The Great Coat And Tie Experiment

Switching to a Weekly Post

2007-07-22T17:43:00.001-06:00

Monday's conglomeration began with the Robert Talbott Best of Class necktie. The background is a black herringbone weave. The larger squares are gold but bordering on a copperish shade. That's what really sold me on the tie in the first place. The smallest squares are white. The mid-sized squares are light blue and the reason I chose a blue shirt. The sport coat is a silk/wool tic(?) weave I've had so long that I don't even remember where or when I got it. It's got several colors with black and tan the most prominent.

This conglomeration is very similar to one from early May noted in a catchup post here. The necktie for Tuesday's conglomeration is a Paul Fredrick instead of a Roundtree and York. I also went with a Four-in-hand instead of a half-Windsor. I like the Paul Fredrick tie much better and its counterpart helped me simplify the fifth of July. To top it off, the navy sport coat, of course. I'm still on the lookout for a navy/red/white striped necktie to try out with the navy/red windowpane dress shirt.

Paisley ties are fairly rare in my collection. This one is a Ferrell Reed City of London so that's its first step in the right direction. The second would be small, tightly grouped paisleys. It does not look like a paisley pattern from much of a distance at all. A white shirt and gray sport coat round out Wednesday's conglomeration.

Friday's conglomeration began with the dotted Jos A Bank necktie. I really had no idea what I was going to do with it. I would like some sort of olive colored sport coat some day and that's what I would have chosen for this tie. Olive can be a difficult color to pull off. I did wear olive trousers with the tan sport coat and ecru dress shirt. Trousers are one thing and a jacket yet another. That's really the reason I'll never have an olive colored suit. The jacket will have to be just right. A sport coat means that I can conglomerate other things much easier than if it was a suit.

Today's conglomeration actually began with the white Charles Tyrwhitt dress shirt. I can't really wear it to work so it's going to get a lot of church duty until it's not my favorite anymore. I suspect that will take quite some time. The blue suit was the second pick for the day because I hadn't worn it in a while. The necktie is a Ferrell Reed City of London. It's a navy/red in sort of a basket weave pattern. I tied it in a half-Windsor because it's an extra long tie. That's what happens when an Ebay seller doesn't mention all the details. I still like the tie just fine all the same. I matched up some navy/red silk knots to hold the French Cuffs together. I'm still getting the hang of those things.

Something New to Conglomerate

2007-07-15T20:11:00.000-06:00

The dress shirt and necktie are both Charles Tyrwhitt. The tie is one of their sevenfold models. It must want to be knotted because it made such a good knot with so little effort on my part. The shirt is a 180s twill and is by far the best shirt I own. It's so soft and comfortable that I really didn't want to take it off after I got home today. It's also my first French cuff shirt which allows further conglomerating:

I used silk knots rather than cuff links because silk knot allow a little more freedom to conglomerate in some color. I got several different colors because it's a white shirt that I can wear with nearly any tie.

The pocket square is a Carot and Gibbs that has a navy and red paisley pattern in the middle but I only wanted the blue border with gold trim to show. So that's how I folded it. Pocket squares are a bit of a new art for me and it will take a little time to get that part of conglomerating in line.

Stripes on Stripes

2007-07-15T19:54:00.000-06:00

Another Talbott Best of Class conglomerated over a blue stripe dress shirt. The small, navy stripes in the middle of the larger tan stripes called for the navy sport coat. A good thing for a Friday. The tan stripes also worked well with the tan trousers I conglomerated in with the rest of the, uhhhmm, outfit. And tan trousers are definitely a necessity when one owns a navy sport coat. That's what "They" say anyway.

Simplicity For Conglomerating's Sake

2007-07-15T19:32:00.000-06:00

Rather than conglomerate a blue and gold tie with the charcoal suit, like I normally do, I decided to conglomerate a blue tie with a slightly gold shirt. It works pretty well and I like the idea of simple when conglomerating. Sometimes. The tie is a Paul Fredrick and it's woven in a herringbone pattern that adds more interest than a plain solid.

Conglomerating Block

2007-07-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

I really have run into a bit of a roadblock with the conglomerations. Today's is no exception. The necktie is a Paul Fredrick woven with a silver/gray background, black, diagonal window pane and light purple outlined, black paisleys. It is one of my favorite ties and I do like to wear it but the purple (lavender) dress shirt is a sign of the color rut that I'm in right now. Hey, purple is pleasing to me at this point in time so I'm going with it. The other thing is gray suit yesterday, gray sport coat today. Oh well. At least the conglomerating does not feel like a chore. It will be a sad day if that happens.

Purple and Blue

2007-07-10T18:48:00.000-06:00

I've been having some fun trying out purple and blue combinations lately. I'm not sure what brought it on (probably the colors on a tie) but it's getting to be a habit. I think it started here.

Today's conglomeration tries the lighter shades of purple and blue. The necktie is another Jos A Bank Signature. I guess it's officially colored lavender. There are bigger, white rounded boxes and smaller squares in two shades of blue. I selected a light blue dress shirt instead of the darker blue. That relates back to what I said on Sunday about trying to keep the tie darker (or at least as dark as) the rest of the conglomeration. I topped it all of with the gray, solid suit. I think it works fairly well.

I've gotten a bit into conglomerating socks too. I just don't have it in me to blog about those though. Maybe some day but not just yet.

The Ordinary Striped Tie

2007-07-09T21:40:00.000-06:00

What would the neckwear world be like without striped ties? Less ordinary is my guess. I do like striped ties though because, generally, they're easy to conglomerate and they also make it easy to coordinate and contrast at the same time. Generally and today is no exception.

The burgundy background is the contrast to the suit (and shirt too, I guess) and the blue stripe is the coordination with the shirt. Nothing like stating the obvious, I guess. Oh, and the white stripe on the tie corrdinates with the white stripe on the suit? Yeah, I'm pushing it a bit.

I also guess that I'm running out of things to write about. A Summer lull maybe. A muse is what I need. A new tie maybe. Maybe I ought to go down to Denver this weekend and check some thrift shops for something out of my norm to shake things up a bit. Definitely an idea with merit.

City of London Rut

2007-07-08T18:41:00.000-06:00

Another Sunday, another reason to conglomerate. And I am in a bit of a Ferrell Reed City of London rut. I have been trying to acquire a Turnbull and Asser tie but none of them on Ebay are quite what I'm after. Hopefully soon.

I usually don't like to have my tie be lighter than my suit but today I tried it. It's a pretty simple tie and I was hoping the light blue would bring out the lighter blue in the suit. It didn't quite work. The off-white (ecru) dress shirt did bring out the gold in the centers of the squares on the tie though. One out of two ain't bad.

I'm kind of running short on ties now. I really need to go through what I have worn and not worn so I can plan against repeats as much as possible. Although there are a few that I do want to repeat because they are favorites.

Running Behind

2007-07-07T12:24:00.000-06:00

I'm still trying to get used to my new schedule and keep up with my blog. I seem to be running about a day late. Since today, Saturday, is a non-conglomerated day, I have a chance to catch up.

I skipped the casual part of Friday yesterday since I got in a bit of trouble for fully participating last Friday. The positive responses have continued and general acceptance has been the norm. A very nice result.

The tie is another Ferrell Reed City of London. It's a pretty thick, woven gold with lighter gold squiggle things. The background is somewhat of a basket weave design. The blue circles are the reason I selected the blue, straight collar dress shirt. I selected the tan sport coat for no other reason than I had worn the navy one the day before. It works and I'm not sure the navy would have.

Simplicity, Top to Bottom

2007-07-05T21:23:00.000-06:00

The fifth of July felt like a Monday so simplicity was key. A white dress shirt is always tops on the list when in simple conglomerating mode. The navy sport coat is the other obvious choice when simplicity is key. So what else would I select to tie it all together than a navy/silver necktie? Honestly, I think it's a fairly nice conglomeration overall, if I do say so myself.

