Mimi Fong Update: Ornate Patterns

I wrote about the above Mimi Fong tie once before a few months back sans a close up shot (Unfortunately, the Mimi Fong website doesn't let you zoom in on the patterns). Now that the tie is on the Neiman Marcus website, we can finally get a good look at it.

I love the ethereal ornate black and white pattern here -- it gives the tie an appealing graphic quality; it's as if someone drew the pattern on the fabric with a pen.

To be completely honest, I don't think this tie is particularly pretty -- but it ellicits a strong visceral response from me; the baroque, almost gothic quality is alluring. Interestingly, the ornate pattern is not light and airy, like the first tie of the post, but dark and thick, almost oppressively so, as if it were made of wrought iron. There are a lot of ties out there that have no personality, no real point-of-view or aesthetic. This tie has loads of it.

Transparency of the Process

Without those little white stitch marks (real or trompe-l'œil, I don't know and I don't care -- same effect) this tie would be pretty bland -- just another simple striped tie. However, not only does the white stitching give the tie some ornamentation and a little visual pizazz ("bling", if you will), it also emphasizes the art of fashion by showing transparency of the process. Fashion begins with the stitch -- and what this tie so slyly suggests is that the stitch is not only functional but also fashionable.

If you don't buy the analytical bull crap, that's A.O.K. with me. It's still a cute tie. Plus, I'm loving the vibrant and warm color choices; the olive green, the warm orange -- it's a very Tuscan color palette. My personal favorite? The plum. Black and purple (especially such a dark shade) is just such a romantic and sexy color combination.

Structure

A note to my readers: I only blog about ties that I love. As in, head-over-heels. And that really doesn't happen very often, because, sadly, ties are rarely the centerpiece of the outfit -- they are mainly there to match the shirt. Lame.

The above Band of Outsiders tie hit me like a train -- the big black & white geometric pattern is bold and masculine. Very Greek-Key. The tie acts like a big visual pillar, giving the model* a strong structural center that is very aesthetically pleasing.

*Jason Bateman of Arrested Development fame!

Photos: Ben Watts for GQ September 2007 Page 387

Fresh off the Runway: Louis Vuitton Spring 2008

Chartreuse? Sky blue? Damn gutsy. Marc Jacobs uses color in a very sophisticated way here. The chunky segments of color with the chunky color progression is, well, besides being chunky, amazingly aesthetically pleasing, especially when it's basically the centerpiece of your outfit (note: I think white/cream is pretty much the only thing that goes with that tie. Anything more and you get color overload). The black stripe at the end is both humorous (completely unexpected) and functional: it serves as a visual contrast to tell you "the tie ends here." Also, note that the chunky parallelograms of color in the tie mirror the diamond patchwork of the jacket (Vuitton's new "spiral" cutting technique).

This tie is almost the opposite of the previous one: not chunky at all, just ridiculously sleek. Once again, Jacobs is using color so well: the silver works as a great highlight, giving the outfit some pop, while the use of ombre (fading from one color to another) to match the black shirt is cool and humorous without being gimmicky.

Photos: imaxtree.com/Alessandro Lucioni

Kiton

Greece. That's all I can think about. Olive branches. That blue.

Canada. Maple leaves. That's all.

In all seriousness, these Kiton ties are gorgeous. The micro-sized pattern, the color scheme (white over base color): it all adds up to a sophisticated, elaborate, and decadent tie.

And with Kiton, you know you're getting amazing quality; afterall, these ties are $172... on Bluefly...

Scottish Cousin

How cool are these ties? Masculine, subdued, and mature. Plus, wool always makes me smile.

Although the very traditional striped-repp tie will always be in fashion, they are HUGE right now, thanks in part to the popularity of JCrew and Band of Outsiders.

In this context, you can't help but see a little striped-repp in the above plaid ties, especially the first. It's as if Polo were riffing off the popularity of the striped-repp, creating the Scottish cousin of a traditionally English tie. Very cool.

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.