I finally found the perfect ties that complement Kirk's waistcoat. He loves it and is  wearing it to the Dicken's Faire going on now.  He also added his own beautiful pin.  Very dapper!

Although most of the time I display my products on a black mannequin, occasionally with a white collar but sometimes it's nice to see what a piece looks like on different backgrounds, particularly the playful or colorful ones.  So here are some examples.  This is one I redesigned so the music notes would not be lost in the folds.  I've included both style pictures. 

​I also met a very creative couple, Amy and Kirk, who are fans of Victorian events and they loved my collars.  I am planning to make custom collar for Kirk as soon as I find the perfect cranberry and grey tie to complement his waistcoat.   He did find different ways to use my original smaller single tie designs.

Another fan was this young boy I met at a local church event.  His mom was also a vendor at the event.  We all donate something for the church to raffle to all attendees.  This young gentleman honored me by picking my tie donation because he wanted to wear a tie, like his father.  He was adorable and I did get permission to post his picture.  His father liked my products so well he bought a Victorian collar as a gift for his niece and a flower for his wife.

Recently I spoke about my hobby at a 100-year old women's club (yes they accept men). The coordinator asked me twice if I was going to tell them about myself...haha. 

How do you condense 68 years onto one sheet of paper? At this age, there are so many stories to tell.  I covered how I learned to sew, my travels in a nutshell from Maine to California via Florida and a few international countries (17 or 18) thrown in, some for fun, some for work.   And of course my tie hobby. 

Importantly, having a little business requires many hats - marketing, sales, accounting, technology, social skills, yada, yada, yada.  I like face-to-face sales best because I enjoy meeting the people.  The ones that like my products are usually artistic.  Some buy, lots don't, that's okay.   Some become friends, some remain acquaintances.  It's a whole new world when you retire.  Make it good for you!

I am sometimes amazed at the price of ties.  If it was made in Italy, it probably was expensive.  A Gucci can sell for $200.  Here is one from JZ Gallery Collection made with silk and cotton.  It doesn't look like much but the price tag is still attached - $115!  I'm not sure what the Italian Mogador represents. As far as I can tell, Mogador is the former name (until 1956) of Essaouira in Morroco. 

During my weekend wanderings, I found a suitcase full of vintage ties at a yard sale. These had been in an attic for about 20 years.  One of them is a vintage french Givenchy.  The fabric tag says "Imported Fabric 100% Polyester".  Image that, imported from the good ole U.S.A.   

I Googled vintage Givenchy and found some very similar ties available as collectibles.  Some of us remember when polyester was first created.  It was a miracle fabric. Washable, no wrinkles. Woo hoo! Today natural fibers are in big demand.  Wonder what the next 20 years will bring.  Here's a picture of the Givenchy tie made into an Obi style sash. 

I sometimes find unusual brands and have started looking them up.  This colorful tie is cotton and is a Resilio brand which led me to an interesting article about "The History of the Necktie" (https://www.ties-necktie.com/ties-history.html).

This is a short excerpt from the article:  "While to the end of the 19th century there were several popular "adornments" for the male neck, the necktie - the way we know it nowadays - took over in popularity with the beginning of the 20th century.  Only the bow tie and the ascot tie survived in the fashion world from earlier times."

"From 1924 on it became accepted to cut the fabric in a right angle to the weaving direction instead of parallel to it - and this method is still used today.  The American Jesse Langsdorf came up with the idea and had it patented under the brand name Resilio.  The tailoring has changed little since then.  The products only differ in quality of material and inlay, the quantity of outer fabrics used and the amount of hand labor.

.It's been fun collecting ties to make Victorian Collars and great meeting lots of interesting people, both customer and artisans at shows. 

You can tell a lot about a man from his ties.  A friend's grandfather was very conservative, probably sophisticated, based on the collection she gave me.  All expensive name brands but all the ties had a similar look.

A lady at a yard sale gave me her husband's collection.  Beautiful silk ties with colorful designs and holiday themes.  He wore them often because some were too far gone to use!

This photo is an example of conservative and playful.  The playful tie got a new life.  I'm still working on what to do with the very conservative tie. 
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Pam's dad fell in love with penguins in Antarctica where he loved to visit.  Family and friends would give him penguin ties for Christmas.  He died around 2007 and Pam still had his ties which I made into a Victorian collar for her.  You could consider it a $25,000 conversation piece given how expensive it is to visit Antarctica!