Posts Tagged ‘Few Spirits’

The Tied of the Yankees

October 11, 2011

Darnit. I’ve had this blog subject saved for months, ready to use it in the inevitable event that the New York Yankees have a modicum of success. Not that I’m a fan; in fact, I’m probably the opposite. Because my immediate forebear (my Dad) passed on his extreme dislike (his extreme like of the Pittsburgh Pirates peaked 51 years ago when they took the World Series over the Bronx Bombers), it’s mildly disappointing that I failed to submit a timely account of their playoff demise. Well, in case you’ve instead been following football, lamenting the final episodes of Breaking Bad, or just enjoying the Indian summer, they were knocked out by the Detroit Tigers (either word, of course, can’t be spelled without T-I-E).

So, after several tie-less days, I finally sported another for a Few local sales calls for Few Spirits. Longtime destination Tommy Nevin’s Pub (T-I-E again) was first on my list, and so we’ll have our stuff there very soon. I also furthered our cause at Bar Louie and the Celtic Knot. We’ll be everywhere, man!

My Tie du Jour for the occasion is a lovely, patterned strip from one of my faves, Paul Fredrick. I picked this one up at Classy Closet resale shop, along with several other PF TdJ’s-to-be. The dark navy field is a perfect plot for the differently-colored medallions that regaled my light orange striped shirt.

Although I had not worn a tie in several days, we did have a new Guy With Tie pay us a visit. Scott Wright is a commercial loan officer from Charter One Bank. Our local branch manager, Raquel Hernandez, set up a meeting for us, and she and Scott niced up our distillery for a Few minutes.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Can’t spell “Tree killer” without T-I-E…

October 1, 2011

You also can’t spell “Restoration Hardware” without T-R-E-E-S A-R-E S-H-I-T. OK, there’s an extra ‘S’ thrown in there, but you get the picture, and you hopefully get what Restoration Hardware feels about our forests.

I have never been one to preach a green lifestyle: I try to recycle and I usually accomplish it. I have canvas shopping bags in my trunk, and I actually bring them into the store about half the time. But, when I saw the monstrosity that Restoration Hardware sent out, it pissed me off.

Have you seen this thing? It’s 615 pages of their overpriced merchandise (don’t they have to overprice? they need to pay for their catalog…) crammed into a 3-to-5 pound shop-alog. What world does their marketing department live in? Are they not onto the fact that, when someone needs a linen storage box, some Italian bedding, or a large leather couch (financing available), they will likely browse online? Yes, when I was a kid, I enjoyed the arrival of the Sears Giftbook just as much as anyone else. But, there was no way for me to peruse aisle after virtual aisle of toys and other Xmas wishes. These days, does anyone really take the time to leaf through 600+ pages of shoppable crap? For shame, RH…you are S-H-I-T.

Ok, off the soap box and back to ties…

After our Delilah’s adventure, it was time for the Indy Spirits Expo at the Bottom Lounge. Few Spirits, along with over 60 distillers, showed off our products to several hundred whiskey/spirits fans. I had some sales calls earlier, so I threw my Few shirt on over my shirt/tie ensemble. Not bad…

My Tie du Jour is a vintage thin from Prince Igor, which is probably, safe to say, no longer in business. It was sold by the Maurice L. Rothschild & Co. outfit at one of their department stores.

One of the exhibitors (good thing I didn’t say “exhibitionist”) at Indy was a very cool guy named Graham Wasilition, purveyor of Tenneyson Absinthe Royale (which was delicious, by the way…I’m a BIG fan of the black jelly bean). He had some tie-bar/cufflink sets, and he gave me a new tie bar, adorned with the Tenneyson design. Very cool, so I wore it the rest of the night. Thanks, G.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Samson & Detielah

September 29, 2011

Well, show me…the way…to the next…Whiskey Bar. Oh, don’t ask why, oh, don’t ask why. –the Doors, Alabama Song

Big night in Fewville (Fewtown? Fewsbury? Fewborough?), as we Few had a huge launch party at world-renowned Delilah’s, down in Lincoln Park. We had a fantastic crowd down there, as many folks from Evanston made it out, on a school night no less. Owner Mike Miller was the best host, and his wonderful wait staff put out a great offering of cocktails.

I thought it may be a stretch to wear a tie to a punk-rock whiskey bar, but I figured it’d be okay with my Few shirt. This vintage plaid strip from Monsieur Cravatieur feels woolen, but thank goodness it’s pure synthetics! Trevira Polyester rears its pretty head again into my 100D100T world!! I wonder if the ancient clans of Scotland ever imagined synthetic wool. Nae…

I wasn’t alone for long, as the newest GWT walked in soon after we set out our gin & whiskey. Alan sported a very cool bowtie, which would be visible if the flash on my not-as-crapiPhone camera had actually worked.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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The Tie Traveler’s Wife

September 27, 2011

I’m going to go out on a limb here: I’ll probably never have the chance to time-travel. There. I said it. So, I can guess I can finally use this post subject that’s been sitting in my drafts list for quite a while.

