Blue with Silver Oak Leaves

In honor of the first day of autumn, I am posting this tie featuring oak leaves. Leaves always suggest the season of autumn, even if they aren't fall colors, per se, but a lovely combination of deep blue, paler blue and silver, as in this case.

The swirling lines sweeping down the tie suggest that the leaves are falling from the trees, or being blown by the winds of autumn, furthering the impression of fall.

I may be able to post another autumnal tie or two in coming weeks, but nothing like last year, when I featured extensively from my collection of ties featuring autumn leaves. I'm afraid I've mostly exhausted this aspect of my collection. Just look at my 2006 September (the last tie that month), October, and November postings to refresh your memory.

I always thought this tie was oak leaves and acorns, but now that I look a bit more closely, those don't look like acorns at all. I asked my wife what they were and she said dahlias, or chrysanthemums. I don't find that answer satisfactory, because if that's what they are, they aren't to scale with the oak leaves. The leaves are too large, or the flowers too small, one or the other.

I suppose they could be some other kind of nut that has a prickly covering. I'm not aware of any acorns that have a covering like this although I suppose it's not impossible. I read (and blogged) William Bryant Logan's fascinating little volume on the Oak tree, but don't recall enough detail to remember if he discussed anything like this.

The tie also has a nice brocade, but I'm not sure what it represents. There are sort of scroll-like framing elements, enclosing vaguely rectangular spaces, inside which are groupings of three dots, in a vaguely floral arrangement. I don't think you can see it very clearly in the scanned image, just hints of something behind the primary design.

The tie has one extant label to transcribe:

Arrow
Made in U.S.A.
All Silk