Four in One

First bow tie purchase of the season.

Four in One

My latest purchase from Macy's.

Today's Outfit - Spring Fever

As West Virginia weather goes, we're experiencing a week of warmth and sunshine shortly after a bizarre blizzard. So, today I broke out this rather springy combination of pastel pink and blue.

Today's Outfit - Fair Isle for Fall

Polo oxford - Macy's, $20

Polo fair isle cashmere sweater - $40, eBay

*Countess Mara vintage solid silk tie - thrift shop, $1

Polo slub twill chino - ralphlauren.com, $42

(not pictured) Club Room yellow socks - Macy's - $3

J. Crew vintage saddles - thrift shop, $2.49

*This tie was originally sold at Schwabe-May, a legendary menswear store in Charleston which, quite sadly, closed in the last decade. The finest menswear could be found here - suits from Oxxford and Hickey Freeman, fabrics from Loro Piana and Holland & Sherry.

Today's Outfit

Polo tartan oxford shirt - Belk, $23

Polo cotton/cashmere cricket sweater - eBay, $30

Countess Mara bow tie - Marshall's, $8

Polo slub twill chino - ralphlauren.com, $42

Smart Turnout Argyll and Sutherland socks - courtesy of Smart Turnout

Chaps bucks - Kohl's, $12

Bow Tie Blowout

1 visit to Macy's.

2 purchases with 2 coupons.

6 bow ties.

$50.

Mellow in Yellow

Bad photo, good outfit... at least I'd like to think so. As autumn slowly rolls in, I plan to get back to posting more outfits. I'll start here.

Polo Ralph Lauren oxford
Polo Ralph Lauren cotton vest
Countess Mara linen bow tie
Polo Ralph Lauren Stanton jean
Smart Turnout striped socks
Cole Haan Country bit loafers

I happened to pull this look together at the last moment before a party. After picking the yellow bow tie, I realized the vest and socks would complete the outfit nicely. Jeans keep the look casual while the bit loafers are an upgrade from standard pennies.

Easter Sunday and Eton Socks

On Easter Sunday - Orthodox, Protestant or otherwise - the motto is go loud or go home. To some, including myself, this marks the first day of the year to break out the full spring/summer wardrobe. This time around, I was fortunate to have my new Smart Turnout socks with me.

Polo Ralph Lauren bleeding madras blazer

Polo Ralph Lauren super 120s poplin shirt

Countess Mara repp silk bow tie

Club Room arygle sweater vest

Oak Hill Nantucket red chinos

Smart Turnout Eton socks

Chaps white oxfords

...

Based on a comment received, I should clarify. I would never wear all this together any other day. I'm neither that preppy nor dandy.

Get Your Red and Green On

 Keeping it festive for Christmas at under $100.

Polo poplin shirt - $22

Polo cashmere sweater - $12

Countess Mara bow tie - $13

Polo corduroy pant - $35

Cole Haan wingtips - $1

Club Room green striped socks (not pictured) $2

Only once a year can you get away with wearing bright green and primary red together, and I went for it with all my holiday spirit.

Tied Up Times Six

    

The same day I found my last set of ties, I also purchased these six bow ties.

Though all Countess Mara, I discovered these at three different locations.

The solid blue tie came from T.J. Maxx, the striped and dot ties came from Marshall's, and the paisley set came from Macy's.

While I'm certainly most pleased with the paisley ties, new to the Countess Mara collection this season, I was pleasantly surprised to see the other three slightly imperfect pieces hit the discount market.

Though I almost always stick to thrift shops and eBay for standard ties, bow ties are very rare at the thrifts, and unreasonably expensive on eBay due to high demand. Therefore I didn't mind paying for all six of these, a savings of 75%.

Which piece would you wear most frequently?

Bow Ties

I just picked up an incredible deal on Gilt, the designer discount web store. This Pierrepont Hicks bow tie, retailing for $85, was listed at $38. While I'd never drop that much on a single tie, I noticed something of a Christmas gift from Gilt in my inbox this morning - a $30 coupon. I ended up spending only $8 plus $7.95 shipping for a not so grand total of $15.95.



I had been looking for something like this for awhile, as all my bow ties have either repp stripes or foulard prints. This green, brown, blue, red and orange bow tie will go with pretty much anything and features a nice silk/linen/wool blend.


My local men's shop sells its house bow ties for at least $50. Not for me. Fortunately, Countess Mara at Macy's has been selling bow ties a couple months now. Though the regular price is around $40, I nabbed these at $15 a piece on Black Friday.


My other Black Friday acquisition was a new camera, which means I'll be back with many more photos of my own apparel. Below are two odd photos with my camera's color sampling feature. Kind of interesting, right? Thank you, Canon Powershot.




What's your favorite bow tie?