We’ve already discussed the basics of How to Wear a Tie Casually, but today we’re going to pick up where that post left off and put down a few words of praise for thetiebar.com.
Founded by a pair of attorneys who became fed up with paying a fortune for ties, The Tie Bar set out to create a better tie shopping experience and succeeded in spades. The site features hundreds of pages of selection, and every tie on the site is priced at $15.
If a $15 tie is good enough for Bill Murray to wear on the cover of GQ, it’s good enough for you.
And let’s be honest here: ties don’t have to cost a fortune. They’re not very labor intensive to create and they’re basically a one-size-fits-all product that is easy to design. Even the materials that make them up are inexpensive. We don’t know where these ties originate (that’s the one thing their site does not say) but we’re guessing they come from the same Asian countries that most of US consumers’ clothing comes from. And with no physical retail locations, overhead is at a minimum.
When we were in England recently we picked up 5 new ties in a high street shop for £4 each, which is like getting 5 ties for $30. When you go to a large department store and pay $80-90 for a tie, you’re really just being incredibly generous to the designer whose name is on the label and a handful of shareholders. The fact that you can do well as a business selling ties for $15 isn’t surprising, what’s surprising is that no one has done it before.
The Tie Bar offers flat rate shipping of $5.99 via USPS regardless of order quantity, which is a great deal. But if you’ve been sleeping on a Fathers’ Day gift you can also opt for 2-day or overnight or superduper rush priority Fedex on their shipping page. You can even call them up and ask nicely to have it shipped today. They’ll send it in a pretty white box with a handwritten note for dad- and he’ll never know that all you spent was $15. (Unless, you know, Dad’s Google savvy.)
Want to go one better giftwise? Sign the Old Man up for the Tie of the Month Club with personalized choices for modern, traditional, even bow ties. $199 Gets you a tie a month for the year and includes shipping.
They’ve even got a nice selection of other accessories like pocket squares, cufflinks, tie bars, and our favorite accessory of all: colorful socks for only $8 a pair. We doubt we’ll ever buy another department store tie again, and we suggest you don’t either.