Orange and brown

The official colors of the mid-1970's! That's when I'll date this tie, as I don't think these colors have ever been intentionally put together at any other time in history. This is a tie that's built to last: the 65% polyester, 35% cotton fabric is quite hefty, and maybe was actually meant as upholstery. Either the maker's label fell off, or no one wanted to take credit for this tie. (And that's why I had to resort to a tie bar, which really breaks the flow of the design, but there was nowhere to tuck the tail end of the tie. I should learn how to sew on a keeper one of these days.) I got the orange ("melon", actually) shirt ironed for the occasion. I know it looks like I didn't, but it's linen, for Pete's sake; you should have seen it before!

In keeping with the necktie, I went to the local 70's-era mall today (Beltway Plaza). The orange and brown arcade/facade is all dingy white now, as is the interior. 70's stalwart shops are long gone: Mon Ami, where you could get any of hundreds of decals ironed onto a t-shirt, or even better, a baseball jersey (I got Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label on a black t-shirt); the Waxie Maxie's record store, replaced by a crappy FYE; the Leisure Learning Center, which sold educational toys and games long ago, is a flower shop now. But the original 3 Brothers Pizza is still going strong, and Dollar City occasionally has ties like this on their single tie rack! You lose some, you gain some.

Marbling update: I found another silk marbler with a website, Nadine deLange. A bit too heavy on the Flash, but with some nice designs.