Tie a Day, Number 90

Jerry Garcia is best known as the lead singer for the group the Grateful Dead, but it seems that he also studied visual art. I must assume that he created many different paintings and prints during his life because there is a line of ties out that bears his name. On Monday I wore a Jerry Garcia tie to display as many colors as I could.

I chose to wear this tie because of the bright colors that reminded me of my recent trip to Atlantis. Purple, blue, black, yellow, orange and brown are all in there. This tie has the appearance of being tessellated, but in truth, I could not match up parts of it as repeating. There is enough similarity to give you the feeling of tessellation, but enough variance in the design to make you keep looking.

While on my spring vacation at Atlantis, I went window shopping. My recent interest in ties prompted me to look at ties in the shops located in the resort. I wandered into the Ferragamo store wearing my best $12 summer casual shirt, neatly ironed, and went straight to the ties that were hanging innocently on the wall.

I am not sure what I expected to find, but I was curious how much one of the ties cost. I almost choked when when I saw the $160 price tag! I think I was looking at this tiny fish patterned tie. The ties were interesting and beautiful, but way out of my price range.

I don't think I have ever bought a tie for myself. My ties are all gifts and hand-me-down's from my father. I know that my father bought many ties when he worked at Franco's in Richmond, VA, that I currently own, but I don't think he ever paid nearly that much for a tie. Although Franco's does have some expensive ties...

I guess, besides the well known fact that I have no fashion sense, I discovered that I am cheap, or at least that I will never pay $160 for a tie. After all, a tie like that would be incompatible with my out of style button down shirt, dingy khaki pants and beat up brown shoes with no jacket.