Posh Posh By Gosh

Today, wonder of wonders, I bought a black tie. I have wanted a straight black tie for a long time, and today I finally bought one for $19.00 at a vintage store in the west willage. It is fairly long, as I have a fat neck and a long torso. Appropriately, I was wearing a collared shirt at the time, so I was able to wear the tie home. I bet they don't often have people say, "oh, I'll just wear that tie, no need to bag it." I'm glad I could expand their viewpoints.

Who wears black ties? Counter-intuitively, this is not a tie that I could actually wear to a "black-tie" event, because "black-tie" means a tuxedo and bow tie, while my recent acquisition is a neck tie. And, although the phrase "black tie" draws visions of formality, pomp, and circumstance, I feel that most people who would find themselves in the position of being required by their situation to wear a black neck tie would be generally working class. I'm thinking specifically of waiters, livery car drivers, salesmen with uniforms, security guards, and perhaps copy-machine repair persons. A black neck tie is fairly standard, non-distracting, and resistant to the travails of professions that might stain a tie showing color.

The next question for me is, will this tie match my suit? I have a very nice suit purchased from a Salvation Army. You may question the qualifier "nice" when you see that I purchased it in a thrift store, but trust me, it is actually quite dapper. It cost me $25.00. The difficult is, the suit is a dark gray. Will the black tie overshadow the gray suit? Only a mirror and a well-lit room will tell. Perhaps now I will be in the market for a black suit. I would like a black linen suit. My current suit is fairly heavy, and it would nice to have a summer suit of light material through which a gentle breeze may blow to cool my sweating skin. I'm kind of a sweaty guy, actually. Be assured, I will keep you abreast of my suit search.

I'm also looking for a snappy pair of sneakers, a new pair of casual pants, and a jacket of certain narrow specifications.