good sense

Good sense would dictate: never mix stripes and polka dots, or stripes and flowers, or flowers and polka dots.

Not as if the makers of tacky ties have good sense.

(I had to use the faraway shot so you could see the triple error--and so you wouldn't lose your vision, or, worse, your faith in humanity.)

belle cravate

When I told students that I purchased this silken wonder for $300 in a Paris shop, some of their eyes bugged out in amazement--probably because I don't often tell tall tales.

Real origin: unknown, but lately discovered at an Olympia Goodwill by one Matt Valloni. Approximate retail value $3.00. Prices lower in Canada.

making the world a better place

One tie at a time.

through the looking glass

A world of phantasms, mysteries, and delights. And Dacron.

happy something

It's some kind of holiday tomorrow. So I've been told.

keep your distance

Thanks to Scott Miles, who found this lovely number at Goodwill and decided to make an investment in his education. (Macro mode distorts the color, making it seem much paler than it is. It's dark as one of those marker-it-in-yourself felt posters.)

I've got the power

Even when the power's out, this little number positively glows.

do the math

Fifty percent cotton. Fifty percent wool. One hundred ten percent retro cool.

cotton candy

It looks like Goodwill wall art, but it's really a tie. A cotton tie.

the sweet smell of decay

Orange and blue blossoms with dead brown leaves. The circle of life has its bumpy stretches.

where have all the flowers gone?

Dead and wilted on a banded polyester necktie, no scent but nostalgia.

violets are blue, roses are brown

Genetic technology lets us craft a blue rose, but a brown rose remains a wisp of a dream. Except on this dream of a necktie.

"WEMLON by WEMBLEY. Crush it, knot it, even wash it. For brown, olive, or black suit."