And though the chances are somewhat greater that I’ll have an encounter with author Audrey Niffenegger, an Evanstonian by day (and night), I figured I’d just go ahead and use it to signify that I’m going back to one of the 5-7 ties that remain un-posted.

Mildly interesting backstory on my Tie du Jour, and that’s putting it very mildly. This TdJ is solid in at least a couple of ways – color scheme and craftsmanship would be my choices. It’s from designer RVR Neckties, owned by Robert Valdes-Rodriguez, with whom I used to work at ABN Amro Bank. Or for whom, I guess you could say, at least for a few months. I nearly choked on my bowtie when I saw that his strips go for $185 a throw. [long, slow whistle] Give me 30 days and I could find 100 above-average ties for less than $185. And, no, I wasn’t really wearing a bowtie when doing my research. My good friend Lee Allison designs ties that have personality, AND are half that price.

MWT?

In my last post, I can’t believe I left out a Guy With Tie. Mike Ryan is a mixologist-extraordinaire at Sable. Paul and I visited there a couple of times in the past week, thanking them for carrying Few. Here’s Mike in proper mixology-gear, i.e. waistcoat and tie. Go see him, and ask him to make you a Few-inspired cocktail.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Multiple personali-ties

September 23, 2011

Do not adjust your set. In this case, “set” obviously means your PC/Mac/Smartphone/random-futuristic-interweb-viewing-device.

My vintage Tie du Jour was sold a long time ago at Marshall Field’s, which, along with its celebrated holiday traditions, was swallowed up several years ago by Macy’s and their own celebrated holiday traditions. There was much hullabaloo when the deal was going through, as folks worried if they’d still be able to go to the tea room in the Field’s/Macy’s flagship store in downtown Chicago. That and the walk-around story-telling are still there, as far as I know. Go, capitalism!!

The designer is Pierre Cardin, who joins Yves Saint-Laurent and Louis Vuitton as the spiritual triumvirate of French designers that even the average Yankee non-fashionista has heard of. This TdJ looks like Monsieur Petey was trying a few different things out…on ONE tie. It’s got a nice solid dark brown as its base, then hits on some stripes in a cool cream, crimson and some more o’ that cornflower that I dig on. He must not have hit his paisley quota for that season, ‘cuz he fires up two small strips of them. To top it off, he throws in some kind of tapestry thing between the paisley rows, making this one a candidate for the legendary Ugly Tie Week.

This strip, and all its glory, accompanied me on a few sales calls down in the city. I was spreading the Few Spirits-ual gospel to Andersonville – Simon’s and Big Jones – and downtown Chicago – Henri & the Gage. Look for a Few new additions at those fine establishments soon.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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I saw it with my own two ties!

September 19, 2011

If it seems like I’ve begun my last two or three posts with some major whining about being behind on my tie posts, it’s probably true.

But, I’m done complaining, and will just get to it. I will post all of the ties, but not in the order in which they were worn. We’ll just post the last one I wore, and go backward in time from there. And, if I wear another tie, I’ll post that one as I wear it.

If it seems like I’ve made these kind of promises in the last two or three posts, it’s definitely true. No more promises, I’ll do what I can.

Hmmm…now what do I say?

Oh, yeah, I know…on this particular day in question, I wore two ties. Let’s get to them…

Diamonds are Forever...or at least until you wear another tie

I had some sales calls to make downtown with Few Spirits, so I got gussied up in Tie du Jour numéro un, this geometrically-unchallenged strip from Burberry. After meeting with the beverage director at Mastro’s Steakhouse, I went for a little walk, stopping in at several places, ending up at the grand opening of Cantina Laredo, version Chicago. Delicious mini-fish tacos…or were they fish mini-tacos? Fish taco minis? Either way…yum.

Then, I got home and wanted to be a bit fresher for the 2nd Annual Evanston Business Mash-Up, which is run by my former employer, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce. It was such a nice night (like last year’s event), right on the beach at Northwestern (like last year), and I was able to go home straight after (unlike last year). Paul and I sampled some Few for the masses.

Part of my fresher ensemble was cedntered around TdJ#2, my bow tie from Paul Fredrick, picked up on their website recently. This is that cornflower blue that I love, and the fabric is just top-quality. This and my diamond-patterned shirt went nicely with my new Astor & Black suit. I’ll have to make an ensemble photo with that soon.

