Archive for the ‘Tie du Jour’ Category

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Take Bow Prisoners

May 6, 2011

Wednesday was a first for me…I got to ride in a police car. No, no, I did not break any laws, nor was I wrongly accused of breaking any laws. As part of my Leadership Evanston experience, I had the privilege of going on a ride-along with Officer LaShawn Cook, one of Evanston’s finest. She took me on a tour of her beat, and we even got to make a traffic stop (a lady pulled out her cellphone and started texting right in front of us. duh.). Contrary to popular belief, manifested in the movie Superbad, I did not get a chance to discharge a weapon or burn a wrecked squad car. Officer Cook was very patient with my stupid questions (“How fast can one go before he/she gets a ticket?” “Can I discharge a weapon or burn a wrecked squad car?”). Thanks, Officer Cook!

So, knowing that I’d be cruising around in a cruiser, did I change my Bow Tie Week responsibility? Of course (k)not! This orange number from the Churchill Collection via GWBT Dan Murrell’s collection may have been the first bow tie in that car, unless they busted some college professors for smoking the reefer recently.

I’m sure that folks who saw me riding along wondered what the hell that guy with a bow tie was doing in the police car, especially once you see the ensemble (that’s a tan blazer, not yellow, as my crapiPhone would suggest). That would have taken the whole ‘good cop/bad cop’ thing to a different level. ‘Snazzy cop/sloppy cop’ or maybe ‘good fop/bad fop’ come to mind as suitable replacements, should the mighty bow make its way into the uniform of our men and women in blue.

Wednesday was kind of a big day, and not only because of my brush with the law. We had our monthly Lawyers, Guns & Money (funny that I was dropped off by Officer Cook, who had a Gun) event at the Prairie Moon. I should always get more GWT at these events, but I don’t want it to be just about the camera. I did snag/snap attorney Michael Poulos, on one of his rare visits to LGM (he’s in the Chicago Bar Association’s orchestra).

After cavorting with the collection of lawyers and money folk, I was collected by Jenny and we headed to SPACE to see singer/songwriter Chris Pureka in concert. It was a fantastic show, and she even sported a tie. The crapiPhone may even give you proof, but don’t hold your breath. I swear she had on a tie.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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I’m your ice cream man, stop me when I’m passing tie…

May 4, 2011

An open letter to Mother Nature:

Hiya Ma,

I can tell you’re angry. I don’t know what someone said or did to you to make you so upset, but I hope it wasn’t me. Oh, sure, you’ve given us crappy Aprils before, but my calendars all agree that it’s May now. Today started out with a little bit of sunshine, so I dressed accordingly, without checking the thermometer. You know that I’m not a weather checker: I know you can and will do your job, and you don’t need me playing armchair quarterback like that Tom Skilling. Later on in the day, the clouds had swallowed that star that keeps us warm, and the thermometer in my car (which has a sunroof, not an overcast roof!!) reading said 45 degrees.

Whatever we can do, please let me know and I’ll tell everybody. I’m sure we’re all ready for a collective “I’m sorry” so we can revive our spring.

Sunnily yours,

Brooke

Anyone got a stamp?

Yeah, we Chicagolanders love to talk about the weather. Unofficial stats put forth by at least one blogger (me) note that 92% of elevator conversations speak entirely on what’s going on outside. The other 8%, by the way, are broken up this way: 5%-Bears; 3%-fact that coffee hasn’t been had yet.

The temps just aren’t lending themselves to a good Bow Tie Week. As you can see from my ensemble pic, I brought out the seersucker (just the blazer, not the full suit–gots to be hots). Honestly, seersucker isn’t meant to be shivered in, nor is it used to having a trench coat worn over it. The nerve!

So, let’s pretend it was summer as we describe the Bow Tie du Jour. It’s a Murrell Special from Beau Ties of Vermont. Now, I’m not sure if it was originally from there, or if they fashioned it out of a regular necktie. I think that’s a great service…I have a couple of strips that I want them to make a bow tie out of. Anyway, this looks like it may have been an Hermès in its prior life…

Thanks again, Dan, for loaning me a few of your precious bow ties!

