Tag: apparel

yesterday, Peter asked me to buy him a tie to go with the shirt he’s wearing to a wedding today. sounds simple, right? ha! shows what you know *lol*

i, being the perfectionist-in-denial that i am, turned this request into an expedition.

first, to prepare, i scoured the internet for advice and inspiration; starting at my favorite style-blogs: the sartorialist and man of the cloth. (for mobile inspiration i always have the Style.com app on my iPod touch.)

with my mind flooded with über-stylish images, i packed the shirt and hit the shops. as luck would have it – Kaohsiung Arena (my favorite mall) was celebrating the opening of a new fashion store! not only did this bring all the fashionista/os out into broad daylight – but it also coaxed other stores into offering discounts :0)

after hours of staring, comparing and assimilating of visual information – i had, however, still not found the perfect tie and was bemoaning the fact that i’ll have to choose between a bunch of “almost there” contenders.

then it happened – a store that i somehow had missed before revealed itself to me. it was beautiful. dark wooden interior, vintage leather wingback chairs and understated displays that, none the less, pulled me in. and there they were: rows upon rows of one-of-a-kind, hand made ties. i was in Takeo Kikuchi – and it was heaven.

i carefully liberated the shirt from my satchel for the first time and laid it on a counter. the sparkle of approval in the saleslady’s eyes sealed the deal – i would buy here, no matter what! with a little broken chinese/english and a lot of gesturing, we managed to find a black jacket similar to the one Peter would be wearing and started “trying on” some beauties. it didn’t take long for the winner to pop up: a rich brown, 100% silk tie with deep chocolate and bright azure detail. hand made. one of a kind. perfection.

it came in at about 4 times the budget (what was Peter thinking *lol*), but i happily sacrificed my shoe-budget (i was going to get a pair of converse sneakers, but that could wait) in favor of this masterpiece.

i was so excited to see Peter’s reaction when he got home from work, that i nearly piddled when i finally heard his key in the door… “Wow, I love it!!”

he said “love”… *le sigh*

i can die a happy man :0)