Highest Quality Bespoke Ties

[Frederic Leighton]

Dear Federico,
G&H neckties are hopeless by now. [...] 2 for £ 95 !!!

Thank you for the feedback, Hectorm. It was two years ago, actually, and they were £95 each. In those days I used to buy the most wonderful 1930's vintage ties in pristine condition for £15 each... and I carried on buying of those after wasting my money on G&H ties. Nowadays, old ties in excellent condition are not available the same way they used to be few years ago. I wouldn't doubt a split second about them being the best possible ties you can have. Incredibly light interlining, soft hand and no wrinkles - it must be a very different quality of silk.

[davidhuh]

- it must be a very different quality of silk.

Dear Federico,

you name it. I'm far from being an expert in silk, but I have witnessed a quite unbelievable decrease in silk quality. Mr Hober may want to add to this. This might have to do with price competition in silk production.

Cheers, David

[Luca]

Great thread. This is making me want to order a Hober tie...

[David Hober]

Interesting points being made about tie quality.

In Italy I still see some very beautiful silk being woven and at the top end - very luxurious. England is simply not keeping up in most cases - I don't know why so I won't speculate.

Old silks are not typically going to be better quality - for sure modern dyes are better and more colorfast. In the past and now you can buy low end or grade A silk.

Madder silks are no longer made the way they used to be (due to environmental laws which prohibit the use of lime) so if you find a vintage English madder silk from more than 20 years ago the texture will be different - but modern madders are more colorfast.

In general all modern luxury tie makers should have beautiful silks. And all bespoke tie makers should have the best silks as bespoke makers are small and can very carefully check every roll of silk.

Keep in mind that some businesses advertise bespoke ties but actually offer a made to measure service which is not at all the same. Also gimmicks such as offering "vintage" silks are typically going to not be true...

On a positive note To be a custom made/bespoke tie maker:

You should be able to talk to the tie maker:
To go over every aspect of your order and to have your pattern and preferences kept on file.

Large selection of fabrics: at least several hundred

You should be able to select the basics: length, width, fold construction, knot and:

Details:
Shape, monograms, bar tack color, tipped or not, rolled edges and so on...

Fit and finish:
The sewing should be beautiful to the point where you start to think the tie is one or two pieces of fabric instead of two or three. The rolled edges should be perfectly even and tightly rolled. The tie tip should be smoothly joined in a v shape not crooked.

First Order: There should not be a minimum number of ties to order - ordering one tie to start to get the fit correct is always a good idea.

[alden]

Keep in mind that some businesses advertise bespoke ties but actually offer a made to measure service which is not at all the same.

David,

This is the greatest threat to the bench made custom clothing craft. Consumers, and especially young consumers, must learn to distinguish between "real" craft and the fakes. If a young man decides to buy his sweetheart an engagement ring, he will have enough sense, or direction from his elders, to buy a "real" diamond with certification. But when it comes to his clothes, he has no one to guide him, so he is tricked into buying "cubic zirconia." And what is aggravating is that he is often charged near the same price for the fake.

The difference is, as an example, it takes a real craftsman a full day of work to hand sew a lapel. An operator with a machine can knock it out in a half hour. And a half educated eye can see the difference, once the suit is made, from a mile away. The roll of the lapel in not at all the same.

So if you want a real bench made suit, shirt or tie, make sure you are dealing with the real Mcoy!

Cheers

[David Hober]

Michael,

I agree with you and that is why your website and a few others are great for educating young men. I say a few sites because some of what I read is shall we say a bit far from reality...

In the old days when every small town had a tailor things were different and father's taught their sons how to dress.

My father believed in teaching the basics of dressing and then encouraged learning by shopping - trying to see what works for one's own sense of style.

How are your olives doing? I hope the weather has been good for them.

[Mark Seitelman]

I justt placed an order for a couple of Sam Hober ties. I have ordered from Hober before, and I recommend Hober, especially for the classics.

[rodes]

I am with you on this Mark. I have 12 Sam Hober ties and have always received exactly what I ordered, on time and with great service. Very fine quality at a more than reasonable price. The best deal on the market for a bespoke tie and often less expensive than a good quality standard model. My only reservation, and this is likely my own taste, is that I would prefer to see more regimental and old school patterns, especially the guard stripe in burgundy and navy, or green and navy. David has carried these but I never seem to get my order placed before the stock runs out. I am always on sight, checking the availability and would like to order several more.

[David Hober]

Rodes,

"I would prefer to see more regimental and old school patterns, especially the guard stripe in burgundy and navy, or green and navy."

Thank you for your suggestion - we will do more stripes but I am not sure when.

Here are my thoughts - about 10 years ago I thought we were in the classic style business and stripes were a bigger percentage of our silks, then we started experimenting in different directions and I enjoyed this and it was good for our business.

My father made women's clothing and always knew he was in the fashion business - recently I realized that I also am in the fashion business...

Now I am at a crossroad and need to see which direction we are going to focus on: classics, new designs or vertical integration. The last means putting energy into farming mulberry, reeling, dying and weaving silk.

The farming/and making/weaving silk is something Noi's (my wife) family has done for hundreds of years.

There is probably very little money to make with the farming part of silk - but I love this part of the business.

[hectorm]

- about 10 years ago I thought we were in the classic style business ....... - recently I realized that I also am in the fashion business...

We -at the LL- are always demanding too much from our tailors. And I don't mean just top craftsmanship. We don't like it very much when they go into marketing, "sell out" with RTW or veer from classicism. My own tailor always says that I should also thank the 20% of his clients who keep on updating their wardrobe commissioning "fashionable" clothes (nowadays it's slim suits, it was bell bottoms in the 70's, shoulder pads in the 80s, etc.) because that's what has kept his shop on business at full.

[BirdofSydney]

I would dare to suggest that Cappelli belongs in this poll!

[Rob O]

And while we're at it Vanda fine clothing...

[vincentporsiempre]

As regards Marinella, their RTW ties are (were) made in Drake's factory in London. The bespoke ties however are made in Naples by hand in an atelier there. I have a few dozen Marinella bespoke ties and I consider them real treasures. They are my go to neckties along with my Charvets.

Cheers

Dear Alden,

I have had the pleasure of visiting Marinella's two large RTW workshop in Naples in the 90's, and they have always produced most of their tie in their own workshops in Naples but for few outsourcing contracts to fulfil mostly Christmas output, as the apparently did with Drakes in the early 2000's. I believe a blogger did an exposè on this demonstrating the different labels (cannot find it right now).

This story that Drakes did (definetelly no relationship since Drake was sold) all Marinella's RTW is simply not true.

Best regards,

Vincent

[Dr T]

Sam Hober Ties - outstanding quality and service - just had my second order delivered.

[pagean]

Nice to see this thread still being debated 6 years after I took a few uncertain steps down the bespoke path. Having bought in that period from Charvet, Turnbull & Asser and Sam Hober, in my humble opinion, David is in a class by himself.