Same Suit, Shirt, Different Tie

2007-07-05T20:56:00.000-06:00

Today's suit and shirt are the same as Sunday's. The necktie is quite a bit different and illustrates yet again what a difference a tie can make for a conglomeration. It is another Jos A Bank tie -- regular, not Signature. The lavender stripe picks up the color of the dress shirt really well. The orange stripes add a little contrast for some interest.The purple/lavender basket weave stripes add some interest in texture.

New Suit, Fancy Tie

2007-07-02T21:41:00.001-06:00

Today's necktie is somewhat special. I have never worn it before even though I've had it for years. It's a Robert Talbott Sevenfold. I acquired it on Ebay for a lot less than what it was originally priced but I still somehow had that feeling of dread should harm come to it. Silly.

It's a fairly different tie than what I normally wear but still very much in the realm of repetitive geometric. It's more horizontal than I normally care for. The pattern is made up of varying shades of blue and gold. In person it really is a very nice tie and nearly ties itself into a pretty nice knot.

I draped it over a background of an off-white (ecru) pinpoint, spread collar dress shirt. I was trying to pull out the gold a little more because the suit is a cross-hatched navy/blue pattern. I figured there was enough blue already between the suit and tie but I could have easily paired it with a blue or white shirt.

Speaking of the suit, it is another Jos A Bank but it's an Executive collection rather than Signature. It's not quite as constructed (conglomerated?) as the Signatures but the pattern/texture was too cool to pass up.

Supply and Demand

2007-07-01T18:47:00.000-06:00

Evidently I am the only supply of neckwear wearing at the new job. My casual Friday experience was what I thought it would be -- nothing special. Except that I was continually asked where my tie was. Several people nearly demanded that I continue to conglomerate. They did not actually say "conglomerate", of course, but that's how I heard it.

Today's conglomeration is all new. I actually started with the shirt this time, sort of. When I picked up the suit earlier in the week I had this purple (They call it lavendar) in mind but I didn't have a tie that I thought would work. I found a similarly colored shirt and the salesman showed me this tie. It has a light gold background with darker gold squiggly lines. What's difficult to make out in the picture are the dots that are different shades of purple. It's a regular Jos A Bank brand.

The suit is a new Jos A Bank Signature. It's a medium gray solid. I had been looking for just such a suit for quite some time so when it went on sale at 50% off, I couldn't resist. Then when it was totalled up at the register, it turned out that it was really about one third the original price. SoI bought another blue suit that should make its debut tomorrow.

After looking at the picture, I'm really going to have to figure out a better way to take the pictures. The flash washes out a lot of the color and textures of the dress shirts. Sometimes the ties too.

Something A Little Different

2007-06-28T21:23:00.000-06:00

The necktie is a little different. Sort of. It's not a Jos A Bank Signature, for one. It is, however, a Ferrell Reed City of London. It is the very first one that I acquired and the reason I acquired so many more. If it's not the first then it's very close to it. It's a really nice combo of navy and gold with a fairly interesting (if very repetitive) pattern.

I usually conglomerate it with a blue stripe but decided to stay fairly plain with a white spread collar. Of course the navy sport coat got the assignment to round out the conglomerating.

That's about it. It's late and my drastic change in schedule is starting to catch up to me. I'll be taking a break from conglomerating tomorrow and seeing what all the fuss is over Casual Friday. I've got to try it at least once, don't I? Not to worry. I will be conglomerating something brand new on Sunday.

Yet Another Conglomeration

2007-06-27T19:10:00.000-06:00

Everything is still going very nicely on the new job. Every day there are more positive comments. Quite a change, actually.

Today's conglomeration began with the necktie, as usual. It's a switch for me and my first Charles Tyrwhitt. I was really wanting a bit more of that English bold and bright coloring for a change of pace but ended up with a regular gold colored tie with blue dots. So it goes with Ebay sometimes. Really, though, I just wanted to try one of their ties to see how they suited me, so to speak. The texture of the weave is quite substantial and makes the tie far more interesting than a regular gold, blue dotted tie would normally be. Maybe I should try harder for a Turnbull and Asser tie if I really want bolder colors. Besides, if anyone asked about it, it would be cool to say, "Yeah, it's a real Asser!" Or, "This one's so bright it'll turn a bull!"

The dress shirt is a Land's End, blue stripe, straight collar. Nothing special at all. The collar is a fair bit higher than most I have which makes it able to handle the thick knot the tie produced. The collar will not come together at the top in the inverted V that "They" say is so important. The gray sport coat tops it off although I think the navy would have conglomerated just fine.

Blogging and Conglomerating to Continue Indefinitely

2007-06-26T17:57:00.000-06:00

If I'm coated, tied, blogging and conglomerated then it must be ok for the new job. Either that or I'm looking for a new job that's tolerant of conglomerating and dresses for interviews.

The new job is everything I had hoped for and more. My conglomerations are not only tolerated but have also been encouraged a bit here and there.

Today's necktie is another Ferrell Reed City of London. It's a very fresh Ebay acquisition that has somewhat brushstroked squares of different shades of gray. The smaller blue squares keep it from being too monotone. The jumbling of the squares on the black background keeps it from being too orderly yet it is quite orderly and symmetrical. Pretty cool tie that was an absolute steal on Ebay -- less than $6 delivered to my mailbox.

The dress shirt is a black and white Ottoman stripe that really appears gray from much of a distance. The stripes add a fair bit of texture, close up or far away, and a bit of a sheen. The only real option for a sport coat to finish off the conglomeration was the black one.

Two days on the job and two conglomerations. It'll be interesting to see how long I bat 1.000.

First Day

2007-06-25T07:33:00.000-06:00

The nervous and exciting first day on a new job. I haven't done this in over a decade. I also get to find out if I'll still be conglomerating with any sort of regularity. With that in mind I decided to go with a full suit, hoping that overdoing it on the first day would make it easier to continue. Kind of asking forgiveness rather than permission.

The necktie is a brand new Talbott Best of Class. Yes, I actually bought it brand new with the first day on the new job in mind. I now understand why they are considered some of the best on the planet. I have other Best of Class ties but they have already been knotted by someone else before I acquired them. Now that I've experienced a brand new one, I'll go back to acquiring others on Ebay. I had to try it once.

The background is black with an open basket weave design. The colors of the weave are shades of purple, blue, and teal(?). It's a real eye catcher and it will be a favorite for a long time to come.

The dress shirt is also a Robert Talbott. It's got a windowpane weave with a dobby weave inside each "pane". I know it's called dobby because that's what the description said. I purchased both from Hansen's Clothing in Iowa. I dealt with Mr. Hansen himself and it was a pleasure. The shirt and tie cost more than the suit. That's probably the last time that will happen and it won't be because I'll buying more expensive suits.

The suit is the charcoal gray one. I had planned on having a new, medium gray solid but it's not yet ready. Such is life.

Hopefully I'll be able to continue conglomerating or I'm going to have to get rid of a bunch of dress shirts and ties and acquire some other form of clothing. I do have other clothing but not in a quantity sufficient for everyday wear.

Navy and Purple

2007-06-19T09:13:00.000-06:00

This is the first time I've conglomerated purple with navy. I think it is anyway. The necktie is a Robert Talbott Best of Class for Nordstrom and another Ebay acquisition. The dark squiggles in between the purple squiggles are navy which is the reason I decided to try the navy sport coat. I think it works pretty well. And, of course, the white centers of the "eyes" is why I conglomerated the whole thing with a white dress shirt.

The dress shirt is different than any other dress shirt I've ever worn. It's not that it's white or has a spread collar though. It's textured. I think the combination of the flash and reducing the size of the picture washed out the texture of the shirt. That's too bad because it really adds to the overall interest of the conglomeration. Here's the manufacturers picture of the shirt with a closeup:

The tie is sure to be a favorite for a long time to come. I think it'll be conglomerated with something gray next time. That's what I was thinking before I saw it live and in person.

