Lately I have feeling more confident about the way that I dress. I have my New Year’s Resolution to thank for a lot of that. I have been wearing a jacket and tie twice a week for almost a year now. What used to be foreign to me is now very familiar. One of the biggest changes is my attitude towards emblematic, club, or critter ties… whatever you want to call them. You know, ties covered in heraldic shields, upland game, and favorite prep pastimes. I didn’t think that I would be able to pull off one of these ties until I was well into my 40’s, but now I just don’t give a duck. Not a single flying duck!
I have accumulated a few duck emblematic ties even though I am not sure quite why I am drawn to them. The only hunting that I have done is at the grocery store or at my most rugged the famers market, and never for duck. However, I have grown quite fond of them. My best guess is that I have read the OPH (Official Preppy Handbook) one too many times. In celebration of my new found confidence I thought that I should share my little collection of ties, but first I leave you with a few words from the OPH on this very subject.
Straight from the OPH – THE DUCK MOTIF
The duck is the most beloved of all totems. The duck suggests hunting, water, Maine – all the things worth thinking about. The basic duck is the mallard. The most common view of the duck is silhouette, although the duck in flight runs a close second. Three-dimensional decoys are nearly as popular and may appear as lamp bases, planters, doorstops, candlesticks, and paper weights. Ducks themselves – real ducks – may be of little interest. It is the representation of the duck that counts. And the less the object has to do with ducks, the more it cries out for duck adornment. Ducks are stenciled, engraved, embroidered. Embossed, debossed, appliqued, mounted, and otherwise emblazoned on wood, brass, fabric, leather. silver, glass, crystal – anything.
