This tie is just a little over 3.25", it is 100% silk, and ties a nice knot with a beautiful dimple, dark navy and is striped with simple, thin double stripes. It has all the makings of a most basic, simple, standard tie. Yet, it isn't. It is not simple or standard. It is quite peculiar. When you look at this tie, what do you see? It's confusing, isn't it? In theory it feels so basic, yet at the same time - totally out there. The reason is obvious. It is both the sheer numbers of colors that are to be found in the stripes and also how many odd / non basic colors are found in the stripes. I found this tie at a thrift store, of course. $2.99, totally perfect condition.
The tie is navy with varied multi-color stripes which are set in the order as follows:
White
Green
Violet
Brown
Gold
Silver
Red
Then of course, the order repeats.
That is a full 7 different color stripes. It's a lot. And although it certainly makes the tie pretty colorful and complex, it still doesn't feel too bright. The stripes are so thin that it still feels semi-nuanced in a way. Absolutely fascinating. Very cool.
This tie really reminds me of late 70s, early 80s. It reminds me of the movie Network (1976). When I watch movies from the 70s, set in the 70s, I feel ill. Network is some real nasty 70s. That decade was really something. It's so gritty, so nasty. Even when you see someone buttoned all the way up wearing the Trad uniform, they are always among shag carpet, fake wood panelling, really out there ultra-saturated colors used in furniture, decor and dress, crazy sideburns and hair, it just feels so rough. What a crazy era.
Of course, in a way, there is something interesting about it as well. Because it was such a strange time where the male uniform of dress was still around and expected many places, yet there was also crazy style influences impacting the uniform, coupled with further degrading societal norms. It makes for a very strange time for Trad/Ivy/Prep. This tie, whether it is from the 70s or some other era, sure reminds me of that spirit and that feeling. It's traditional, yet off. On paper it is set up to be classic, yet it is out there. Yet, it isn't so out so as to be inappropriate for our style. It is a truly cool and unique tie, it places you in this very interesting space that is quite small and hard to hold.
Sometimes it feels like we are in a 1970s 2.0. The 1970s was psycho and crazy. If you look at what was going on then, of course much of it is naive compared to what we have happening today, we have more capabilities to destroy ourselves, and things that were hurried along then are heading at warp speed today, still there is a sense and something similar that is shared. So much looked so nasty then, people looked nasty, the streets were nasty. Sounds a lot like today. I tell my wife sometimes that "I want to start watching only 1970s films, to get into the zone of what we are living in." She pleads with me, "No!" Maybe this tie is a dipping of the toe into the 70s. Getting in that strange zone, all while keeping a hold on the tradition, staying within the boundaries, riding out the storm.