All Ties Are Not Created Equal

Happy Father's Day Weekend!  As some of you know, I am leaving for my honeymoon tomorrow morning.  But before I head out of town for a week, I am sharing this guest post on men's ties... hopefully it will help you as much as it helped me!

I asked Omar to guest post this weekend because he is always on the cutting edge of men's fashion.  Check out what he had to say:

Hi Natalie,

Great to see you this weekend.  By the way, I wanted to give you some pointers on neckties since you were curious.  The best neckties are called "sevenfold" because historically, they were made with one large piece of silk, accordion-folded 7 times.  However, those ties don't drape well and tend to wrinkle.  These days, most top-notch "sevenfold" ties are actually 6-fold silk, with a wool interlining.  The very best ties are all cut by hand, the "tipping" (the bottom of the wide part of the tie) is hand folded up and hand stitched, and the tie is entirely stitched by hand so it can shift/flex/give a bit.   Fabrics are typically cut on the bias to ensure they hold their shape.

This one-page photoguide explains the process:

Tie Guide

Some of the best ties money can buy can be found here:
Carlo Franco Ties

There are many other manufactures. The fact is, to buy a bespoke tie, you need to turn it over and see the back.    

My tie at the wedding was zegna couture entirely handmade "7-fold" (i.e. 6 fold with lining) silk tie.  

You can't judge by the brand: I have bought $250 ferragamo ties that were complete crap.  Some labels will, however, always have great ties like kiton and brioni.

Omar.