Monday's Trial

2007-06-19T09:05:00.000-06:00

Yet another Jos A Bank Signature necktie. It's one of the older, non self-tipped versions. This particular one was extremely difficult to get a decent knot and after several attempts I just went with what I had. That's a problem with Ebaying ties -- there's no test drive possibility. Life's about trade offs anyway and I guess the trade off for cheap, nice neckwear is the lack of knottiness.

The dress shirt is the off-white (ecru) straight collar and the only sport coat I figured would conglomerate is the tan one. Maybe I should have stayed in bed. It's my last week at this particular job so I couldn't do that.

Burgundy With Charcoal

2007-06-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not talking about barrels of wine.

Today's necktie is yet another Jos A Bank Signature but it's a Signature Gold instead. It's another advertising thing like "new and improved" or something. Actually the Gold lines are a notch above the regular old Signature line and they are numbered as well -- like # 172 / 210 or so.

This is the first time I've tried anything other than a gold or blue tie with the charcoal suit. I had taken a salesman's advice on the colors of ties up to this point but decided to risk a little and try my own hand in the conglomeration. I think it works and the tie does have some gold and blue in the pattern. I knew better than to stray too terribly far. That's one of the very attractive things about ties -- you can change the whole look of a conglomeration just by changing the tie.

The shirt? Just a regular old blue point collar. Well, French blue.

Another Simple Friday

2007-06-16T06:33:00.000-06:00

Well, sort of simple. The necktie is yet another Jos A Bank Signature. It's a really thick, unwieldy tie that has a mind of its own. I doubt this one will make it out of the closet again because it's just too stiff.

The dress shirt is a red and blue striped point collar. I really didn't want to put the navy coat over the top of this pair so I conglomerated it with the tan coat. I think it works.

Breaking The Trend

2007-06-14T09:08:00.000-06:00

I started the week off with three straight floral designs. Alas, I could not find another to conglomerate that I hadn't already worn. Today's necktie is a basket weave. I guess it could be continue the trend somewhat. A flower basket?

Another Jos A Bank Signature with the dominant colors being navy and gold and a touch of red in between the weaves. I suspect this is an older model because it is not self-lined like most of the other Signature ties I have. I also a few other Signature ties that are not self-lined but they are not in nearly as good condition as this one.

The dress shirt is a blue spread collar pinpoint. I'm beginning to like spread collar shirts more since they tend to show more of the tie knot. What other sport coat could I have conglomerated other than the navy? The gray, I guess.

Flower Power

2007-06-13T13:28:00.000-06:00

I was proofreading yesterday's post before I added the picture and published it and noticed I mentioned I'm not fond of florals. I then noticed today's necktie is also a floral. Then I noticed that Monday's had a bit of flower power in the pattern as well. Must be the subconscious at work.

Today's floral is a Ferrell Reed City of London. It doesn't mention anywhere on any of the labels that it's an extra long but it must be. I ended up folding the tail back on itself and pinning it just so I could get a decent knot and apron length. That's the first time I've ever done that. I had thought about wrangling it into a full fledged Windsor to soak up the extra length but decided against it since I already had on a straight collar dress shirt. The gray sportcoat was a natural selection to conglomerate with the purple and gray in the tie. I may try the black one next time around.

Black Tie, Sharp Dressed

2007-06-13T03:57:00.000-06:00

What's a blog worth if you can't quote ZZ Top at least once? The "paper" it's printed on? I doubt you'd be able to see a tie on Billy or Dusty.

Today's black tie is another Jos A Bank Signature. It's a floral pattern which I usually avoid. The jacquard weave adds another interesting texture to the overall look. The dress shirt is an off-white (ecru) point collar. I usually wear this tie with a French blue but decided that as good as my life is going right now that I really didn't feel black and blue. The black sportcoat tops it all off.

I stopped by the local Jos Bank store on the way home from work because they had a pretty good sale going. I had my eye on a gray solid suit (Signature, of course) and after they totalled it up it was half what I expected to pay. That's a really good sale! So I bought a blue tick (I think it's tick) as well (not Signature). The sale was for Father's Day, I think, and to offload the current season's leftovers. I'm not a father which is one of the greatest regrets of my life. So I started the process to join a mentoring program. I hope that all works out.

Recycling Sunday's Shirt

2007-06-11T13:45:00.000-06:00

I only wore the shirt for a couple of hours yesterday so I really didn't see any reason why I couldn't wear it again today. It's not one of those non-iron ones so I was going to wear it again before it got washed anyway. Certainly before it got ironed again.

The necktie is another Jos A Bank Signature from Ebay. It's only 50% silk with the other half comprised of linen. It wrinkles quite easily and ties a very uncooperative knot. I think I might stick to 100% silk from now on. Of course it could be the liner, I guess. The design is a bit of a windowpane (I'm in a windowpane rut lately) with small flowery things where the lines cross.

I'll give you three guesses which coat I selected and the first two don't count. Yes, the navy sportcoat.

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!

2007-06-11T13:39:00.000-06:00

I've conglomerated this particular tie with the charcoal suit before but I switched it up with a regular old blue shirt instead of the "French" blue like I did here. Or should that be "Freedom" blue instead? Just kidding.

Finally a Friday!

2007-06-08T13:23:00.000-06:00

Heckuva a thing to say after a four day week following a week of vacation but, really, I think I needed a vacation from my vacation. As a result, today's conglomeration is pretty straightforward too. So what else would I do but conglomerate around the navy sportcoat? If it's the navy sportcoat and a non-thinking conglomeration then it must be a blue dress shirt. To necktie it all together I selected a red tie. It's got some nifty shades of blue ovals to, you know, take a bit from the shirt and sportcoat. It's a Paul Fredrick that looked really good in the catalog but never quite that good in person. It does make a pretty good knot though so it's not all bad.

And with that I'll bid a fond adieu until next week -- Sunday. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Caught Up!

2007-06-07T10:14:00.001-06:00

Another Mickey tie. Two is two too many for some but the pattern on this one is also less than obvious. Another Disney World label and also made in China. This one is a woven rather than a print so it's a little more substantial than Tuesday's tie. I conglomerated it with a purple stripe, straight collar dress shirt and black sportcoat. The purple stripe in the dress shirt really pulled out the light purple squares in the pattern. Not bad at all and what I was hoping would happen.

Sadly I spilled my first up of coffee on the shirt and had to change to a plain white. I did manage to miss the tie though. The shirt will wash (pretreated immediately!) but ties do not clean very well.

So that's it! I'm all caught up now. I'll be starting my new job on June 25. I'm really not sure if I'll be able to continue my conglomerating or not. I know that first day will be conglomerated and maybe I'll ask if there's a ceiling to the dress code rather than a floor. I really do hope that I can continue but if not then it's been fun while it lasted.

Catching Up VI -- Wednesday

2007-06-07T10:01:00.000-06:00

I'm almost caught up! Wednesday's necktie is another Jos A Bank Signature. I'm not really sure if the pattern is hearts or clovers. I guess it doesn't really matter. I had a difficult time conglomerating this one but finally settled on the blue and navy windowpane dress shirt and tan sportcoat. I had considered several other blue options for both the dress shirt and coat but decided against being that blue.

Now, to be completely honest, I'm not wearing the coats in the pictures anymore. It's too warm to be coated and tied. I take the picture with the coat I would have worn with the conglomeration had it been more conglomeration type weather.

Catching Up V -- Tuesday

2007-06-07T09:35:00.000-06:00

A new tie! I purchased this one on vacation. If you look at the pattern you might be able to tell where I went for vacation. I visited the Florida version of the Big Mouse's house and had a very good time.

The necktie actually has a "Walt Disney World" label and is made in China. Not a bad tie at all and even though it's one of those character ties that one is not supposed to wear to work (or ever according to some of "them"), the pattern is less than obvious.

The dress shirt really is white. And it's clean too. I bought a new camera for the trip because the old one had seen better days years ago. The rechargeables had not been charged again since vacation so the flash did not want to work. The combination of new camera and less than full batteries made for a poor picture.