Although there were many ties at the Mash Up, I only took one picture, as I was more in Few Spirits mode. But, since this FSFAWT (Former Senator, Former Ambassador With Tie) was wearing a scarf around her neck, I figured that was enough of a tie to make it into 100D100T. Say hello to Senator Carol Moseley Braun, holding her very own bottle of Few White Whiskey.

At the risk of being simply satisfied that I have actually completed a posting, I’ll rest my case here.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

 

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Tied to the Whipping Post

August 9, 2011

OK, I’ve done the crime, 20 lashes for me. I have officially set the record for procrastinating in posting about a worn tie. It’s been so long I won’t even admit it, but rest assured that it’s been over a week. Plus, I have two more that I need to write about. For shame.

Uh, yeah, that extremely long paragraph was penned about 10 days ago, so my break in procrastination was very short. Sheesh. I’m now up to about seven ties that I need to write about, or at least record. Let’s get to them. Or, perhaps I can save this as a draft and sit on it for another few weeks.

No, wait, what do we have here? Yes! I’m going on to another paragraph, it looks like the wait is over! We may get to an actual blog post here! We may have a tough couple of minutes while I retrieve my phone, to refresh my memory as to which tie I’m actually writing about.

Ah, yes, here we go…I was able to wear this Tie du Jour on my first public appearance with Few Spirits. Let me rephrase that…my first appearance with product from Few Spirits. By the way, at press time, Few is sooooo much further along. I’ll try to avoid spilling the beans (or spilling the gin, rather) until I catch up a little bit.

The TdJ is from Kolte. It’s a very dark blue with gray paisleys. It’s very rare to see paisleys marching in such an orderly and homogeneous fashion. Usually they are multi-sized, and swimming all over the dang place.

I wore this lovely strip to a gala charity event called Artopia, hosted by the Open Studio Project. OSP is an Evanston non-profit that helps underprivileged kids connect with their artistic side by providing them with art projects. One of the auction items was a bottle of Few White Whiskey, along with a barrel naming. I attended and gave taste samples of the FewWW. How nice, eh?

Show your Ties!

There were a couple of other ties at the event, but they all paled in comparison to this one. I failed to retain his name, but let’s just call our newest GWT Marty Graw, since he was in his French Quarter outfit.

Well, let’s hope that this gets me going in terms of catching up. Only six more posts to go until I am…

Thanks for waiting and reading…Brooke

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Bermuda Tieangle

June 24, 2011

I reached the monumental pinnacle (is that redundant?) of wearing a tie two days in a row, a mere couple of weeks after basically wearing one for 300 days in a row, save for weekends and the occasional Sanity Day. It’s been pretty nice to see that I’m still getting a few dozen page views per day, so thank y’all.

My Tie du Jour was not worn for the full Jour, so it may need to be called the Tie des Deux Heures (2-hr Tie). I’m getting the feeling that it may become a regular feature here at 100 Days, 100 Ties.

Tie No. 304 was sported, as you can see, with my distiller’s shirt from Few. Paul and I were guests of the Kiwanis Club of Evanston, and we gave a short presentation to their members about the new business. This wool strip is from a store called Trimingham’s, a department store that was a fixture on the island of Bermuda. It’s strange in a couple of ways. It was the first tie I’ve worn that could have been tied with either end being in the front – both ends were the same width. And, the tips had fringes on them (you can see it a little bit in the photo). Not sure if that is a Bermudan thing, but I doubt that they bother with ties very much anyway.

MDWT

I captured a shot of Master Distiller, and many time GWT appearer, Paul Hletko, describing the magic that happens at 918 Chicago.

We had a tie-wearing visitor to the distillery. Bayo, who works for Charter One Bank, braved the heat and put on a tie, not knowing he’d get on the internet for his troubles.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Rarin’ to bow

June 7, 2011

Well, my two-day tie-atus came to a sudden end on Saturday night, before going to Mudlark Theater‘s Wine (and Chocolate) Tasting affair at Vinic Wine in Evanston. My friend (and GWT alum) Mike Miro is the Managing Director, and he and the board asked me to join their board. ‘Tis yet another step towards my goal of galactic rule. My first decree: Ties for all! Oh, and universal (truly universal) healthcare. I’ll eliminate the DH, too.

In a rare display of brain activity (apparently brought on by dreams of sovereignty), I remembered that I still had a bow tie/cummerbund set with champagne bottles (and glasses) all over it. Very powerful, wouldn’t you agree? I ditched the cummerbund, of course, and sported my new BTdJ. Sandeep over at Vinic liked it so much he asked if he could have it (and the cummerbund) to display with his champagnes.

All is well over at Few Spirits. Getting my bearings as we all get into the work flow. I’ll have much more to report soon. I should have my first outing in the next couple of weeks, and I’ll wear a tie, of course.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

 

 

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