Unseasonal Neckwear

The weather has been madness this year.  Utter madness.  It was 80 in November, and now we’re getting temperatures in the 50s during May.  Today I wasn’t complaining though as it gave me as good a reason as any to tie on my newest acquisition.

My friend Raphael over at Gentleman’s Gazette sent me one of the wonderful ties given to him by Panta, a purveyor of ties and pants made in New York state.  The tie is an unlined, 6-fold cashmere herringbone, and just the thing to keep the late-spring chill at bay.  As Raphael notes in his review, the tie is quite long.  For someone of my more diminutive stature, a double four-in-hand or Pratt knot is required.  Even then the tail is longer than the front blade, but with such an unstructured tie I think it adds that extra bit of insouciance anyway.

As for the object itself, it is absolutely exquisite.  I have a few wool and cashmere ties, but nothing as soft as this.  Because it’s unlined, all you’ve got is the unstructured cashmere, so it feels almost more like a scarf than a typical tie when you pick it up.  The handwork is great, and stitching is just enough off-kilter to let you know it wasn’t done by a machine.  In other words, it’s not perfect, which for me is just perfect.