I'm wondering if the compact fluorescent bulbs in the light fixture are causing the yellowing of the shirt. I'm also wondering if that's why my charcoal suit looks blue in some of the pictures I've posted. I'll have to put up with it anyway if that is the case. I've reduced my overall electrical use by about 25% thanks to those bulbs.

The new camera is a Canon Power Shot IS. I bought it the day before I left for vacation. Risky, I know, but I figured I'd have plenty of time to figure it out on the 3.5 hour flight to Orlando. It didn't even take that long before I was taking some reasonable pictures. The steepest part of the learning curve was learning the individual controls, mostly the zoom. I have not yet been able to take a decent macro type, close up picture.

Catching Up IV -- May 20 through May 23

2007-06-07T09:20:00.000-06:00

There really aren't any overly notable ties in this set of conglomerations. The bottom two are Jos A Bank Signatures. The second one up may actually be a Signature Gold model but I can't quite remember. Only four? Yes! It was the week before vacation and by the time Friday rolled around I was already on vacation mentally so I took Friday off too. That's also the reason for the simple conglomerations. I was thinking more about conglomerating shorts and t-shirts.

Catching Up III -- May 13 through May 20

2007-06-07T08:46:00.000-06:00

Two neckties of note in this series -- second up from the bottom and second down from the top. Both are Ferrell Reed City of London. Both are skinnier than I tend to like and both have a somewhat vintage feel to them. The bottom one of the two was mistakenly sent to New York first by the Ebay seller. She apologized and sent a decidedly vintage tie along as well. I'm not quite sure I'm up for a tie that wild but I may give it a shot anyway. What have I got to lose?

The other ties are pretty standard fair. The third conglomeration down from the top is one I'll be wearing again. I really like how it turned out. I like the colors and stained glass pattern of the top tie but the tie itself has seen better days. It's an older Jos A Bank Signature.

Catching Up II -- May 6 through May 11

2007-06-07T07:29:00.000-06:00

There are a few things to note for this week. My specific necktie searching finally paid off a bit. The bottom picture in this conglomeration of conglomerations is the first tie I was looking for -- something different to pair up with my charcoal pinstripe suit. I visited with a salesman at a local menswear shop -- the only non chain in the area -- and he helped me select this tie based on my description of the suit. I think he nailed it pretty well, sight unseen, and even suggested the dress shirt color too. It's a JZ Richards necktie and cost as much as about 10 Ebay ties! I have not ever spent that much on a tie before. Yes, I did have buyer's remorse but when I conglomerated it all together, it subsided. A little.

The interesting thing about JZ Richards is that the ties are manufactured very near me in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is known as "The People's Republic of Boulder" and "Eastern California" thanks to their fairly liberal views in an otherwise fairly conservative state. One would be more likely to see tie dye rather than a necktie. Maybe next time I visit I should sport a tie dyed necktie!

Personally, I really like the town as a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there -- it's too expensive because they've really clamped down on growth. If I had the money, though, I would live there. Boulder is nestled up against the foothills of Front Range of the Rockies and next to the Flatirons. Gorgeous! The bike trails are extensive and have very nice scenery to entertain. The Pearl Street Mall is full of street performers at any given time, has several very cool bookstores, one of the best toy stores I've ever visited, a kite store, and the best burritos in the area. I couldn't find specific pictures of some of those places but this link has a general overview of Boulder that's fairly good.

The next conglomeration up from that is also the next necktie for which I was searching. Yes, a simple navy, red "regimental stripe". I liked the blue, navy, white stripe tie on my blue and navy windowpane dress shirt so well that I thought a navy and red would look as good on the navy and red windowpane. I don't like it as much so I may try and find a navy, red, white stripe. It shouldn't be too difficult to find.

The third up from the bottom is the also another specific search necktie. I had been trying to find another tie to conglomerate with the "orchid" Lands End dress shirt. It ended up being more difficult than I thought it would. And again, I ended up with another striped tie. I was really trying to avoid a stripe. I did get many compliments on the conglomeration so it must not be too terribly bad.

The remaining three ties are really nothing special. The first, going from bottom to top, is another Ferrell Reed City of London. It's actually a favorite of mine and one that I can put on anytime on mornings I don't feel like deciding on neckwear. The next up is another Jos A Bank Signature. It's a fairly difficult tie to conglomerate so it's saved for mornings when I've planned to wear it the night before. Last, but not least, a black and gold Robert Talbott Studio. This is actually my funeral tie. Seems to be anyway. No, it was not a funeral tie that day, thank goodness. Personally I think funerals should be colorful and celebratory.

Catching Up I -- May 1 through May 4

2007-06-07T07:09:00.001-06:00

I'm playing catch up today. I have been coated and tied and conglomerated and I have the pictures to prove it! There's nothing really special about the first week of May's conglomerations so it's probably better that they get grouped together in one post. There are only four conglomerations because I took Monday off that week to recover from a very late (for me) night the Sunday before. I went to see the re-re-incarnation of the second incarnation of Black Sabbath (Ronnie James Dio on lead vox) and relive a bit of my youth. It's amazing to see Ronnie, at 60+, still able to belt out the songs and play the perfect front man. I conglomerated jeans and a t-shirt for the concert.

Simple Friday

2007-04-28T07:21:00.000-06:00

Another plain, simple, easy white dress shirt. With a straight collar to make it even easier. A solid black sport coat to ease the conglomerating even more. Work has been busy so my mind has been elsewhere? Maybe?

The necktie is another Ferrell Reed City of London. When I find something I like, I stick with it. Maybe a little too much, too rutted, too safe.

The tie has a gold background with black accents. The geometry may look like curved lines but I assure you, they are all quite straight. Except where the dimple curves the fabric. Up close the boxes look three dimensional. This is another somewhat Escher type pattern, somewhat optically delusional.

Brown on Blue

2007-04-26T17:08:00.000-06:00

Rather than blue on black. Kenny Wayne Shepherd's latest is pretty good.

French blue, straight collar broadcloth dress shirt for the on blue part. The brown on part is a another necktie by Jos A. Bank Signature. It's not as hefty as the others that I have so I ended up using a Prince Albert knot to fill in the tie space a bit. It's got little French blue and rust paislies. The center of the French blue ones is blue and the rust, white. Each is outlined in navy. The brown sport coat completes the other portion of the brown on.

I had acquired a pair of rust colored trousers with just this conglomeration in mind but they are too small. Evidently I haven't lost as much weight as I thought. It could be because my eyes are often bigger than my stomach.

Conservative!

2007-04-25T17:31:00.000-06:00

Today's conglomeration is simple, to say the least. When I start out with a white dress shirt, the result is more often than not going to be simple.

Not really a whole lot to say about this one. The necktie is another of my favorite Ferrell Reed City of London line. Burgundy, black and gray in a geometric. This particular tie doesn't make a very big knot so I usually wear it with a tab collar, like today. It does make a little bit too big a knot for a tab though. Yet another conundrum -- to tab or not to tab.

I had my choice between the gray and the black sport coat. I chose the gray today.

Windowpane Tie

2007-04-24T17:28:00.000-06:00

I guess I'm stuck on windowpanes all of a sudden. Maybe it has something to do with looking at my windows and knowing they need cleaned.

I could have reversed things and worn a striped shirt underneath the windowpane tie but decided instead to stay solid with an ecru, pinpoint straight collar.

The tie has a burgundy background with varying shades of olive and gold criss-crossing the blade. It's another Jos A. Bank Signature series but it's not self-tipped like most of the others I have.

The tan sport coat tops it all off. The gold stripes fit the tan coat quite well. I could have used an overcoat today as the rain was on that fine edge of turning to snow. Burrr! Who said it was Spring?

Checks and Stripes

2007-04-23T17:03:00.000-06:00

It's a bit stylish lately to wear a striped tie with a check dress shirt. Maybe not lately, but at least in the last year or so. It could be two. I am getting older and the time does fly.

