i'm sorry but i can't help this after some of the comments issued from Etsy central about this particular gentleman's accessory. i believe that one particular introduction of a new face on the etsy board lauded that he hardly ever wears a tie these days ...

ties?? aren't they a particularly un-etsy none-U article to be promoting?????? or has there been a radical about turn in the image of the tie as stuffy business dress recently?

if there has been, then it's encouraging to see a change in opinion in such a classic, timeless form of male attire

I made a tie for my Dad once in Girl Scouts in the 70s. It was orange textured double knit -- WOW.

Hey ebbandflo, good point that the necktie is symbolic in our society. I think, if anything, many of us today toy with corporate fashion and try to make that little strip of fabric around the neck express something of our individuality, rather than corporate sameness. That is why I think this open-source sewing pattern from BurdaStyle is to cool: you can take the pattern and make it into what ever kind of tie you want!

... but it's still a tie, vanessa

if you check around department stores, menswear, etc. they are all the same shape. what makes the tie individual is how the person uses it, matches it with their day-to-day dress, contrasts it with colour or texture or toys with risque imagery. though it's laudable that ties can be handmade (and from an open source pattern too), just because someone bought off the peg doesn't make them any more stuffy or corporate or less individual. indeed, wearing a handmade tie may not even be enough to redeem someone from being a stuffy corporate persona

or is it the fact that it is handmade enough to salvage the humble classic tie according to the Etsy mantra?

i do however think that the ability to carry off a tie, casual or formal, "maketh a man" (with only passing direct reference to the pic above)

;)
PS: i handknitted an awesome tie for my dad many years ago and he still wears it even though he never sets foot (and never has done) in corporateland (i'm sure he'll cringe when i say this, but he's the scottish equivalent of Indiana Jones)

I used to work in a fabric store- my first job ever and second best only to what I do now. Anyway, my favorite customer was a gentleman in his seventies who would come in every month or so and peruse the silk for new tie material. He made his own, and they were gorgeous. He said he had been making them since the fifties... which made me wonder... at a rate of 1 per month for 40 years, the man had how many ties? 480?!

Love this! I've been searching for a decent tie pattern for the past month or so - with not much luck. (Although, I can't seem to get the pattern to open on Adobe...) And thank you for pointing us to such a fantastic sewing site - I must be living under a rock, as I hadn't heard of the BurdaStyle website. (Love it!!)

BTW, the guys look great in their ties. :)

LOVE the burdastyle website! I'd never heard of it. Thank you so much for sharing this! The ties are so very cool.