, please, don’t read that last sentence, ok?

Well, Happy Monday and thanks for reading…Brooke

Tags:Stephens Dentistry
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He red, she said…

April 16, 2010

Happy TieDay, everyone. Weather-wise, it looked a little shady to start, but then a ray of sunshine appeared and made it a great day. Amazing how one little thing at the beginning of the day just sets the tone…

The final RTW tie

The Tie du Jour fits perfectly on a casual Friday: a skinny, red, vintage number from Arrow. The pattern on the stripe and the blackish-reddish mix (where it looks black in the pic) can only be accomplished via the magic of synthetic fabric. Anyway, I wasn’t sure that this was the same Arrow that puts out men’s dress shirts, but the label also says Cluett, Peabody & Co, Inc., which can trace its operations back over 150 years. This tie is NOT that old; it’s 50 years old, tops…

Cultural Reference Corner: Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A city very close to my heart, my mom grew up about 40 miles away; my father was raised in New Orleans, about two hour’s drive, unless you’re Cajun, in which it would take merely an hour. Baton Rouge is translated to “Red Stick.” French explorer d’Iberville named it after finding that the Native Americans had marked their hunting territory with a large, red cypress stick.

Peace, ties and sunglasses!

We have a couple of Guys With Ties to write about here. The first is Chuck Johnson, who found it necessary to honk at me, with his entire family in tow, and plow across a lane of traffic to say hi. Come to think of it, that’s my kind of friend. Chuck and I were fraternity brothers at U. of Illinois, and he recently moved to Evanston, which is nice. He brought his family, which is nicer.

Next is my boss, Jonathan Perman. That link goes to his bio on the Chamber website, where he is not sporting a tie, ironically. I do like the fact that he is celebrating Red Tie Week, though. And just for shitsengiggles, here’s my profile…I’M sporting a tie. Yes, it’s my same picture as this blog one.

Well, it’s always sad to see a good thing end…but end it must. Thus, I bid adieu to the 1st Fifth Annual Red Tie Week.

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With this ring I thee red…

April 15, 2010

Ah, the penultimate day of Red Tie Week. Well, we’ve got a good one today, one of my favorite ties; definitely my favorite red. I had a couple of big sales calls to make, so I needed to look my best. I was at Autobarn Nissan, asking about sponsoring our biggest yearly event, the Fountain Square Art Festival, and I went to Target (great time to be in the middle of Red Tie Week) to talk up the Chamber.

Red, white & blue on Tax Day

Our Tie du Jour is a Daniel Milano; comes from TJMaxx, but this brand seems to be among the highest-priced labels over there. Yes, that is like saying someone is King of the Dipshits, but I can tell it’s good quality. Good feel, perfect knot, and the texture is great. The solid red field that you see in the photo is actually tiny red & white checks (the world’s smallest picnic tablecloth). The tie, she pops; the tie, she shines.

I actually have a preview of a tie that I’ll be wearing next week, most likely Tuesday (why Tuesday? I don’t know, it just came to me). I may have mentioned this, but when I wore the knit tie (FULL-FASHIONED CROCHETED RAYON), I showed it to my friend Sarah Burghardt (who so happens to be dating my stepson Steven). I wanted to ask how hard it would be to knit a tie, thinking I could learn and fire one up by the end of Project 100D100T. Ha! In reality, I was hoping that she would take pity on me, realizing that learning to knit at 41 was not a likely happenstance.

Lucky for me and all possible happenstances, Sarah is, besides being a quick knitter, a very generous individual. She did knit me a tie for my birthday. She blogged about it here, with a great picture. Looking forward to wearing it, Sarah!

CultRef Corner: UB40’s “Red Red Wine” was a hit in 1983. While the song has always been quite popular, what may not be as well-known is the fact that Neil Diamond wrote it. I wonder how his other tunes would sound when performed by a reggae/ska band such as UB40. Hopefully we shall never have to find out. Enjoy the cheesy video.

