whnay.'s good taste thread

[EliodA]

Too much?

 

[UrbanComposition]

I wouldn't call brown stripes on a suit "good taste". YMMV

 

[unbelragazzo]



My impression is that knit ties are mostly of the same quality. They just differ on characteristics:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

1. Material: Some of places, such J. Press and Rubinacci, use softer silks. Other places, such as Charvet, Lands End, and Drake's, use crunchier silks. Neither is better or worse; they're just different. Then you have cashmeres and wools, which might get into issues of quality, but those aren't as common as silk.

2. Weave: Drake's and Conrad Wu are a much tighter weaves than Charvet and Lands End. FWIW, the tight ones seem to come out of Germany and the loose ones out of Italy. I think I know the makers, and I'm pretty sure people are buying from the same factories and just rebranding, but I could be wrong. If it's the factories I'm thinking of, there's no differing quality levels within the same factory -- they just make the things according to your design.

3. Cut. Drake's is made wide, but tapers quickly at the neck. Lands End, on the other hand, is wide at the body, but doesn't taper as quickly, so you get a thicker knot.

The width of the body also determines whether you get a tubular or seamed construction. If it's narrow enough, the machine can knit it like a tube. If it's too wide, then you'll have to knit the body flat and then connect the sides in order to make a tube. If the knit has a seam, it's a little thicker, which can affect how the tie knots. Not better or worse not; just different.

Unlike regular ties, knit ties don't have any real special construction. No interlining, tipping, padding, or special handsewing. It's just a tube of fabric, so the differences are really marginal, and IMO better chalked up characteristics than quality.

But anyway, this is from a fairly lay point of view. I'm sure there are professionals here who actually make knit ties, and know better than me. The above is just my impression from some brief research years ago.

I like the weave and material of the LE knits also, but 1) the one I have is longer than I would like, and 2) I don't like the selection of colors they usually have. Usually just primary colors that I'm not interested in.

 

[sugarbutch]

My impression is that knit ties are mostly of the same quality. They just differ on characteristics:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

1. Material: Some of places, such J. Press and Rubinacci, use softer silks. Other places, such as Charvet, Lands End, and Drake's, use crunchier silks. Neither is better or worse; they're just different. Then you have cashmeres and wools, which might get into issues of quality, but those aren't as common as silk.

2. Weave: Drake's and Conrad Wu are a much tighter weaves than Charvet and Lands End. FWIW, the tight ones seem to come out of Germany and the loose ones out of Italy. I think I know the makers, and I'm pretty sure people are buying from the same factories and just rebranding, but I could be wrong. If it's the factories I'm thinking of, there's no differing quality levels within the same factory -- they just make the things according to your design.

3. Cut. Drake's is made wide, but tapers quickly at the neck. Lands End, on the other hand, is wide at the body, but doesn't taper as quickly, so you get a thicker knot.

The width of the body also determines whether you get a tubular or seamed construction. If it's narrow enough, the machine can knit it like a tube. If it's too wide, then you'll have to knit the body flat and then connect the sides in order to make a tube. If the knit has a seam, it's a little thicker, which can affect how the tie knots. Not better or worse not; just different.

Unlike regular ties, knit ties don't have any real special construction. No interlining, tipping, padding, or special handsewing. It's just a tube of fabric, so the differences are really marginal, and IMO better chalked up characteristics than quality.

But anyway, this is from a fairly lay point of view. I'm sure there are professionals here who actually make knit ties, and know better than me. The above is just my impression from some brief research years ago.

I like the weave and material of the LE knits also, but 1) the one I have is longer than I would like, and 2) I don't like the selection of colors they usually have. Usually just primary colors that I'm not interested in.

Yeah, the length seems to be perfect for a tall man wearing hip-huggers who wants the tip of the tie to fall right at his belt buckle.

 

[Pliny]

Qu
ote:

Now that's an awsm post, cheers, and agree: You get very little bang for your extra bucks splurging on expensive silk knits, IMO, altho I haven't handled the Charvet. For me the width is key, 2.5" being optimal for an average guy.
Cashmere, IMO, is not a great cloth for ties. Too spongy and too light.

