Tie One On
TIE ONE ON
PROOF THAT MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY LEATHERS ALONE
CW SPECIALITY FILE
LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE—AS IF ANY OF US really needs any—that our peculiar enthusiasm for motorcycles can become all-pervasive? Consider the cases of Patty Mills and Dal Smilie. Both are enthusiastic motorcyclists. Both, even, are board members of the American Motorcyclist Association.
Bikes in the garage, bikes as part of an intellectual commitment. You’d think that would be enough. But no. Both also are fervent and competitive collectors of motorcycle neckties—which is to say, ties imprinted, or interwoven, with various motorcycling themes.
This is no minor passion, not ; with Mills and not with Smilie. Her collection numbers about 50 ties, his runs to more than 60. “They just Y^ started pop_____ ping up in ^ ■ ** stores and 1 thought it was kind of
}
a fun thing to collect,” saYs Mills, of Topeka,
Kansas. She wears her neckties with standard women's business suits, and says. "Most of the guys have i' >ld me I ought to learn to tie a better knot I use the one my husband taught me.” Simile. Montana, says he wears his ties because, “If
you’ve got to wear a tie, you might as well have some fun with it. They’re ^
certainly interesting or
rft/s*' quirky in 'mr a regular business setting, but in a motorcycle setting, they’re great.” Both collectors are displayed on these pages, say } ■k^sAyJpí^ their neckwear comes from a variety Æ/ M/M,s of sources-everything from high-end ^^^0^ department stores to street-corner venders. They agree that prices are variable, ranging from $5 to 585, and that fabric also is variable, running from silk to silk-poly blends to straight polyester to wool. They agree on something else, too: Silk ties are the way to go. Says Smilie, “The silk-poly and polyester ties are just disgusting. Polyester doesn’t look or feel as good as silk, and it doesn’t lay well on a shirt.”
whose ties
And what about content? What are the favorites? Smilie says, “I've got about 10 favorites-they're not real overt or obvious, just nice patterns that look good anywhere.” Mills is more specific. She says, “I’ve got two with Betty Boop on a motorcycle. Those are my favorites.”
Whatever your own favorite might be-Harleys, dirtbikes, sportbikes or racebikes, there are ties out there for you, and they’re in all price ranges. Just take your time, and don’t tie yourself in knots trying to find them. —Jon F. Thompson