Alas, tomorrow is the last day of Red Tie Week. Thanks for reading…Brooke

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A redtime story…

April 15, 2010

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who went to a new school for junior high. The principal, a short man who never blinked, made all the boys wear blue pants, white shirts and blue ties. Until 8th grade, that is, when the boys could wear whatever tie they wanted. This was good because these boys had begun puberty, and were beginning to have sweaty armpits; the ties focused the attention of the girls from the sister school on their ties and not their sweaty armpits. Then the boys went off to the big high school, where they could wear any shirt-pants-tie combo that they wished. This hardly helped, as the aforementioned puberty did little for their fashion sense. The aforementioned sister school girls had a much more enlightened sense of fashion, and they pointed and laughed at the high school boys. The boys thought they were really cool, and spent 3.75 years trying to impress at least one of the girls. Then, when it came time, they put all of this experience in matching ties with shirts into good use by spending $100 on renting a black&white tuxedo. Can’t spell ‘good times’ without T-I-E. Or ‘teen drinking’…

Well, we’ve rounded the turn of Red Tie Week, and are heading for the homestretch. My fable there probably won’t make Aesop’s tome, but it does show that I’ve got a little giddy-up this evening. So, let’s get down to the Tie du Jour.

Paisley from the House of Flintstone

My featured strip of fabric may, in fact, have been part of my high school tie-learning process. Pretty sure we’ve had it for years. I say ‘we’ because my brother, Grant (it’s his birthday today!) was three years behind me at Christian Brothers in Memphis, and inherited my ties. Then, a bunch of ’em stayed in the house for years on my Dad’s tie rack. He wore ties to work, with less frequency as time marched on. The ties survived, making a retirement move to Florida, and basically gathering dust, as they are not a requisite part of the golf & pool ensemble (at least not in the past several decades).

The label says Hawkes & Keynes, London, but my guess is that my folks picked it up from a London street vendor. While the pattern is kinda cool–the paisleys seem to have been created in blue Sharpie and yellow Hi-Liter–there isn’t much liner going on. When you don a really quality tie, you can tell by the knotting, and just kind of how it flows between your hands. Hard to explain.

Anyway, I put this with a new (to me) suit that I found at the Hadassah House Resale Shop, at 5020 W. Dempster in Skokie. It’s from Yves Saint Laurent, a beautiful brown Glen plaid (aka Prince of Wales check) with a red (what else? It’s RED! TIE! WEEK!) stripe cutting through it. Throw in a blue scarf-cum-pocketsquare, and I was in bidness.

Honestly, Abe, is that a clip-on?

A couple mornings per week I volunteer to help with a reading discussion group in my daughter’s 3rd-grade class at Lincoln School. This morning I was greeted by a statue of a man in a tall suit, which was topped off by a large tie. Yes, Abe Lincoln makes the Guys With Ties section today. Not sure if this was the bow tie fashion of the day, but Mr. Penny/Mr. Five-Dollar Bill was the leader of the free world…well, save for the other half of his own counry.

Since we had a sort of cultural reference bit in this posting already (the Glen plaid), let’s keep it short…

Red Dawn (1984), a movie made during the years for fears brought to you by Ronald Reagan, is an action film based on a fictional occupation of parts of the US, brought on by the Soviet Union (I linked you to the Soviet’s Wiki page, because we now have college-age students who have no clue what the USSR is), Cuba and their allies. Patrick Swayze & Charlie Sheen, among others, portray high schoolers who escape the initial assault, only to become engaged in guerrilla warfare against the baddies. Ladies & Gents…Red Dawn.

Wow, this was a long one…thanks for reading.

–Brooke

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Another hole in the red…

April 13, 2010

Despite my advancing age, I was able to remember Red Tie Week this morning when picking out my tie to wear. Kinda starts the day off well to pass such a test. You laugh, but in my first work day here at the flat (‘apartment’ has too many syllables), I forgot to shave; on the 2nd day, I went out the door deodorantless. I keep an extra at the office, thanks be to Mennen. Hmm, let’s file this paragraph under Too-Much-Information…

Doctor, I see spots...