I have conglomerated that particular look a few times. Today I tried it with a windowpane shirt rather than a smaller check. I like today's conglomeration so well that I'm going to try the same, yet different in the near future. I also have the same dress shirt but in a navy, red windowpane. That one would take a little searching to find a red and navy striped tie. Maybe I'll look for one while looking for the other two on the "list".

The tie is a Paul Fredrick navy, blue, white herringbone stripe. The three colors pick up the colors of the navy and blue windowpane stripes (?) on the white background of the dress shirt. Of course the navy sport coat was the obvious choice.

Charcoal Suit, Gold Tie

2007-04-23T13:12:00.000-06:00

Out of all the neckties that I have, I cannot get any but gold neckties to work with my charcoal suit to my satisfaction. The suit has a gold and a blue pinstripe. One would think that I would be able to find a blue tie that would work. So far that is not the case.

Yesterday (Sunday) I mixed it up a bit and wore a regular blue shirt instead of a french blue. Oooo Ahhhhh! I did manage to wear a different, but still gold, necktie. I guess I'm going to have to actually go out and shop for a tie that will work. I've been meaning to look for another tie to conglomerate with the shirt I wore a few weeks back. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.

Black Gold

2007-04-20T13:08:00.000-06:00

Texas tea. Not really but black and gold is not a bad conglomeration at all. I once again conglomerated around the necktie, as I often do. I figure if "They" put the colors together on a tie then it must work.

The necktie has a vertical pattern of black and charcoal stripes for a background. I'm not fond of vertical or horizontal stripes on a tie but on this particular one it's really more texture than pattern. Over the top of the background it has black diamonds outlined in gold.

The dress shirt is a gold, broadcloth, hidden buttondown collar with lighter gold stripes. It really picks up the diamonds' gold outline on the necktie. The collar really does end up looking like a straight collar without any of the hassle of a straight collar. I really don't know why this style of collar didn't become more popular.

Topping off the whole thing is the black sport coat. Why? Because the diamonds are black! If you're curious, I wore charcoal trousers. I'll give you three guesses why and the first two don't count.

Brown for Spring?

2007-04-19T14:59:00.000-06:00

Sure, why not brown for Spring? Today's necktie also has blue and tan dots just to mix it up a bit. There's a paisley-like patterns woven or jacquarded (is that a word?) into the fabric. It's fairly difficult to see and I don't know if the picture shows it all that well. It's a Talbott Best of Class but I think it's a bit older since it knots a little on the smallish side, as knots go.

The dress shirt is a pinpoint, tab collar. It has brown, tan, navy and blue stripes. The sport coat is solid brown.

Tab collar dress shirts take a bit more planning. You could wear any tie with them but if the tie makes a big knot, it will be difficult for the tab to contain it all. It will also make it look kind of funny too. A snap tab may give up and unsnap unexpectadly. A button tab is difficult to get fastened when the knot is too big. Today's dress shirt happens to have the button variety and it was difficult even with a smaller knot.

Navy Coat, Red Tie

2007-04-18T12:20:00.000-06:00

Is there anything more "normal" than a navy sport coat paired with a red necktie? Probably not. Today's necktie is a XMI Platinum with gray and navy striped dancing boxes on the red background. They sorta look like they're dancing. Maybe that's what I'd look like if I was dancing -- square. Even in a four-in-hand this tie makes a pretty big knot.

The background for today's conglomeration is a blue bengal stripe pinpoint from Lands End. Nice enough shirt but it's a little difficult to get that nifty inverted V from the collar that "They" say is correct. The whole thing is topped off with the navy sport coat, of course.

Gray and Dreary

2007-04-17T13:11:00.000-06:00

I had planned on something a little different today but after events in Virginia yesterday I just wasn't in the mood. So it's a plain, white straight collar dress shirt, a black and gray Ferrell Reed City of London necktie and the gray sport coat.

It started out rainy and gray here today so it fit. This afternoon the sun came out. The sun will come out again for the families and friends of the victims but I'll keep them in my thoughts and prayers anyway.

More Colors, Complexity

2007-04-16T13:39:00.000-06:00

Today's necktie is a Robert Talbott Studio. It's probably the first Talbott that I acquired. I remember thinking the picture on Ebay sure was a lot different than the tie I had in my hands when I received it. It's a little wild for my more sedate tastes but I've really grown to like it quite a lot. The mix of colors alone make it easy to conglomerate. The big shapes make it easy to pair up with just about any dress shirt I own. I think I almost have. I've never paired it with a white shirt though because I think it would be unfair to the tie. Hopefully that'll be this week's only personification of neckwear.

Today's dress shirt is a navy and red windowpane pinpoint spread collar. It was an easy pick with the red and navy in the tie. I went with the tan sport coat because I picked olive trousers. I wasn't sure about how the trousers would match up with the navy sport coat. Most of the time I figure if the tie has the color on it then I can go ahead and conglomerate it in. Today I decided not to to push it.

I found an article from yesterday's LA Times that laments the death of the necktie. It's an interesting enough read and can be found here. Obviously I don't agree with him. I think if he spent a little time with a few blogs he might find that neckites are alive and well.

Blue Suit Again

2007-04-15T19:27:00.000-06:00

The good old standby blue pinstripe suit for today. The good old (actually, it's fairly new) spread collar white pinpoint dress shirt. The necktie, on the other hand is not so standby.

Another Jos A. Bank Signature, but with more variation in color than most of the others I own. It's fairly difficult to describe because there really are quite a few things going on -- red ovals, back to back gold and orange triangles, back to back orange and navy triangles and, finally, navy squares. It's such a busy tie that I was nearly afraid to try anything but a plain, white dress shirt.

Tie Wars?

2007-04-13T13:06:00.000-06:00

Today's necktie is one that I got in a package deal from Ebay. In other words, the other tie was the one that interested me. This one's pretty cool though. It's got sideways diamonds of brown and olive with a white swooshy thing in between the diamonds. They kind of look like T.I.E. fighters. The diamonds also have little gold and gray swooshy things on them. The navy background is actually two different shades of navy with a somewhat crosshatched pattern woven in.

The tie is a J.Z. Richards brand. I read somewhere that the designer worked for Robert Talbott at one time. I don't know if that's true or not but there is one interesting label stamped on the tie. It has a design number with a copyright. That's just about the first time I've seen a tie design copyrighted. I had no idea the neckwear business could be so cutthroat.

The dress shirt is a tan broadcloth straight collar. I think it might have a bit of a twill weave. If I really knew what that meant then I could be sure of it. The sportcoat is, of course, navy.

I think I finished the week stronger than I started out. Improvement is always good.

The Tie Rules All

2007-04-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

Today's necktie is how I picked the rest of the conglomeration. Not any less boring but I thought I'd keep the theme for the week since it's nearly over. The tie is another Jos A. Bank Signature with small navy, blue and gray ovals.

So how did it pick the rest of the conglomeration? The dress shirt is a pinpoint navy, blue windowpane with a spread collar. To finish it out I topped it all off with the gray sport coat. How clever, eh? I did mix it up a bit by knotting the tie in a half Windsor.

Boring Week!

2007-04-11T13:16:00.000-06:00

So far this week I've been bored with my boring choices for conglomerations. Today's is no exception. Safe, tried and true black and white. But wait! I did add a red necktie! How daring! I'm a little scared that I might be suffering from conglomeration block. Maybe I'm snugging my neckwear a little too snuggly.

Oh well, on to today's "conglomeration", if it can actually be called that. White pinpoint straight collar dress shirt. The one thing I really like about this shirt is that the stitching on the collar is at the edge rather than a quarter inch in or so. It gives the collar more of a finished look to me. I have a few like this that Paul Fredrick calls a European straight collar.

The tie space seems to be a bit less with this collar so I usually wear a less substantial necktie. Not today though. Today I selected yet another woven Jos A. Bank Signature number. It has what look like smooshed ovals in grey and also in the background color. It's almost Escher-esque in its presentation and one of the reasons I acquired it. In the center of each gray smoosh is a black square. It really made it easy to pick which sportcoat to wear. Yeah, the black one.

