Who Wears Wool Ties Anyway?

I know that when I was a kid, my mom would always make me wear this stupid wool tie under my sweater.  I swore I’d never wear one again because it was so scratchy and thick.  Dang that sucker was hard to tie with a knot any smaller than my fist!  So when I got old enought to start buying my own clothes, I always purchased silk ties, mainly because that’s what everyone else was wearing.  Then a strange thing happened to me when I went home from college one weekend with a friend to his family’s country estate.  All the gentlemen there were wearing wool ties with their wool sport coats and sweaters.  I’ll admit, I’m more of a sweatshirt guy on the weekends.  But they looked so cool, like aristocracy or something, that I decided to take another look at wool ties. 

Fortunately, I found Carlo Franco’s cashmere and silk ties.  They’re heavier than silk with some substantial texture and heft.  But they are super thick and scratchy like the cravates of my haunted youth!  I now wear them almost exclusively in the winter when I’m donning a heavy wool or corduroy sportcoat or suit.  I can easily wear them with sweaters, as well, because they tie more like a silk tie.  I seriously doubt that I’ll ever look like the country lawyer or country doctor that I used to see in the Norman Rockwell paintings.  And I certainly can’t pull off the whole Lord of the Manor thing like my wealthy friend and his like!  But I do feel just a little bit more mature and put together in my wool ties nowadays.  I never would’ve guessed it in a million years, but hats off to Mom for starting me out right!