Speaking of Few, tomorrow is a big day at Few Spirits. The first batch will be run through the mash tank and put into the fermentation container. Cross your fingers that those little yeasty beasties will get hongry on those sugars and produce some yummy booze.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Do Not Pass Bow, Do Not Collect $200

May 3, 2011

I only wish there were $200 attached to this post. But, perhaps there could be a way to attain some economic gain on here. Hmm, lucky for me, I’m friends with Billie Kershasky of Astor & Black. She and her buddies at A&B have come up with a contest (read about it, as well as a worldwide treasure trove of style tips, on their Style Log) in which the winner will receive an iPad.

Oh, how nice it would be to keep track of my TAW (Ties Already Worn) and my TTW (Ties To Wear), on an electric medium such as the iPad. I could take photos of the ones that I need to wear, and set a plan for which would be the upcoming Ties du Jour. Then I could just blog on the go. Plus, when my brand new, custom-crafted A&B suit arrives later this month (thanks for the fitting, Billie!), I can use the iPad to show it off, since I can’t wear it all the time (or can I?)…

Now that I’m done entering the contest, it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled programming. Strike up the band! It’s Bow Tie Week! Not to be confused with Bow Tie Fortnight, mind you, BTW is more than just a condensed version of BTF, more than just a different third letter in the acronym. Oh, no, my pretty, it’s a harbinger of spring, even though it started 6 weeks ago. Bow ties, to me, are like shorts; oh, sure, bow ties are worn in the cold months, too, but they look so happy, so, well, spring-y.

My Bow Tie du Jour is from R. Hanauer, who have the very valuable domain name bowties.com. I bought this bow tie from Dorothy Coletta, a friend of mine whom I met through my friend Katherine Eiff (who gave me the George Washington tie that I adored so much even though she said it should be a part of Ugly Tie Week). [Exhale]. Dorothy used to own a clothing store on the east coast, and brought a lot of the merchandise out here when she moved. That reminds me, she had a couple of ascots; I need to try an ascot before 100D100T is history.

Well, I have a new category…Petrus Manach here is the charter member of the PADWT (Picasso’s Art Dealer With Tie). Petrus was an art dealer who signed Picasso to a contract in 1900 (ah, the Internet). This print was in my friend—and GWT alum—Todd Paul’s bathroom. No, I did not take a picture of anything else in there.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Tie do

May 2, 2011

Willie and the Poor Boys

As the royal wedding approached, I tried to busy myself so that I wasn’t watching my mailbox, waiting in vain for the invitation that didn’t come. Oh, I understand that being 2,004,345,610th in line to the throne doesn’t automatically get me a seat in Westminster Abbey…but still, it hurts. I needed the perfect tie, just in case I made it, miraculously, onto the list.

Well, I found a good one, another treasure. My Tie du Jour comes from Turnbull & Asser, a British clothier that is officially appointed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, aka the Father of the Groom. T&A—as they are probably not commonly known, among the nobility at least—are more known for their shirts, but this TdJ is pretty nice. Very close to that cornflower blue that is apparently my colorcrush these days, this strip has a very simple pattern, which would have fit right in should the noblesse have obliged.

Sticking with the British theme, but swinging way way off to the other end of the class spectrum, we had an encounter, theatrically speaking, with peasants. Julia performed in Mudlark Theater‘s production of Robin Hood. Her role was that of Fern, a lass as quick with the dagger (two daggers, actually) as she was with her sass. The play was directed by a GWT alum, Michael Miro. As he is a classy guy (or maybe he had been at the wedding), Mike sported a sweet tie.

And, lastly, we come back to the USA, with a little North Shore royalty, Tina Fey. Her Liz Lemon character got a tie from her Jack Donaghy boss, and I was able to snap it from the telly (more Brit-speak, sorry) for your viewing enjoyment.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Posted in Girls With Ties, Guys With Ties, Tie du Jour | 1 Comment »

WC-tIe-U

April 29, 2011

Whether the world (or I) was ready or not, it has now seen me in High Definition.

Yes, today was the day that my “Uniquely Chicago” piece ran on WCIU-TV (Channels 26 & 183 here). At 6:05 AM, to be exact, my 15 minute of fame began. Of course, as a couple of my Facebook friends have pointed out, it ended 12.25 minutes short. But that’s okay.

