Stephen Fry Instagram – A Tie Rack edition today. Older viewers will remember how every High Street and railway station used to boast a Tie Rack store. Some were little more than booths or kiosks. Along with Sock Shop the chain exemplified a corner-turning moment in 80s and early 90s retail style and habits.
Pic 1 (swipe left) shows a standard Tie Rack tie, with a standard Tie Rack label. Fine in its way – has a pleasing mauve sheen when you turn it in the light.
Pic 2 displays a “Primavera For Tie Rack”. Was Primavera (the Italian for “spring”) an in-house design studio, I wonder? Did the extra name on the label indicate a “designer tie” with a corresponding hike in price? The word “designer” was beginning to be prepended to everything from sunglasses to boxer shorts back then.
Pic 3 shows two “Charleston Tie Rack” specimens.
Swipe left again for a “Chevalier” tie which looks to be greatly influenced by Versace (yes, doesn’t it need a damned good steam?) Pic 5 is “Angelo Bosani”. I wonder if Signor Bosani designed exclusively for Tie Rack? Certainly if you search for his work on eBay and elsewhere they all seems to be Tie Rack items.
Can we discern a distinct difference according to label? Every one of them is 100% silk and all declare themselves to be made in Italy (except the Chevalier which doesn’t reveal its origin). I would say the two Charlestons and the Primavera have a certain something in common, an almost watercolour effect perhaps, whereas the Pic 1 Tie Rack, the Chevalier and the Angelo Bosani are all individual unto themselves.
It’s of no great matter, doubtless some marketing figure decided that there should be this variation in labelling. Tie Rack has gone to retail heaven where it is kitting out the angels in good, but not great, fine but not fabulous, quality but not costly, neck wear. I wish them a blissful eternity, or as Horatio almost phrased it to the dying Hamlet, “Good night, sweet Tie Rack, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” | Posted on 20/Jun/2020 11:26:41
