Dunford Wood Silk Bow Ties for Everyone

For my eldest son’s big wedding last autumn I was asked to provide ties for the best man and his ushers.  So I scrabbled about in the attic until I found the dusty case carrying all the old stock.  After the big event three of the young blades asked to keep their ties which surprised me.  I believed that these ties were rooted firmly in the 1970s and 80s and smacked of old fartism.

How wrong I was.  Passing through Covent Garden I found that all the male dummies in the shop windows were wearing bow ties.  Dr Who is wearing a bow tie for heavens sake, so something must be in the air.  Then Charlie Allen the tailor asked me to paint some silk for a waistcoat, and a couple of young architects in New York implored me to make them some new bows.

There’s something in the air.  My silk bow ties are not just gathering dust in my memory and in the V&A fashion hall, there is life in them yet, and they are rising again like magnificent kites catching the wind above the city skyline.

Men will be given a dickie by their girlfriends and boyfriends, students will be rewarded with a bow tie, actors will sport them and they will be seen again around the necks of pediatrians and on newscasters.  Pop musicians will sing in them, and orchestras.  Businesses will inspire Bow Tie Fridays, and politicians will once again be free to flaunt their colourful personalities in a tie.

Watch out – there is revolution in the air.  Put your tasteful grey jacket back onto its hanger and break into colour.  In these hard times we all need an uplift.  Do you realize that all these sombre suits are still the reverberations of the death of Queen Victoria’s husband Albert?  It is time to claim back our true colours.  Most other creatures expect the male of the species to be the most eye catching of the sexes.

Why is it so difficult to find shoes other than black or brown?  Why are most men’s clothing stores so drab?  It is up to you to demand colourful trousers, shoes and jackets.  It will take time for the suppliers to respond.  But you can start today by putting colour where it will be most seen and heard – at your throat, around your neck.

Send me photos of your new look, and let us together start a revolution in men’s fashion.

Tags: 100%, bow, bowtie, colour, dunford, fabric, hand, kites, paint, painted, silk, sillk, tie, ties, wood