Tales from the Crypt: A Tie for Your Guy

Grown men tend to come in two varieties when it comes to dressing up for Halloween. No fun at all--i.e. unwilling to don even the simplest of masks to lend a little verve to the proceedings, or Way Too Fun Altogether--samba-ing around the house in a Borat-inspired glitter thong that would make more conservative parents--hell, even libertarian parents--regret ever ringing your doorbell.

Here, I think, is an item of clothing that strikes a fantastic middle ground between stick-in-the-mud and sartorial flamethrower:

A tie. But not just any tie. Look a little closer, and it turns into a catacomb's worth of death heads, gorgeously jacquarded into a black ground.


It comes from Favourbrook, a London mens'- and womenswear designer that is not widely known outside of England, but does wonderful things with brocaded fabrics and hand tailoring, especially its vests (in the UK known as waistcoats, but nonobligingly pronounced "weskits"). These peek out from underneath the grey tailed suits that are standard issue at your posher sort of English wedding.

Favourbrook has been in business for just few decades but its clothes have a decided retro flair. Founder Oliver Spencer's stated aim was to commingle the brilliance of Comme des Garçons and the '20s English chic depicted in the novels of Somerset Maugham (Yanks might substitute Gatsby style and get the general idea).

There's a nice article on Spencer here. In the meantime, keep your eye out for the stealth brand Favourbrook in secondhand situations. These are fine, fine pieces of clothing, and certainly deserve more outings than a night out on Halloween.