Speaking of Escher and ties, I've long considered getting a few. This site has a few that would suit me. Maybe I should really shake things up and get a bow tie. That would get me laughed right out of here. Yes, I do know how to knot a bow tie. I've got two but have yet to muster the courage to sport one outside of the safety of home. That, according to most bow tie folks that I've read, automatically excludes me from being a bow tier.

This Necktie??!?

2007-04-10T18:56:00.000-06:00

I have no idea why I purchased this necktie. It's probably because it's one of those Jos A. Bank Signature Collection models that I'm stuck on right now. This one has a somewhat orange (?) background with little blue and tan circles linked together. I had a terrible time conglomerating this thing!

Since it had blue circles I decided the blue point collar dress shirt was the most obvious choice. And since it had tan circles the tan sport coat was the most obvious choice. I guess it didn't turn out too bad.

That's funny. I just noticed that I wrote "had" instead of "has" when talking of the circles on the tie. Maybe I've already decided to get rid of it and I just don't know it yet.

Discovery Monday

2007-04-10T12:23:00.000-06:00

I took today off to catch up after travelling for the weekend. I had some errands to run so I thought I'd do something I've never done on a day off and running errands -- wear a coat and tie! What a goofball, eh? The funny thing is I'll probably do it more often since I seemed to be treated better and more people smiled and said hello. Maybe I smiled more?

Today's bricolage (thanks to Knot a Blog for the new terminology) consists of a very simple combination. The dress shirt is a white, spread collar pinpoint. If it's simple then it must be the navy sport coat. The necktie is a regular Jos A. Bank with a lavender background with white and navy stripes.

I've had the tie for a while but today is the first time I have worn it. The lavender color reminds me of the lilacs that line one side of my back yard. One of my favorite times of year is when they finally blossom and fill the air with their scent. They only last two weeks or so which makes it even more special when they are in bloom. If they lasted longer then there would be the risk of growing less than fond of them. I guess I must be getting a bit impatient so I substituted the tie for the lilacs. Not a great substitution but it'll do.

I've recently added two other necktie bloggers to my links. I've mentioned Burl Veneer before and today I get to officially welcome Michael from Knot a Blog. Be sure to check out Michael's blog because he, like Mr. Veneer, goes into great detail about his neckwear. Both of these gentlemen prefer more interesting patterns than I do. That's what's great about ties -- it's the one place in a man's wardrobe that he gets to show a bit of himself.

I just noticed I had only saved this as a draft rather than publishing it. Ooops!

Good Friday

2007-04-06T09:17:00.000-06:00

Every Friday is good! Pretty simple conglomeration today. The dress shirt is another Lands End. It's a pinpoint straight collar blue Bengal stripe. The necktie is an Ike Behar with a maroon background. The rectangles are blue and gold. I topped it all off with the navy sportcoat.

Hope everyone has a fun Easter weekend. I'm on the way out the door to drive to my home town through a snow storm. Hopefully the roads will hold up for a few more hours.

Tough Tie

2007-04-05T13:50:00.000-06:00

I had a terrible time trying to decide what to do with this necktie. I finally just decided it had some black in it and went with that. It's another Ferrell Reed City of London with a burnt orange background. The vertical diamonds are black and the horizontal ones are burgundy with gold stripes running throught them.

The dress shirt is a black Bengal stripe broadcloth straight collar. I topped it off with the black sport coat, of course, since I was already having a bit of a tough time putting the conglomeration together.

Stripes

2007-04-04T13:11:00.000-06:00

Today's dress shirt is another Paul Fredrick but this one is a little special. It's a 140s broadcloth. Shirt fabric is a bit like sheets for your bed. The higher the number for thread count, the softer and more luxurious the bed clothes. This shirt is definitely the softest and most luxurious that I own.

The stripes may look fairly big but they are really tiny and grouped together to make the impression of larger stripes. The intensity of the stripes on this shirt is increased a bit by placing two (for instance) colored stripes next to each other. Likewise the intensity is lessened by placing a white stripe in between two colored stripes.

There are two colors of stripes on this shirt. Burgundy, most obviously, and blue. The blue may not be all that visible in the picture because they are each separated by white. They outline, or shadow, each set of burgundy stripes. Pretty nifty effect, really.

The necktie is also from Paul Fredrick. What gave me a bad case of the gotta-have-its with this tie is the intense, shiny blue background. The multicolored "floating" paisleys make it easy to match up in a number of different conglomerations even though I usually wear it with this shirt. I like the way the deep red paisleys pull on the burgundy stripes. The blue stripes get pulled forward a bit by the blue paisleys but also by the blue background.

I decided to go with the tan sport coat today. I was hoping it would match up with the darker gold paisleys on the necktie. I'm not really sure it quite got there. A nice attempt, I think, but I might have to try something a little different next time.

Some Color!

2007-04-03T10:22:00.000-06:00

Finally a little color in my dress shirt. I'm pretty conservative (chicken) when it comes to color most of the time but I knocked out two birds with one stone with this shirt. I had been wanting to try out Lands End wrinkle free shirts and I had wanted to add a little color to the wardrobe. Their overstocks (clearance) section had this shirt in my size so I bought it.

I thought it looked more purple than pink online. I thought I was really going to catch it for wearing a "pink" shirt. I only got complimented instead. That's got to be about the first time I've been complimented on a shirt selection. Next time I'm looking for some shirts I'll be motivated to add more color.

I do like the feel of Lands End wrinkle frees better than the others I have. Maybe after a few washings it will catch up to the others. It's a straight collar, pinpoint. The spread of this shirt seems to be a bit wider than the other straight collars I have. It's sure to be a favorite since it actually got noticed. I'll have to figure out some other neckties to pair up with it though.

Today's necktie is one of my favorites. I actually had it mind when I bought the shirt. It's a Paul Fredrick woven and I'm not sure there really is a background color since all the colors are equally represented. It's got several shades of purple and gray and some black to tie it all together, so to speak. It's kind of a basketweave pattern but the different colors don't really allow that to fully come through. Four-in-hand knot once again. If I had noticed the collar spacing earlier I might have tried a half Windsor instead.

I went with the gray sport coat today and black trousers. I had thought about swapping the colors around but ended up with this conglomeration. That leaves open the option to try it with the black sport coat sometime in the future. Since I like the combination of the dress shirt and tie, probably sooner rather than later.

Tab Collar

2007-04-02T12:23:00.000-06:00

Today's the first time I've worn a tab collar since I started the blog. It's basically a straight collar that has a piece of fabric attached to each side. The ends of the tabs have some sort of fastener so that the tabs can be put together after the tie knot has been snugged up. This particular one is a snap tab. I also have a few that use a button and a loop of fabric for the fastening.

Tab collars are pretty useful for keeping the tie knot pretty much in place all day. It's also said that it pushes the tie up away from the front of the shirt. I guess that's desirable. It also pulls the collar down some which makes it look like the knot gets pushed up more. At any rate, it is definitely a type of collar that places more focus on the knot.

The necktie selected for today's conglomeration is another Ferrell Reed, City of London. I chose it because it makes a fairly small knot. Tab collars look strained and a little funny when they have to try to contain big knots. It has a navy background with silver diamonds woven "on top". There are four different patterns in each column of diamonds. I believe the overall pattern is called harlequin and this site makes me think I might be correct.

The navy sportcoat rounds out and tops off the conglomeration. I don't know how I'd make it to work on Mondays without a navy sportcoat in the arsenal.

New Suit

2007-04-01T19:01:00.000-06:00

Brand new! It's a charcoal gray with alternate blue and gold pinstripes. Pretty sharp. And the pants match too! It's a Jos A. Bank Signature Collection. Yeah, I know I'm a little stuck on the Signature stuff but at the price it was acquired...

