Hat tip to one of the OGGGGG preppy bloggers Guiseppe Timore on this one... A church thrift store in Harvard Square ("square" has 2 syllables in the vernacular). It is small. It is cramped. But it is cheap.
Shirts from your faves + maybe some 80s windbreakers or jackets. And great $4 ties... Reminder - at this point you are standing 500 yards from the Andover Shop itself.
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"O sure - HE want to Harvard..."
- Louis Winthorpe III
Pops was a guest lecturer at Harvard in the 1970s when we first landed from the UK. This bow tie's particular shield denotes the JFK School of Government (often called Harvard Kennedy School or just, you know, K School) where 2 other family members attended. I wouldn't wear it but he can.
Great heraldry site from Harvard here.
Because it is almost Thanksgiving it is also time to revisit one of the Preppiest movies ever. We had Trading Places recorded off the tv (VCR kids) and would watch it several times a year (along with Splash) - some lines are part of our family vocabulary at this point.
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The opposite of casual Friday... Fridays are tie days is a tradition for many British regiments, and their retirees. Good excuse to flip the script even if working from home...
The above example is a bow tie worn by Old Fettisians. That is graduates of Fettes (full name Fettes College - which is perhaps confusingly a high school in Edinburgh) - a 'public' school which in the UK means a private fee paying school...
If you are an Ian Fleming/Bond completist you will know that James Bond (and his father Andrew Bond) both attended Fettes. A subtle nod to Bond then above...
The day uniform for Fettes has a completely different and very distinct color scheme; brown and magenta (or "sh*t and death" as my attending sister called it - in a reference to John Irving). This connection was applied in full in the teen follow up Bond books - check that blazer;
There is an alternate Fettisian tie that references these wilder colors...
I like wool ties... it sort of dresses you up and down in an odd way. The texture of a woolen tie synonymous with the outdoors, and tartan working its usual transporting power. Plus woolen ties tend to stay PUT once tied... Bonus points for a family tartan... Lamont.
File under "you never know when you might need it...". Whether for a coronation outfit or for your teen's prom.
Keep your eyes peeled always at thrift stores for black 'ties so you are not caught out. This vintagey example made by AKCO in England and worn (I believe...) as part of the legal wear for A. Laurie and Co. solicitors in Edinburgh (Scotland). I did get this in an Edinburgh thrifty so makes sense...
Signature accessory: Knit tie.As knit ties are - you guessed it - 'knit' rather than cut from cloth - they have a straight profile down the front so are generally slim. They end almost universally in a straight edge rather than a point (grenadine ties are a different tightly woven type of tie that often end in a point - also great). Why the love? The crumbly, rough texture of the knit takes the wearer into high/lo territory - dressed up but not as 'the defendant'... Signals you have so many ties you even have KNIT ties...
Bragging rights: Wearing the same pair of khakis for fifteen years.
Well, you know how it is when you're in some public spot and a stranger comes in wearing the old school tie. You shove a hasty hand over your own and start to sidle out before the chap can spot it and grab you and start gassing.
-from Tried in the Furnace by P.G. Wodehouse
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The opposite of casual Friday.. Fridays are tie days was a tradition for many British regiments including the Royal Artillery, in which Major Gowen (resident in the comedy Fawlty Towers) served. This particular tie below is often called the Gunner Tie, and might work for those that are averse to regimental stripes (i.e. me). Long/short, it is still a regimental tie, but the lightning pattern really takes it into geometric land.
"The inspiration for the character of The Major in Fawlty Towers was said to be one Captain Lancaster — John Cleese's Latin teacher as a young lad... Major Gowen, played by Ballard Berkeley was a bumbling, quintessential stiff upper lipped English gentleman. And proud of it! ...The only thing more important to Major Gowen than the arrival of the newspapers to keep himself abreast of the cricket scores was the opening of the bar."
-via FawltySite.
Most silk neckwear is produced in only a few weaves: rep (with longitudinal ribs), ottoman (with crosswise ribs), crepe (with a broad range of grained surface effects) and faille (with conspicuous crosswise ribs).
-G. Bruce Boyer
