An Esoteric Accoutrement

                                            BOW TIES

"To its devotees the bow tie suggests iconoclasm of an Old World sort, a fusty adherence to a contrarian point of view. The bow tie hints at intellectualism, real or feigned, and sometimes suggests technical acumen, perhaps because it is so hard to tie. Bow ties are worn by magicians, country doctors, lawyers and professors and by people hoping to look like the above. But perhaps most of all, wearing a bow tie is a way of broadcasting an aggressive lack of concern for what other people think."

—Warren St John, The New York Times

Good grief! I blog so much about the 11th Doctor I might have to change my name to 7&10&11!
Can you blame me? How can I resist?
Recently receiving my Shetland Tweed in the mail I was finally able to get around to taking some bow tie pictures.

Finally.

Let's start with Series 5

 The first bow tie we see 11 wear is a burgundy pre-tied bow tie. Here I am using this as a stand in. I don't really want to sink to the depths and buy a pre tied satin bow tie.

Yes this is the clappers bow tie from eBay.

It came with a cummerbund. I have a free cummerbund if anyone wants one...

Now this bow tie is a real WIN for me.
I did want a pre-tied bow tie for S5. It was impossible to find one that was the right blue.

I found this one at Tommy Hilfiger. I got them to pull it off the mannequin for me. It's royal blue, but not too dark it looks black. It is just the right size too. I detest chunky bows. Perhaps, so does 11.

(In my searches I bought a textured blue bow, which turned out to be too light. A bit of dying and it might be ok)



On to the good stuff:
Series 6

Here is the Clappers bow tie again. It looks right at home with the Shetland Tweed. It lacks the floppiness of the screen worn basket weave bow. But it does have a nice texture to it.

It has been called the "Bark Pattern" bow tie but also a "denim" pattern. I don't know what I should believe, it's hard to say from screen grabs. Even the folks on the RPF haven't nailed it yet. Although they think they did.

This bow tie was a shot in the dark for me. I looked much blue-er on my computer screen. It has a mysterious check to it.

Now comes the silk-satin. Which should really be with S5 collection. However this is self-tie.
From eBay again. I posted about it on dw_cosplay sales awhile back. I really like this tie. Great color and it ties up into a terrific mess,

I wasn't going to feature this one at first, but you talked me into it!
Another one from Tommy.
Although not canon, I believe it has the correct colors of the Aztec Key tie. It is blue with dark blue stripe. A bit wider than the other ties I have featured but not gaudy.

As I recall this was part of a display...

And now we get off the track to a more adventurous style all my own.
Beyond the obvious pattern mixing I think this tie is a real gem. Once again Banana Republic came through, offering slim size self-tie bow ties. I think the dots are spaced well enough apart that it isn't too over powering.

I felt bad this time and asked a salesperson to take it from the display mannequin.

And then comes the pride of my collection:
I don't even know what to call this one. It is also from eBay, a one time affair. Unlike all the other ties this one is made with a woven pattern. Be warned, with use expect some fraying. I suspect that the Aztec Key bow tie 11 wears is not woven, it looks like a raised pattern on silk to me.

This tie has a wonderful blue/burgundy pattern. It looks very Gallifryan to me.





And there you have it. Two bow ties from Season 5 and six for Season 6. By far they have been the cheapest part of my wardrobe. I got some of the Tommy ones on sale. Expect to pay $10-15 on eBay.
You never know where they will pop up.

Also,

LEARN HOW TO TIE ONE.

It's not that difficult.
Plus, do to their complexity they have come to be known as an whimsical accessory.

Oh yes, this entry also features a whole new range of shirts I've never debuted or mentioned before. If you're lucky I might blog about them. Otherwise shoot me an email.

See you in the UK on Wednesday!

Ricci Digital Protoype

WHOA, I just have to blog about this latest development!

Take a look at this!

That's right, it's the much anticipated Nina Ricci tie. This is the digital prototype for the new Magnoli tie.

It shouldn't be look long now...

Featured in episodes Smith And Jones (see above), The Sontaran Stratagem, The Poison Sky and

The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith (Sarah Jane Adventures)

It pays to keep up with the RPF.

Madness? THIS. IS. FANDOM!

Blue Armani Tie on eBay

Every once and a while one of these pops up.
Sadly this tie is the blue version, but it the correct and authentic Giorgio Armani tie.

The seller is asking £150.00. ($235.19 CAD, $273.06 USD) Wow!

UK people, do you understand the exchange rate? To me, $150.00 CAD is a high price for a tie but worth it if it was Tenth Doctor related. When I bought the Duffer tie, I paid American, which is a few cents difference. Imagine if the Duffer was being sold for £300.00! That's $470.00 CAD...