The dress shirt is a French blue, broadcloth, straight collar. The necktie is a regular Jos A. Bank. I bought it when I picked up the suit because you just have to buy a new tie when you get a new suit, don't you? It's got a gold background with navy and blue stripes one way and brown the other way. I think "They" call that a windowpane.

See that gold thing in the coat pocket? That's a pocket square. The saleslady suggested it to expand my limited sartorial horizons. I bought into her explanation. I "folded" it in what's called a puff fold according to this site. I tried the straight and diagonal shells but was running out of time before church. I'll have to practice a bit and see if I can't get one of those to work. They look kind of nifty. Dandy even.

I think I'll be wearing the same conglomeration for Easter next Sunday but I'm going home so I'll just have to blog about it on the Monday after.

Black Friday

2007-03-30T12:28:00.000-06:00

It would seem that older songs talk about clothes more than newer songs. I can remember two off the top of my head but neither mentions a black sportcoat. One mentions a white sportcoat (and a pink carnation). The other mentions black slacks. So much for trying to quote lyrics although the title is a portion of a Megadeth song title from their Peace Sells...But Who's Buying album. So yeah, the sportcoat is the black one.

The dress shirt is a broadcloth straight collar that might look gray in the picture. It's actually what "They" call an Ottoman stripe. The stripes are really tiny black stripes on white. Or maybe they're really tiny white stripes on black? There are bengal stripe dress shirts too. I wonder if there are Ottoman tigers.

The necktie is another Jos A. Bank Signature Collection that I got at a very deep discount. It may look solid in the picture but it's really got a very large herringbone pattern woven in. The base color is a deep red (burgundy?) with black in the recessed portion of the weave. Honestly, I could be really messing up some rules with regard to patterns or something but the conglomeration didn't cross my eyes for me when I looked in the mirror. The knot is, of course, four-in-hand. I think I could have gotten away with something more substantial this time though.

If you want to check out a really cool blog about really cool ties, head on over to Burl Veneer's Tie Blog. There's a story for every one of his ties. Pretty interesting blog and one of the reasons I started this blog.

Have a good weekend. I'll probably have something on Sunday that will include my new suit. I get to pick that up tonight after work.

New Stuff

2007-03-29T13:34:00.000-06:00

Today's conglomeration is comprised of mostly new stuff. I got a shipment yesterday after work that included some new dress shirts and one that included a new necktie. Still the same "old" gray sportcoat though.

The dress shirt is a French blue, broadcloth straight collar. This one isn't non-iron. After wearing this shirt all day today, I'm officially done with most of the non-iron shirts. Oh sure, this one wrinkles fairly easily and I did have to iron it but that's a small inconvenience for the comfort. The non-irons are a bit scratchy and they don't breathe nearly as well.

The necktie is a pretty special Jos A. Bank Signature Gold. Ebay strikes again. What makes this one so special is that they limit the number of ties manufactured for a specific fabric. Mine's number 205 out of 286. It says so right one the tie! These go for $135 brand new but mine was about $30 delivered to my doorstep. Four-in-hand knot once again for this golden beauty with red, blue, white and black shapes.

Robert Talbott individually numbers their Sevenfold line. They only make 40 of each pattern so they're more special I guess.

Tan and Black

2007-03-28T12:27:00.000-06:00

Today's conglomeration is the reverse of last Thursday's. The sportcoat is the tan colored camelhair. This time I wore a white, spread collar pinpoint oxford. The necktie is also a Ferrell Reed City of London. It has a gold background with different shades of gold and some black. Four-in-hand knot again. I tried a Pratt and half Windsor but the knot would not cooperate. I even had difficulty knotting the four-in-hand. I think I may get rid of this necktie just so I don't have to go through that again. The black portion of the conglomeration is the trousers.

Comments? Suggestions? Is there anyone reading this? Just curious. Are you laughing your hineys off at the goofball that documents his daily conglomerations? Really, I just do it to keep track of what I've worn so I don't wear the same thing two days in a row.

Brown and Blue?

2007-03-27T13:11:00.000-06:00

I've seen arguments back and forth over the mixing of brown and blue before. Some people like it, some don't. I thought I'd try it and see but I flip-flopped what I would normally do. I went with a brown sportcoat (the same Lands End "sportcoat" as Sunday's gray but in a brown) instead of a navy and navy trousers instead of some shade of brown. I still don't know if I like the conglomeration or not. It was worth a try, anyway. The necktie has brown and blue, doesn't it?

The dress shirt is the same shirt I wore on the second day of the blog. It's a broadcloth, straight collar with brown stripes. Rounding out the conglomeration is an Ike Behar necktie. The background is navy. The squares are brown and match the dress shirt's stripes pretty well. They match the color of the sportcoat fairly well too. The inside of the squares is a light blue color. Another Ebay purchase and another four-in-hand knot. Maybe one of these weeks I'll dedicate each day to a different tie knot.

Blue Monday Redux

2007-03-26T09:22:00.000-06:00

Again with the Navy sportcoat. Like I've already said -- it's too easy to throw something together. Monday are almost required to be easy conglomeration mornings.

I made it even easier by selecting a blue, spread collar, pinpoint oxford dress shirt. I picked it because I have plans for the white spread collar later in the week and that's the only other shirt I would have worn with the necktie I selected.

The necktie is yet another Jos A. Bank Signature Collection model. The diamonds are different shades of blue and silver. The silver stripes woven "over the top" of the diamonds make it more interesting tha just a regular stripe or geometric necktie. It's another Ebay purchase that I got in the mail Friday. I thought about wearing it to church yesterday but decided I'd rather wear the new gray sportcoat instead. Spread collar, half Windsor knot. Usually, anyway.

Bonus Sunday

2007-03-25T16:47:00.000-06:00

The casual dress affliction has even infested church these days. Not that I care, really. It's just the way I was raised. It really is what's on the inside that counts.

Today's conglomeration is pretty basic. How much more basic can you get than a white pinpoint oxford dress shirt? A straight collar instead of the spread collar I wore today.

The sportcoat is a solid colored gray that I just got from Land's End. They seem to cut their coats a little more roomy than I would like. I had it taken in a bit and the sleeves shortened. It's really not a sportcoat either. It's a suit jacket from their suit seperates. I just didn't get the matching trousers.

The necktie is another Jos A. Bank Signature Collection. It's woven with a gold background and red and black shapes. I bought it from Jos A. Bank on clearance so I still didn't pay the full $80 price for it. It's a pretty substantial thickness so I stuck with a four-in-hand knot even though I was wearing a spread collar.

Conglomeration Block

2007-03-23T14:52:00.000-06:00

I had a little trouble trying to figure out what to conglomerate today. That's why I kept it simple. Navy sportcoat, of course, and a light blue broadcloth, straight collar shirt.

The necktie is a Brooks Brothers navy, gold and royal stripe. It's a "346" which is supposed to be a little better than their "Basics" line. Maybe it has a thicker lining or something. It's knotted four-in-hand to keep with the simplicity theme for a finally a Friday.

Black and Tan

2007-03-22T18:33:00.000-06:00

The sportcoat is a black, tan and white tick (I think that's what "They" call it). I've had it for a really long time. It's a Robert Stock and I couldn't even begin to try and remember where I got it or when. The lapels look pretty big on it.

The dress shirt is the off white (ecru, says the catalog) pinpoint oxford, straight collar. A little too much starch in the collar this time around.

The necktie is a Ferrell Reed, City of London. It's a black background with gold criss-crossing over the top of the black. Ferrell Reed makes pretty nice neckwear but the City of Londons are a notch above, in my opinion. I'm not sure they even make them anymore. The widths and the general look of the ones that I have tend to suggest that they're several years old. I've liked them for quite some time and have purchased several from Ebay vendors. They're usually pretty cheap too.

