Novelty!

I think a lot of Hermes ties are butt-ugly. Enough with the little oranges, dancing teddy-bears, and self-promoting H's! Sure, you can't refute the quality of their ties, but I draw the line at whales.

But occasionally, they get things so right (I WANT THIS SO BAD) and their aesthetic vision aligns with my own. The above tie is super-cool. That horse makes my day, for a number of reasons. 1) It's tiny. 2) It's a beautiful rendition of a horse and 3) Once that baby is tied, our little horse will probably end up somewhere underneath your collar, in the knot, or behind the visible part of your tie, depending on how you tie it.

The tie has such a sense of humor; it's only embellishment is hidden away, known only to the wearer. And the rest of the tie is just so clean and simple - slim cut and navy blue. It's a humble, yet confident design.

So it only makes sense that Hermes call it a "Novelty Tie." Ugh.

Uber-Conservative

I'll admit that my tie choices so far aren't really well suited for the fashion-conservative. Thus, I give you Hermes. Most Hermes ties put me off; I don't understand a tie with tesselating octopi... Sure, it must be hell to weave the image of an eight legged cephalopod in silk, but give me a break! I'm not going to spend $160 on a tie with a pattern that can be found on children's pajamas.

But this Hermes tie works against that aesthetic to great success. The hint of orange at the bottom of the tie is clever without being gimmicky and rescues the tie from just being plain boring while keeping it nice and understated. Hermes has this tie in multiple color combinations, but there's something about the brown/orange I really like. Note: Although not on their website now, there used to be a blue/orange version; it may come back so check again in a while if you're partial to blue.

EDIT 06/10/07: I happened upon this tie at the Neiman Marcus in Boston and I was blown away. The silk feels amazing, the proportion is perfect (not too fat, not too skinny), the orange stripe pops so much -- it's striking. Swoon.