Patchwork madras

Here's a tie from Structure made of actual cotton madras patchwork, a fabric normally used for Bermuda shorts. Les Wexner's Limited Brands, where Structure started out, were successful at spotting style trends and then cranking out clothes in that style quickly and cheaply. This tie must have appeared during a "preppy" boomlet. Structure changed to Express Men and was spun off from Limited Brands into Express, Inc., trading on the NYSE as EXPR, while Sears now owns the rights to the Structure brand.

Speaking of Target

Wouldn't this make an excellent tie for an upscale Target uniform? The only distinguishing mark left on this tie is a McElgunn's label, a name uncommon enough for me to conclude that it's a retailer label from McElgunn's Custom Touch of New Providence, New Jersey. It appears to be about 40-some years old, and unlike so many ties of its vintage it is actually silk and not the trendy polyester of that we-can-make-it-better-from-petroleum era.