Three Patterns, One Conglomeration

2007-03-21T17:19:00.000-06:00

Today's conglomeration is three different patterne put together. "They" say you can have two of the same pattern together so long as the patterns are different sizes. For instance, a wide striped necktie with a fine line dress shirt. I decided to try three different patterns. I don't know if the solid sportcoat classifies as a pattern though.

Today's dress shirt is a spread collar, non-iron black and gray check. It's a pinpoint oxford weave. It's also the first check dress shirt that I have owned. I like it enough that I'm going to get more.

The necktie is from Paul Fredrick. The stripes are black, gray, silver and white. It's knotted in a half Windsor. That does kind of depend on who calls it that though.

Tan Tuesday?

2007-03-20T15:16:00.000-06:00

I guess so. The tan camel hair again today. I've got a couple more sportcoats that ought to be ready any day now. They're both solids too -- one gray and one brownish color. Hopefully those will make their first appearance on Thursday and Friday. I've noticed a few places on the net that say it's OK, in fact fashionable, to wear your pinstripe suit coat with trousers other than those that complete the suit. Maybe I'll try that someday. One thing is sure, though. I need a little more color or variety or pattern or something in my coats.

The dress shirt is a French blue, non-iron, broadcloth point collar. I think I'm going to stop buying the colored non-irons. The collar points tend to wear out first and show white while the rest of the shirt is still perfectly fine. I don't have that problem with my other, regular, colored dress shirts.

The necktie is a Talbott Best of Class. Another Ebay purchase. It's got a somewhat tan background (if there really is a background color on this one) with different shades of brown and blue throughout. Four-in-hand knot again today. Yes, I guess it is boring and I should try some of those other knots that I posted yesterday.

Blue Monday

2007-03-19T17:33:00.000-06:00

Navy blue, that is. The navy sportcoat got worn yet again today. I conglomerated it with a white straight collar pinpoint dress shirt. The necktie is another Jos A. Bank Signature Collection number. I got it online from Jos A. Bank but for an extremely reduced price of about $20. It's got a purple background that's woven to look like tonal stripes. Over the top of that it's got multi-colored stripes that go diagonally in the other direction.

It's a pretty cool tie that I wore for the first time today. It was a little thin to fill in the tie space so I tied it in a Prince Albert knot. That's the same as a four-in-hand with one extra wrap around the front. It bulks up the knot a bit but it also elongates it too. I like the way it worked out with this necktie.

Ever wonderd how many tie knots there are? Try this site for a few more. They call today's knot the Victoria. Brooks Brothers' site calls it the Prince Albert. I'm not sure whether I'd rather it be named after a female or a male. So long as it's named after royalty, I guess?

Double Dipping Church Services

2007-03-18T17:26:00.000-06:00

I did go to church today. Twice, in fact. How goofy is that? I'm trying to find some place to attend regularly because.... Well, because.

For church I dressed it up a bit and went with a full-on suit. Yup, the pants matched the coat. Clever, eh? I got the suit at Dillards which is a department store. I honestly don't know how widespread they are. The brand is Austin Reed. Not that I know what that means. It's a navy pinstripe that looks pretty keen, I think. It's the only three button coat I own.

I went with a basic blue spread collar dress shirt. The necktie is the one I bought with the suit. It's a burgundy color with blue goemetric shapes on it and some white too It is a Roundtree and York by brand name. This is the first time I've worn the conglomeration with anything other than a white shirt. Fancy that! Oh, and I tied it in a half Windsor knot. It's too bulky a tie to go with anything more than that. Personally, I think all ties are too bulky to go with a full Windsor. But that's just me. Michael Irvin would probably argue that but at least my neckwear ends up being the proper length after it's knotted.

After the second service I took a new suit that I just bought to get it all measured up to fit me. It's a pretty expensive Jos A Bank number from their Signature line. The original price was about $800 but I got it for about $150. It's a charcoal pinstripe and I can't wait to wear it for the first time. Problem is that it won't be ready for another two weeks or so.

The Versatility of the Navy Sportcoat

2007-03-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

For the second time this week I went with the navy sportcoat. It's too easy to throw on almost any dress shirt, necktie and trousers and just add the navy coat. Almost.

Today's conglomeration starts out with a blue striped, straight collar pinpoint oxford dress shirt as the base. The necktie is another JoS A Bank Signature collection. It's a kind of brownish color (taupe?) background with navy and tan big squares and light blue small squares. Another Ebay purchase as well and a four-in-hand yet again. Never fear, I'll make sure I wear some other knot next week.

That's it for a Friday. Casual Friday. Hah! Here's to a good weekend minus coat and tie. Unless I go to church on Sunday. It could happen. I don't have a green coat and tie to wear tomorrow so that's not going to happen.

The Simplicity of Black

2007-03-15T18:49:00.000-06:00

Just like white, black works with almost everything. Today's sportcoat is the cousin to yesterday's camel hair coat. Same JoS A. Bank, same camel hair, same Ebay purchase, different color. The dress shirt is a pinpoint oxford off white (ecru?) straight collar from Paul Fredrick. All my shirts are from Paul Fredrick so I guess I could quit mentioning it and save some typing. The necktie is a Robert Talbott Studio with a black background and goldish/copper diamonds on it knotted once again in a four-in-hand. Ebay strikes again.

Talbotts are some of my favorite ties but there's probably no way I'd purchase one brand new. They run about $80 for the Studio line and about $115 for Best of Class. Talbott also makes some Seven Fold ties the fetch roughly $225! If you don't know what a seven fold tie is then you should do a little search on the 'net. You'll find out soon enough why they're so expensive.

Day Two

2007-03-14T18:22:00.000-06:00

Today's conglomeration is a little bit of an overload on JoS. A. Banks. The sportcoat is a tan camel hair from them that I got on Ebay on the cheap. The necktie is from their Signature line. They're fairly expensive ($80 or so) if purchased new but I got this one on Ebay too. It's a geometric (obviously, from the picture) with a couple different shades of blue and brown. I wore some blue trousers that matched the blue in the tie pretty well, if I do say so myself. If I'm not careful I'll be conglomerating outfits. The shirt is another Paul Fredrick broadcloth straight collar with fine, brown stripes. Oh, and I used a four-in-hand knot once again today.

A little about ties and Ebay -- it's a great way to pick up some nice neckwear for a fairly reasonable price. You'll probably be a few months (years) behind the current style but you'll save a ton of money. I like neckties a little too much so it gives me an opportunity to expand my collection more than I would by paying full price. Neckwear is the only real opportunity for men to add a little color to their conglomerations. Dress shirts are generally either white or blue. But wait, there's more. Now you can have a white dress shirt with blue stripes! Granted, I don't take full advantage of neckwear possibilities but I'll get there someday.

2007-03-13T18:10:00.000-06:00

My first post. Yippee!

So the deal is that I started out wearing just regular old trousers, dress shirts and neckties to work. I was sick of blending in with the business casual crowd. There were many, many weeks of shock and awe but it soon settled back down. I started adding sport coats and blazers to the outfits (does calling them "outfits" make me a metrosexual? Hope not.) and the shock and awe returned but only for many, many minutes.

What's a coated and tied rebel to do? French cuff dress shirts with them link things? Suspenders (braces for those on the other side of the 'lantic)? Full blown suit? Tuxedo? I'm not sure yet. I have wondered if I ought to just quit trying to get attention. I'm not quite to that point yet. I just get treated too well when I'm out in public. That, and I kinda like the way I look all natty and such. For now I'll just post pictures of the daily outfits, uh, conglomerations and maybe make a few comments here and there.

So today's conglomerate is pretty simple. The shirt is a non-iron broadcloth point collar that I picked up from Paul Frederick. The coat is just a Chaps navy blue wool sportcoat that I picked up at Kohl's. The necktie is a XMI Platinum number that I picked up on Ebay. It's got a navy blue background with blue paislies outlined in gold and has little white dots all over it. It's a pretty thick necktie so I tied it in a four-in-hand knot. I usually use that knot but once in a while I'll get whimsical and use some sort of half-windsor variation. Only if I'm wearing a spread collar though.