 

[DocHolliday]



My impression is that knit ties are mostly of the same quality. They just differ on characteristics:

I'd have agreed with you a few years ago, when knits were somewhat rare specimens, but their boom in popularity has been accompanied by a boom in cheap, poor-quality ones. As you might expect. The are all sorts of thin, flat, limp, dead ones out there now, sometimes with dots that can't wait to come undotted.

Better brands tend to be better, but I've seen some lackluster ones sneaking into places I wouldn't have expected. Quite easy to spend $70 or more on a knit that isn't worth taking home.

 

[dieworkwear]



I'd have agreed with you a few years ago, when knits were somewhat rare specimens, but their boom in popularity has been accompanied by a boom in cheap, poor-quality ones. As you might expect. The are all sorts of thin, flat, limp, dead ones out there now, sometimes with dots that can't wait to come undotted.

Rubinacci used to market their dotted knit ties as having dots sewn-in by hand, rather than machine, and that supposedly made them more durable. That always seemed more like a marketing line to me, but I've also never seen dots come undone.

Regarding the cheap, flimsy ties, I think I know what you're referring to. The Knottery sells some Chinese knit ties, and they're a bit limp, soft, and thin. I assume someone handling one of those would consider it cheap and poorly made.

At the same time, a lot of the old school American haberdasheries used to sell the same thing. J. Press, for example, and The Hound in San Francisco. Theirs are made in England, but feel and behave exactly the same. I think they may knitted on the same machines and are made from the same materials. It's just that Chinese factories recently got those machines, so they can produce the same thing for cheaper.

There are a couple of business school studies about how branding and country-of-origin label affect people's perception of quality. Robert Schooler started much of the field with this study.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.23...&uid=2&uid=3&uid=67&uid=62&sid=21102607569377

There's also a lit review here

http://www.brandhorizons.com/papers/Dinnie_COO_litreview.pdf

I don't know if there are real objective differences between The Knottery type of knits and the made-in-England stuff sold at some American haberdasheries, but if I had to guess, I suspect a lot of our judgements boil down to branding and prejudices about certain countries, rather than anything "objective."

FWIW, I don't like the thin, soft, flimsy stuff either, but it seems to be well loved in some trad stores.

 

[gdl203]

I didn't know that the over-stitched dots (as we know them on knitted ties) could be machine-sewn. I thought they were pretty much always hand-sewn. All the ones I've seen or considered for the store had hand-sewn dots

 

[DocHolliday]

Conversely, that Trad stores sell something doesn't make it nice. Most of the things in many such stores these days aren't very nice at all.

I would not have thought a knit could hold permanent wrinkles until I bought one that did. Regardless of whether it's made in England, Italy or China, it's poor.

 

[Despos]

Wore a knit tie made by Gallo the other day and have to say it makes the best knot of the few knits I have from other brands, being Paul Stuart and Venanzi. The Venanzi is a lighter weight and lacks body compared to the Paul Stuart tie

The Gallo fabric has a unique hand, different than the others. I like Gallo best.

 

[DocHolliday]

I have a dotted knit that I bought years ago and have worn relentlessly that still looks new, I have a couple of others that I bought more recently, not seeing an obvious difference, and the dots have already started to surrender. So there's some difference, though I can't say whether that difference is hand-sewing. I'm guessing so, but it's a guess.

 

[Claghorn]

@Henry Carter, when you offered knits with dots, were those hand sewn?

 

[dieworkwear]



I would not have thought a knit could hold permanent wrinkles until I bought one that did.

Was it one of those thin, flimsy ones? I feel like that wouldn't happen on a crunchier knit.

 

[Murlsquirl]

I was pretty damn impressed with the knit I got from The Knottery.

 

[CBrown85]

I only have knits from Drakes but I'm not all that impressed with them. The roll at the bottom of the tail has come undone and I feel they're probably too long for my torso. Picked up a few at once on a whim and haven't shopped around for more.

The Grenadines I have from Knottery are nice. Better than Chipp.