What do I do with all your money ? You know what, sometimes I don’t even know. It just goes. It flows in, it flows out, if I am lucky I get to catch some of it, but mostly it’s not mine to keep, it just goes back into the business and pays my way.
Before we begin, I just want to note that when I post photos of myself I recognise that sometimes it might appear narcissistic. This morning one of my customers forwarded a video of a prominent Sydney real estate agent deriding him for reckless self promotion as he declared himself a vital and creative source of energy for his customers. Ayayayayay, everyone seems to have a microphone and a camera these days with a ring light, and let us not begin on the overwhelming number of pod casts and pod casters spruiking something. And really, having to hear about a real estate agents morning ritual drip fed in bite sized content just makes me flick up and flick up again. Nobody wants to make anything anymore, they just want to talk about it and sell themselves. Or so it seems.
And, I think I am an offender in this realm. I wonder if I just spent more time cutting silk and less time talking about it would I have more money in my back pocket ?
For 18 years I have never taken a salary from the business, my benefit is watching the business grow and having the business pay for whatever my accountant says I can claim. Once upon a time I made just black silk bow ties. Pretty much. Then some velvet ones, some white satin ones. I worked in the markets, overrated experience if you ask me. You begin to wonder whether you will be that guy for forever as you look at the chap next to you who is in his 50’s and hasn’t moved on. You dream of getting to a point where you can make a range of pocket squares, silk scarves are a pipe dream, possibly add in some socks ….
18 years later we do so much more than black bow ties and I have worked with so many fascinating people and companies all around the world and had just as many fascinating customers.
Last night I had a black tie dinner to go to and it was back to the basics, where it began, bow ties for black tie… But as I got dressed I realised just how much influence those 18 years has had. I could describe the weave of wool, talk about where it came from, know the technical construction of the satin silk I used, know what work was involved in the construction of the jacket, designed the proportions of the whole thing, knew who made my shoes, had actually Dean Girling organise them for me over WhatsApp , the king’s shoe maker, my socks were Bresciani, a company I have dealt with for some time, my shirt was linen by Carlo Riva made by my shirt maker Roger with a cuff I designed or I should really say “redesigned” from a cuff I had on my first bespoke shirt from Charvet. Wow, I think I am heading back into that realm of narcissism, look at me look at me….
But let me get back to why it matters, because as I got dressed and saw my grey beard and my balding head and as I considered what a black haired young man first approached this world I realised that it has taken its toll on me overall - I am not the black haired young man I was when I began. And those 18 years whilst giving me so much, have also taken things from me that you can’t get back, the most important of which is time, the second is health. And by health I do not mean anything serious other than the regular wear and tear, the need for spectacles, the grey hairs instead of the black.
So as I got dressed last night and I made myself look as good as I could and I considered how far I had come, and I considered all the money that had just come in and gone out just like that, poof, gone, back off to the next bill to be paid, the illustrator, the weaver, the printers, the freight company, my assistant, the local cafe where I shout almost every visitor a cappuccino…. In and out, round and round, but there is something to show for it. And as I tied my bow tie against the ring light before putting it around my neck and plugging the light into the socket and turning it on, preparing myself to show off the smiley face cufflinks, considering all the criticism I have of all those people who are always selling selling selling, recognising the hypocrisy in myself, considering that I chose the photo where I least looked like a gimp, having focused on presenting myself in the most favourable way where you might consider me an authority on the subject of menswear, I came to relax my views on everyone else out there desperately seeking their Warhol 15 minutes of fame, we are just selling, ourselves, our products, our services …. What right did I have to think I was better than anyone else out there, even if it was dribble for me, perhaps for these people it matters to them.
Later that evening, having introduced myself at an all men’s black tie dinner and explained what I did for work there was a man I know holding a glass of red wine and talking to another man, I introduced myself, at some point I was talking about what I do, dribble dribble, and he looked at me and said “one thing you must know about this club is it is not a place to do business”.
How refreshing. No cameras. No ring lights. No selling. How very analogue in a digital world.
And in case you aren’t sure what this email is about - I am trying to sell you bow ties. Black ones. Specifically this diamond point which marries well with peaked lapels. I’m sorry, I cannot help it, I am always selling. Unlike my new friend at the club, my bills never stop and we are developing new silks this week!
Talk soon.
