Style

The next silk scarf design is almost ready. It is telling the story of Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen - their divorce - the changes in their lives that come - the idea that glory is fleeting, then comes the aftermath - and often it can be a lonely place. 

I love my silk scarves in winter. I tie them in a four in hand so that I can adjust them so as the weather heats up during the day or I exert myself physically I loosen them, when it gets cold I keep them close to my neck. When it starts to blow a gale and the snow is whipping past my face or biting into it, I re-wrap the scarf so it becomes a face mask.

I have always been understanding of our loyal bow tie customers who can't bring themselves to don a bandana or a silk scarf, but I must say, they are just unbelievably versatile and have so much panache. In the end, most of my collection I do for myself, so if you happen to own one I sincerely thank you for following me in on a passion project. 

There are some men who despite the changes in menswear from casual to formal to casual to formal and all segues and sub movements in between still wear bow ties like a tree that stands in a paddock for years undisturbed by the weather and the goings on within the paddock. For those men bow ties continue to be part of their oeuvre as they pair them with shirts, vests, jackets and trousers to constantly find new ways to wear the collection they have accumulated across their lifetime. This is Carlo, at Pitti Uomo in Florence, he is one of those men I just mentioned.

At the end of the day we have to move on with the next cut of our silks, so when you see our sale codes to clear off what remains of the week or the month, jump on them. 

We are here to serve you and what we do is unique and cannot be copied - it can only come from us, each one is hand-cut and -hand-made by us, every knot is knotted by us. If you can find anything else like it in the world, please text me on +61413140994 and I will send you a bow tie from us so you can compare the difference. 

On other websites and with our competitors they will produce no more than 24 designs in a year. It means their websites are drab and frankly overwhelmingly boring. By contrast, because we design, cut, sew our own silks in Sydney, Australia - it's possible for us to cycle through 300 designs or more in a year. 

It also allows us to bring new silks and merge them with ones that have been stored. It gives us a chance to be creative and directional in our cut each week. We want you to feel that every time you come back to the website you did it to see something new. Never dull. Never boring. 

And if we do become dull and boring - let us know on +61413140994

This week we have been having many customers call in to the studio to have their bow ties re-tied before celebrations. Obviously this is mostly for Sydney customers but we are always open to pressing and tying them again for you wherever you are, just make contact with us first on +61413140994 .

As I draw to a close the biography by Duff Cooper on the famed French diplomat Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord – often referred to in history as just Talleyrand – I am reminded that in spite of our belief that the world is in fragile state – it has – roughly speaking – always been the case. Born in 1838 to an aristocratic family with a long lineage, gammy legged, his titled conferred to his brother and sent off to be part of the clergy, Talleyrand first managed to become the Bishop Of Autun (recall former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s insult against then opposition leader John Howard), survived the French Revolution, survived being decapitated within a hair’s breadth, survived the terror, emigrated to London, then Philadelphia, made safe passage back during the First Assembly, promoted Napoleon to office, presided over his affairs as he became Emperor, devised his downfall, oversaw and implemented the architecture of Europe as we know it today and reinstalled the Bourbon Kings. And that’s where I am up to at the minute.

If there is one country that has endlessly inspired my design work it is Japan. Last night I was explaining to a photographer how I believed that the work of Australian artist Brett Whiteley was inspired by the form of shunga art from Japan. The word “shunga” literally means “spring pictures” and they are on the interface of art and pornography - a form of Japanese art which appeared from the 1600’s to the early 1900’s.

Housekeeping!

Hello my friends, I want to make you a 7 day offer. I have left over cummerbunds – at least 50 – which I want to give away over the coming days to my most loyal newsletter readers.

They were all made in Italy and offered to me by a reputable silk mill last year. No, they are not nearly as good as the ones we custom make, but free they are, and in this economic downturn which is starting to come across as a depression they way I am hearing sentiment out there right now (building companies collapsing, housing shortages, cost of living rising) , there has to be some good news – so here it is – work with me to find your size and it’s yours, just pay for postage please. And leave a tip if you love me.

You know the drill - +61413140994

Rest easy, I haven't given up. But sometimes when a bunch of the new world order types wear t shirts, never don a suit, lack charm, make up for it with material things, talk loud, talk brash - well it can get you down.

Then an elegant customer reaches out on a random Thursday and gives you this to brighten up your day. 

We soldier on. We are still here. We stand for good menswear. +61413140994

  Lately I have been noticing more and more “celebrities” and that is a very wide net that will include social influencers and a cohort of luxury watch connoisseurs, wearing...

A lot of hands go into our bow ties. First, we put hand to paper and make a design we deem worthy of your attention. Then teams in Italy handle the production of our limited fabrics, fold them by hand, pack them into boxes, ship them off. The courier who drops them off, still does it by hand. Then we unpack them, place them onto the cutting table and cut them - by hand. In turn our seamstresses sew them by hand with sewing machines. The process can be hard on the hands. Then they are tied in the Studio by hand, sold and hand packed. A lot of hands. A lot more than you would think because all we show you is the perfect bow tie, ready for you to wear. We handle the rest. That's why we always remain one step ahead of our competitors. We still use our hands.