Irididescent Red

Where does the time go? Last Sunday again found me without enough time in the day to scan and post a tie. And I'm almost there today. Just barely squeezing this in between chores and tonight's Masterpiece showing of the first episode of Little Dorrit.

Here is an unusual--but spectacular in its own way--tie! Just plain red, right? Wrong! There is no printed or painted design or image on the tie. Just brilliant iridescent red, with a maze-like brocade pattern imbedded in the fabric enhancing the shimmer.

This tie, like last week's, is one of a group of recent acquisitions, purchased ubiquitously on eBay. I bought two batches of ties there not too long ago, for quite reasonable prices. You just have to watch, and bid carefully, and you can get some real bargains there. I don't have time to look up exactly what I paid just now, but in each case I got 2-4 ties in a batch, and paid less than $20 for each lot. A trip to the dry cleaners adds a little more expense, but cleans up the ties, and voila!

The tie has two labels sewn into the small end, and shown in the scan. The manufacturer's label reads "Hand tailored Smilock." The seller's label reads "J.C. Penney Co. Sioux City, Iowa."

Red & Brown Geometrics

This tie's color scheme reminds me of the one I posted for Valentine's Day a couple of postings ago. That one was red and burgundy, while this one is red and brown, but they create a similar effect, especially since both have contrasting lighter sections. This one has squares filled with smaller squares, which sort of resemble windows on a building, such as on the side of a skyscraper. The one from two postings ago has sort of overlapping tile or shingle shapes.

And while all of the shapes on the previous one were straight edged, this one contrasts large red circles with the large squares, in a geometrically pleasing design.

I can't believe what BS I've just been writing! You'd think I was trying to craft one of those essay test questions back in high school or something. Oh well, that's what this blog is about, I guess.

Both of this tie's original labels survive. The seller's label reads "Erbes Clothing Mendota, ILL" while the manufacturer's label reads "Phantom Prints by Carholm."

So why was no tie posted last week, or the week before? Well, last week is a conundrum. There isn't any really excruciatingly execrable or extracorporeal extraneous excuse extraordinaire exactly, except that of trying to string together a string of words all beginning with the letters "ex." The weekend before, we were attending our annual family beach weekend, down in Oceanside, Oregon, and didn't get back until too late on Sunday for blogging. Too many other chores to run. As to last week, well, I don't know, events just seemed to overtake me.

Well, this has to be one of the most ridiculous blog entries ever. Hope you enjoy the tie, at least!