Tag Archives: bow tie

Milk and Sugar

Posted by howtobeswell on

Here is another great post from my friends at the Cordial Churchman. I read it this morning on the first day of spring and I wanted share it with my swell readers as well. This post is about the seersucker bow-tie, the perfect accoutrement for your spring wardrobe. If you haven’t checked out The Cordial Churchman yet, I urge you too now. They make beautiful bow ties and will even convert and re purpose some of your old neck ties for you. In a word they are Swell!

The Cordial Churchman Blog

Since this week has quickly become seersucker week after selling more seersucker bow ties than we thought possible, I thought I’d share a little about this special fabric.  Maybe I’m a geek, but I think it is pretty cool.  Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

seerpolelg

Seersucker is a thin, puckered, all-cotton fabric, commonly striped or chequered, used to make clothing for spring and summer wear. The word came into English from Hindustani (Urdu and Hindi), which originates from the Persian words “shir o shekar”, meaning “milk and sugar”, probably from the resemblance of its smooth and rough stripes to the smooth texture of milk and the bumpy texture of sugar.

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During the British colonial period, seersucker was a popular material in Britain’s warm weather colonies like British India. When Seersucker was first introduced in the United States, it was used for a broad array of clothing items. For suits, the…

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Every Swell Man Should Learn…

Posted by howtobeswell on

I read a blog post recently on The Art of Manliness called “What the Young Man Should Know” from Harper’s weekly. It was a great article from the 30s that was a list of skills or tasks that the author believed every young man should learn. It included a few A few items that are still important today, and a few that are no longer necessary (keeping a horse), practical (chopping wood), or advisable (hitch hiking), but it is a great list none the less. I thought for all of you swell readers I would update it for the modern man. I have compiled a list of skills that every swell guy should learn in their lifetime.

I think that this post may spawn a loose series of small posts about how to carry out these tasks; after all I can hardly give you a list without telling you how to accomplish it. So look for some of these items coming up in the category ESMSL, so on that note let’s begin.

Continue reading →

The Skinny Tie

Posted by howtobeswell on

There are so many options in neck wear for men today. Some have varied in popularity throughout history, and most are closely related through a common ancestor. The cravat (or cravatte) is the original neck-cloth, dating back to the 17th century Croatian military garb. Next came the Ascot, which was a more tailored version of the cravat, it was designed for casual or “morning” wear (I saw someone wearing an Ascot looking real smart just this weekend). That was very quickly followed by the bow-ties and string ties. I love bow ties as I’ve said before. Some argue that bow-ties and the cravat originated together, or are even one in the same, I believe they are distinctly different. Frome all of those we can derive the modern-day necktie. Since neckties evolved from the early cravats, their width has varied, stretching from barely an inch thick to a ridiculously wide five inches.  Today, the typical tie  is about 3.5 inches wide. Of course these aren’t the only options men have, but if you read this blog don’t even consider items such as the Bola tie unless you are an oil magnate living in Dallas Texas.   Continue reading →

The Art of Manliness

Posted by howtobeswell on

Here is a quick plug for a new blog that I’ve found. These guys have a fantastic site to visit, it is an open forum type of blog, with a number of great groups (nearly 600). They discuss everything from scotch to bow ties, and from books to guns. I think it is a perfect accompaniment to this particular blog you are reading. Check it out: The Art of Manliness is truly swell. You can also sign up for a daily dose of manliness in your e-mail. If you sign up they send you some free stuff to read as well.

Swell Neckwear: The Cordial Churchman’s Bow Ties

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Bow ties get a bad rap. Some people think they are just for little boys, or awards ceremonies. BUT THEY ARE WRONG.

Sure the neck tie is a standard-bearer, and the skinny tie is back with a vengeance, which I happen to think is pretty cool. To be truly swell you have to consider a bow tie. I am not talking the cheap clip ons or the pre-tied ones that button in the back but a real live bonafide bow tie that you have to learn how to tie. This is a fantastic vintage look that will never go out of style and looks great from casual to “black tie”. There are a few places to get one if you look a little bit, but there is one place  that has it down to an art form, I have a couple of these myself.  They are handmade in every color and pattern imaginable. Every wardrobe needs at least a couple of bow ties.

I took the liberty of borrowing a recent post from The Cordial Churchman’s blog and showing it to you here:

366 Bow Ties: Day 51