All hygienic procedures aside, it’s Day 2 of Red Tie Week. The excitement is palpable, and today’s Tie du Jour from Bullock & Jones (whoa…the Geneva Stripe Shirt on the B&J home page is KILLER. whoa again…it’s $150) is a worthy addition to the week’s offerings. I found it at the Salvation Army store at Kedzie & Chicago Avenue, right here in Evanston, and probably paid $2-3, a steal. The shirt is a vintage Marshall Field’s with French cuffs…pretty fun to pair up with this tie and a red pocket scarf that I have…

I have another addition to Guys With Ties…Mark Daniels, a fellow Dad at Lincoln School, is lookin’ straight into the sun. Thank goodness he’s borrowed my sunglasses…his striped tie and shirt combo look pretty good with his unnecessary raincoat. Perhaps he’s celebrating Charcoal Tie Week at his house.

Mark ponders joining Red Tie Week festivities

Day 2’s Cultural Reference Corner centers on Red Buttons, a Borscht-Belt comedian who seems to have been a regular on the Friar’s Club Roasts during their heyday. This video of his roast of Frank Sinatra is worth a few laughs…plus the cavalcade of 60s/70s comedy stars is pretty fun to see.

I’d like to mention again how amusing it has been to keep this going. A lot of you have told me that you’re enjoying it, in person and in comments. Y’all are a main reason that I know I’ll keep going. Pretty sure this one is Tie No. 21. Pretty sure that No. 22 will be red, too…if I remember Red Tie Week, that is.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Better off Red…

April 12, 2010

Discovery Channel has Shark Week. Due to budget constraints, and a not-so-surprising lack of Killer White footage, 100 Days, 100 Ties merely has Red Tie Week to offer. So there.

I have an inordinate number of red ties…I am perfectly capable of counting this high, but I would guess that I have 10-12 ties that are red-majority, and most of those are relatively simple. If I don’t do some sort of conglomeration offering them as the Ties du Jour, then there will be a backup near the end of the project. And who wants that?

Red. Tie. Repeat.

Today’s offering is a rather simple silk tie from Brooks Brothers. A patterned duo of red tones with small flowers in twoshades of blue. Pair it up with my blue shirt for one of my most conservative looks; of course I have added a red/white pocket square (okay, okay, it’s a small scarf) as well as a pair of Murano glass cuff links to lessen the right-leaning undertone.

And, looking over the Guys With Ties file, I see that this past Friday, I snapped a shot of

Next time I'll say 'Smile' BEFORE I take the pic.

Taji Jacob, who works for a firm, Pension Specialists, that subleases office space here at Chamber Inter-Galactic HQ (thx AC). As luck would have it, he was sporting a red tie, apparently giddy with anticipation for RTW.

All this talk about Red has me thinking about one of my favorite comedies, “Midnight Run.” One of the many fantastic scenes finds our heroes at Red’s Corner Bar. Consider this the first of many cultural reference lessons of (altogether now, with your best ‘Wheel of Fortune’ shouting voice) RED! TIE! WEEK!

Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm, or at least enduring it, for la semaine des cravattes rouges!

And, as always, thanks for reading…Brooke

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Casual Tieday…

April 10, 2010

Well, as I basked in the afterglow of my birthday, it dawned on me that today was Friday. Kind of a perfect post birthday day, if you ask me, especially when it comes after what was kind of a perfect birthday.

Social media is a great way to get a lot of well-wishers come to the birthday party, so to speak. I always find it very funny, on Facebook, to send along birthday greetings to someone I’ve known for 20+ years after never knowing their birthday prior to this year. “Hey [Insert Jr High Classmate here], even though I never ever knew your birthday while we were face-to-face friends, I’d love to pass along Bday greetings because we’re such great facebook-to-facebook friends!”

Back to Fridays. I started my job at the Evanston Chamber in early- to mid-June last year, and around about August, our executive director, Jonathan Perman (no tie in this profile pic), mentioned to me that we observe casual Fridays in the summer. Gee, thanks, Boss. Can I expense the bill for the suits that I sweat through on those hot July days?

I did go tie-less a couple of times, but realized that impromptu member/prospect meetings were too usual an occurrence to get too casual. Alas, no flip-flops and/or muscle Ts. On the positive side, there are pairings that are achievable that don’t necessarily go with a suit.

