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Thursday, October 20, 2005

Plain or subtle

My boss saw this tie this morning and said, "You look plain today." I was going for "subtle." What's that? I said, "subtle." Subtle. Yes, subtle, as in HEY EVERYBODY, LOOK HOW SUBTLE I'M BEING!

This tie is branded I. Magnin, and thus must be over 10 years old, as that chain fell victim to the Great Department Store Consolidation of the late 20th century (still ongoing). I. Magnin began in San Francisco in 1876 and expanded throughout the west coast. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, I. Magnin catered to the top stars, and wowed everyone with their opulent art-deco stores. They eventually went nationwide; in the Washington area, there was an I. Magnin store at the high-end White Flint mall in Kensington, Maryland. When the chain was bought by Macy's in 1986, most locations continued under the I. Magnin name; but when Macy's merged with Federated Department Stores in 1994, the Magnin name was scrapped. And now that Federated has bought out May Department Stores, they're scrapping my beloved Hecht's as well. Boo, hiss!

But about this tie: in its red field, light black vertical lines, and even lighter ovals, I see trees, viewed through a mist, on Mars.

And now for something completely different: a good slogan for Google would be, "No, you didn't just make that up." Because if you ever come up with a clever phrase or idea, just Google it, and you will learn that no, you didn't just make that up, about fifty people before you already thought of it and put it on the internet somewhere. But--when I began this tie blog, I found no such history, and so believed this to be the first. However, I have just discovered that over at flickr, bjohnson has been posting photos of his daily neckties since May, 2004. D'oh! No commentary, though. And I don't want to sound catty, but I think my ties are better. ;-)

Pucci Alert-- Check out all the sweet vintage Emilio Pucci ties on ebay right now, somebody has a real treasure trove! (The link should last forever, but the auctions I'm talking about here end on October 25.) With starting bids of $99.99, these pictures are as close as I'll be able to get to them! (I will accept donations if anyone is so inclined.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think your ties are better too. B-)

I wore a bright vintage Emilio Pucci tie yesterday and only one person commented. And it was comment yelled out from a distance: he said that the tie could not be missed.

Maybe I need to wear a "subtle" tie for anyone to notice.

Burl Veneer said...

Thanks, ebay pal!

They say that for every customer who complains to a business, there are 10 dissatisfied customers who say nothing, they just never go back. I think there's a similar ratio for ties: for every compliment you get, there are 10 people who like it.

This hasn't been a good year for me for getting Pucci ties. I got some pretty nice ones last year, but they're gone now.

Thanks for stopping by! (And stay classy)