Thai tie

This tie from Thailand is made of hand-woven Thai silk, which has a "flat" appearance when lit from the front, but has a marvelous shifting sheen when light strikes it at an angle. The sheen is a quality of the silk itself, while the shifting is accomplished by weaving threads of different colors together. The World of Thai Silk website has a very informative page all about homespun Thai silk, and many other informative pages as well. How Thai is Thai silk? "Thai silk is produced by Thai caterpillars raised on Thai mulberry leaves by Thai weavers in Thailand, primarily on the Korat Plateau in the country's northeast region." You can't get any more Thai than that! The pattern on this tie is printed, but in the "mudmee" method of weaving (also known as "ikat"), the pattern is created by using different colored threads in the weaving process, making the pattern an integral part of the fabric itself. World of Thai Silk has a gallery of mudmee silks starting here; use the"Next" arrow to cycle through the whole collection and be amazed. I don't have any mudmee ties, but I'm looking.