Without further ado, I’d like to thank Jane Monzures, the reporter who interviewed me, and Dustin Aldrich, the cameraman. They both made me feel super comfortable, and told me just what to do and where to look. Hard to believe they cobbled my hour (or two) of babble into just under 3 minutes. I’d also like to thank my friends Diana and Dominic Turcotte, who told Jane about my tie obsession and told her to get in touch with me.

So, all week I’ve been paying homage to Uniquely Chicago with my Unique Tie Wique. I thought I’d pull out a good Tie du Jour to keep that going.

The flat-bottom on this strip (damn, the picture doesn’t show it) makes it just about unique enough for UTW, but the constellation map puts it over the top. It’s from Rooster, which is a vintage label. The fabric is almost a denim, it’s so thickly cotton.

I have an interesting Guy With Tie picture today. Maybe even unique, as it starts a new category. The CCWDT…Cardboard Cutout With Drawn Tie. Here, Dave Steiner, GM of the Hilton Garden Inn, poses with a cutout of his new boss’s boss (can’t remember his name). The staff of the hotel were posing with this picture as part of a PR campaign about Interstate Hotels & Resorts taking over management of this (and other) HGIs. Once this picture was taken, they were to overnight the cutout to another HGI location. Good to know that large corporations can act like they’re at summer camp sometimes.

Thank for reading, and watching…Brooke

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Do You Have Any Threes? Bow Fish!

April 29, 2011

Sorry, Wednesday. I know you deserve to be treated just like the other days of the week, but I really need to get to Thursday’s post. I’m sorry. It’s not you…it’s me. I’ll make it up to you. I promise I’ll be a better blogger. I hope we can still be friends.

I would like to use today’s Tie du Jour, which is evidently a Bow Tie du Jour, to herald next week’s Bow Tie Week. I feel it is unique enough to fit into Unique Tie Wique, as well.

Any fish you wish

I hope you can see the fish pattern, which is an MC Escher design. Escher created a lot of the optical illusions that you see out there: hands drawing hands, stairs that run into other stairs…you see them all over the place. Here’s a closeup on the left if you need it.

Besides being a sign that a BTW is on the verge of happening, this bow tie is a loan from my friend Dan Murrell, who wears bow ties almost exclusively. Dan, do you have more than 100 bow ties? He sent me about 10 or a dozen, to fill my BTW needs. I may end up wearing more than one in a day, see if anyone notices.

I was able to add another GWT to the mix. I don’t know him, just liked his tie. His name is Peter, and he was at Davis Street Fish Market (ah-ha, fish…a coincidence!).

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and adverties…

April 27, 2011

I always laugh at that quote from news magnate/sailing champ Ted Turner. Ol’ Tie-One-On Ted sure had a way with words…probably still does, as I don’t really think he’s kicked off quite yet. I’m sure they’d report that on CNN…or he’d kick their asses.

My Tie du Jour had nothing to do with CNN, Ted Turner or any of Time/Warner’s other holdings. It was chosen since I was going onto Northwestern’s campus on a Chamber call.

So, yes, of course, the TdJ is mainly purple. A beautifully striped strip from Astor & Black, I like the way the different textures capture the light in, um, different ways. Not sure why this gets it into UTW (Unique Tie Wique), but let’s just say that it does.

The countdown continueth for my segment on WCIU-TV’s “Uniquely Chicago.” While it will be on (I assume) one of the three morning time slots for “You & Me in the Morning”, it will also be available online at some point. Of course, I will post a link here…

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Tie-er, Tie-er, Pants on Fire

April 27, 2011

If plans go as, um, planned, this will be Unique Tie Wique. As I am coming up with this on Tuesday night, it’ll be something of a stretch to actually come up with reasons why the ties that I wore on Monday and Tuesday were particularly unique, but I’ll do my best. The real reason I want to be unique is that my interview on WCIU’s Uniquely Chicago is scheduled to air on Thursday. I’m sure I’ll post it when it shows up on their website, unless of course I come across as a total gique (I can feel y’all nodding at the distinct possibility).