This tie with this plaid? Not bad!

Today’s tie, a nice sky blue solid with a little grain goin’ on, is rather simple, but with this plaid shirt it turns out to be summery enough (despite temps in the 40s today). It’s from Michael Kors, and the offset grain makes it look pinstripe-y and helps it pop out from the shirt a bit more. I even threw on a jeans jacket to get a little suburban cowboy-esque. Go, birthday boy, go.

Tie du Jour #19 marks the end of the 4th week of 100 Days, 100 Ties, and I’d like to thank folks for giving me a reason to keep writing this. It would be fun for me if there were no one reading, but your feedback, in person and online, has made it a blast.

My pit of vipers pile o’ ties has made it onto my newly-reinstalled tie rack, and it made me think of a couple of weekly themes that I could try: Ugly tie week, Blue tie week, Plain red tie week, etc. Suggestions welcome, even if you claim that a tie from the past 4 weeks should be included in the Ugly Tie Week…

Now I call upon you to post things that would make this blog more interesting: memories of a family member’s favorite (or ugly) tie, stores (thrift or regular) where great ties can be found or just pictures of ties in your repertoire.

Thanks for reading, and thanks again for the bday wishes…Brooke

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Happy, Happy Birthday to Me

April 8, 2010

Some people have a problem with their birthdays. They will go great lengths to avoid cakes at the office, presents from friends, general recognition, etc. Not me. I have no problem letting folks know that my birthday is coming up, nor do I find myself reluctant to say “It’s my birthday” whether or not I know the person to whom I’m speaking.

That said, it’s my 41st birthday, and just because I’m in an even-numbered mood (more feng shui you know), let’s put that number at 42. [Insert tasteful multiple-birthday-candle-, or forgetfulness-related joke here].

Thin is in!

Today’s Tie du Jour is a fun one to write about, and not just because I’m hopped up on birthday cake from Fraîche, on Noyes Street here in Evanston. I’ll also admit that I indulged in an almond croissant this morning from there, too. Go check out what Susan, Mari and the gang have in store for you–one good bite after another, I promise.

I bought this tie at Unique Thrift Store, if memory serves. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it was way too wide for my taste, and I just went over to see Wafa at A-1 Tailor on Dempster, just west of Chicago Avenue. He has worked wonders for us over the years, doing anything from sewing a Harry Caray patch on my Cubs jersey, to altering a suit. His prices are fair, and he does great work. He has bettered many of my treasures.

As soon as I saw my new, thinner tie, I was ecstatic. Somehow the narrower strip makes the pattern stand out even more. I couldn’t wait to wear it, so it took me all of a day.

Mr. Zanayed and I have always had nice mini-conversations, but this time I spent a good fifteen minutes, being regaled with some cool stories from his early career in Palestine. His expertise has always been suits, and I can tell he knows what he’s doing. I even have a few suits from resale shops, and those need some adjustments, and he has really helped me save some money.

Wafa told me about a woman who came to his shop last year with a piece of fabric, and wanted to surprise her husband

Great sweater, great tie, great tailor

for his birthday with a custom-made tie. Wafa took apart an old tie to see how to put it back together, and produced a beautiful surprise. It cost around $100, but the husband loved it so much she came back this year with another fabric.

And now here’s a teaser for another TdJ: he showed me a tie that had been waiting for its owner for a year and a half. He offered it to me for what the previous owner owed on it, so for $5 I got a great new tie. Sorry, Mr. Deadbeat Tie Owner…

Speaking of tie owner, my original number was 116, but I found 4 here at the office (do not knot unless in an emergency) and have bought around 8-10 since starting 100 Days, 100 Ties. So, by rudimentary math standards, that puts us at 130 or so. Yeesh. I need to start giving some of these away. Seriously, if you know of someone who wants a tie, or perhaps a college graduate who could use a few, let me know. I’d be happy to wear 1 or 5 in a row with the idea that I could mail them at the end of the day or week. Let’s get creative.

Thanks for reading, thanks for the birthday wishes…

Brooke

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100 Days, 100 Ties