Saturday, April 17, 2010

Hickey Ties And The Sid Masburn Effect

Sid Mashburn has become the gold standard for men's haberdashers due mostly in part to his understanding of style.  This ability to recognize what's classic, while at the same time translating that to the modern man has played a huge part in his assent to the best in the business.  One of the elements Sid has really pushed is the tie twist, in which the smaller, more narrow end of the tie doesn't lay flush with the wider end.  This nonchalant move creates a casual attitude often described as "sprezzatura".  It's surely not for everyone, but for the guy that likes to wear neckwear on his day off it is a nice way to keep things decidely less stuffy.  Check out examples of Sid and my man Conor rocking this below.


When browsing the sale items at Hickey earlier today I came across these really cool knit ties on sale for a cool $50 and immediately thought how great they would look twisted.  With stripes on the narrow end they could be worn normal for a standard knit tie look or pulled out for a real punch.  I've always believed that knit ties lend themselves to the Italian sprezzatura look much more so than your standard tie so this option, presumably designed by Aaron Levine, really hits the mark without hurting that wallet of yours.  It's the weekend people, let's get a little twisted.

-L.A.S

7 comments:

  1. Sprezzatura is a studied attempt to look casual. There's nothing natural about that.

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  2. Dutch Uncle- Is there something wrong with being studied and educated when it comes to style? Things become natural with time and practice.

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  3. Got to get my hands on a quality knit this spring.

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  4. L.A.S,

    Sprezzatura is all about contrived actions pretending to be casual and natural. It's the ultimate Italian put-on swallowed whole by Yankee rubes.

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  5. American Trad- To each his own. I can appreciate it and, more importantly, what Sid is doing for American style.

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  6. anyone knows where I can get some of those knit ties in europe? preferably on the internet. many thanks!

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  7. File along side the half tuck.

    The very act of setting out to achieve these things ensures you will never really there.

    When it happens, it happens - make do with that.

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