So, Monday was unique in that I made another Lee Allison tie my Tie du Jour. Well, since it was my 4th or 5th, maybe it wasn’t so unique. But, what did make it unique is that I wore it to dinner with Lee Allison himself! Yes, my friend Lawrence Neisler (not a GWT alum…yet) and I accompanied Lee and Trideep Das, his head of sales and marketing. Of course I didn’t capture this moment on camera. Doy.

Centaurea cyanus

Anydoy, my TdJ is probably my favorite color for a tie, kind of a cornflower blue. Not sure if the flowers on there are actual cornflowers (don’t think so), but…I like it.

Not sure if I mentioned, but my friend Dan’s first shipment of loaner bow ties arrived over the weekend. Soooo, what does that mean for moi and yoi? Bow Tie Week next week! I may even sique to snique one in for Unique Tie Wique.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Tie and the Family Stone

April 23, 2011

Now that my confusion of Wednesday and Thursday is in the rear view mirror, I should get right back down to basics. So, of course, getting back to the basics means taking a flying leap into something incredibly complex. Lately I have been on a rock-n-roll lyrics kick, and now I will jump magnanimously to the rock/soul/funk fusion magic of Sly and the Family Stone. Hit it! Believe me, this is actually one of the more docile pix of Sly. There was a LOT of money spent on his and his crew’s outfits. That would have been an incredible show to experience, back in the day.

But, I digress (which I like doing)…My Tie du Jour was a gift from the night before. We had gathered for the YPE/Kiwanis Charity Poker Tournament, and David “DFish” Fisher (one of the first two members of the Guys With Ties organization) had gotten a tie back from a friend who’d borrowed it a year before. So, of course, DFish passed it onto me.

And here it is, in all its glory. It’s an Italian silk tie, from the house of Frangi. This seems to be the luxury mark of the company, Tie Rack. You can read about Tie Rack’s history here. So compelling. You get nothing but compelling here at 100D100T.

Thanks for being compelled (compulsed?). And thanks for reading…Brooke

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You Have the Right to Remain Tielent

April 23, 2011

There is evidence, hard evidence, of a scam, executed right here in 100 Days, 100 Ties. It truly puts the blah in blog, and stems from my penchant lately (my mom’s saying, “mm-hmm, told you so”) from being over a day late with my posts. Let’s take a look at the facts:

Exhibit A

For the Tie du Wednesday, I described a red, polka-dotted Perry Ellis tie, which I did wear. Here is a photo of it on the right. Here’s a partial transcript of the trial:

Brooke the Attorney: Mr. Saucier, did you describe, in Wednesday’s post, your attendance at the Chamber’s Business After Hours, which did occur on Wednesday, April 20?

Brooke the Accused: Yes, that is correct. I took photos of Guys With Ties. In fact I could get you and your tie if you’ll just stand still for a sec…

Exhibit B

B. Attorney: Your positive response is duly noted, Mr. Saucier, please do not add such comments or triviality, which shall be stricken from the record. But, yes, this is a lovely tie, is it not? Anyway…Your Honor, I would like to enter this photo into evidence as Exhibit B. Mr. Saucier, is that you in the photo?

B. Accused: Yes, it is. Here, I’ve got my camera, hold st…

B. Attorney: Silence! And is that photo depicting your speaking (or is it singing) to those gathered at the Chamber’s Business After Hours hosted by the Rotary Club of Evanston?!

B. Accused: Yes! Say cheese!

B. Attorney: Cheeeeeeese! There, you got the photo. Satisfied? Can I get on with this? Does the tie that you are wearing match that of Exhibit A, which was posted in your blog of the same date?

B. Accused: No! No, it doesn’t! Mercy, your Honor! Mercy! I was tired, it was late, I had two posts to write, and hundreds of pictures at my disposal! I’m a fraud! Mercyyyy!!

B. Attorney: I rest my case.

So, dear readers, I hope that you will forgive me. My Tie du Jour is actually my Tie du Yesterday. The old switcheroo.

The Real McCoy (McCoy = Tie du Wednesday)

It is, however, a lovely tie. It’s a multi-colored piece of magic from Paul Fredrick. Here’s a better shot of it…

Thanks for your understanding, and thanks for your forgiveness. And, if you don’t understand and don’t forgive, thanks for reading…Brooke

Posted in Tie du Jour | 2 Comments »

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