Might I remind you that this is cheaper by $65 than the AUTHENTIC Duffer tie I bought a while back.
I think you could pay less, seeing as this is NOT the correct color.

But that is just the "Buy It Now" price. I'm sure SOMEONE will pay that price.

Great tie all 'round.

However you won't see me shelling out money on this one. I'm pretty happy with my collection and I've promised myself my next expenditure Tenth Doctor-wise is a display case for my own collection.

Reference pics from eBay:

But I will be sure to monitor the sale and see how much it goes for.

It's like a horse race!

Hyper Trousers Part II: The Real Deal

Like I promised, here are the screen accurate G-Star Raw jeans.

Let me tell you the quick story of how I can to possess these elusive jeans of mythic proportions.
Not so very long ago a tipster (did I just say that?) on one of the Doctor Who communities informed us that there was a small supply left of G-Star Blade Slim Jeans in 3D aged denim.
But there was a slight problem, they were only available in France, and only shipped to Belgium and Luxembourg. Great.
Enter my friend who is teaching English in France. Lucky, lucky me. She placed the order on my behalf and then shipped them to me back in Canada. Hoorah!
I am extremely thankful to her. To get these screen accurate jeans, in my size and the last pair!
What a save!

Let's move on,   

Now, do recall that Matt's costume was up for auction in November of 2011.

I've taken lots of comparison shots and especially photos of the inside of the jeans as well.
Which, now that I have them on hand, further proves my suspicion as to how they were rolled.

The Denim:

The top shot is of the Crushed Black and the bottom is the 3D Aged denim. It looks at first glance like they are the same sort of weave. However the 3D aged has a waxy coated look.
And as I'll show you, the inside of the leg doesn't...

If the Crushed Black looked shiny in my last post they have been outdone by the 3D aged.

Take a look:

Here, 3D aged on the left and the Crushed Black on the right.
I've got the navy braces attached to the 3D aged, burgundy on the black.

You can immediately tell the difference. Yesterday in the sun the black had a sheen to it, today it has been out shone by the 3D aged. They both even feel different.

Here I have rolled the cuff back exposing the inside of the denim. I don't know if you can see, but of course the inside of the jeans have not been treated with the waxy finish.

Thus when rolled up on the outside not only do you get the inside seams showing, but also the matte untreated denim. If you look back to screen captures of 11, you can tell that the inside of his trousers have no been exposed.

This is just a shot of the the inside of the 3D Aged jeans, so you can see up close what the inside of the leg looks like.


















Finally another comparison shot of the 3D Aged on the left with the Crushed Black on the right.
I had been sitting away from them and noticed in the sunlight that they appeared quite different.

That's all about G-Star Raw Slim Blade Jeans in 3D Aged Denim.



However there is one final thing I found that was a real shocker.
I don't even know what to think about this, at all.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? A moot point or a piece of fluff trivia?

Who else wears G-Star Blade jeans?

Here's a hint...

Hyper Trousers

I'm back and this time with trousers, HYPER trousers. 

Yes these are G-Star Raw Crushed Black Blade Jeans.
I they are perhaps the most remarkable jeans ever.
But this post is about how to get that 11th Doctor cuff, up to 21st century (and beyond) snuff.

First lets look at some of the source material:

As we know 11's style is jeans with boots. In season 5 he was decked out in TOPMAN Dogstooth skinny jeans.
With a new costume designer for season 6 11's costume became bespoke with the exception of the jeans and braces.

Part of fashion for the last two years has been boots, and with boots has come the rolled cuff.
At basic the rolled pant leg should look crumpled and hasty, that's runway fashion, not Time Lord.
11's rolled cuff is very clean and not at all done without care.

But a careful eye will notice that 11's jeans are not simply rolled up with the inside revealed. As you can see from the picture on the left, the roll is clean, no visible inside seams.

How was this accomplished?








And finally:

I took a guess and this picture proves my suspicions. Take a look at 11's leg on the left (it would be his right leg but we're seeing it on camera)

You can see the fairly tight roll, not too bulky, which tells me his pant leg could only be rolled once.

But also take note that some of the jean seems to have fallen down on the left cuff. Normally I would imagine that it would be folded up inside his trouser leg. But, from all the running around it must have dislodged and is revealed. It also shows that the pant leg has been cut.

Onward!

First, I should mention that I took these pictures around noon in bright sunlight with no flash. I think the sun has made them appear more shiny than they are. In normal light these jeans are pitch black.

I hope it is safe to assume that these jeans were at least featured in one episode in S6, Closing Time.
I've taken quite a few photos because these jeans are really quite facinating. They have lots of details and I am at a loss as whether I should alter them to be screen accurate. I would have to remove the back pocket details and the G-STAR logos.
Considering the price, $198.00 I feel it is sacrilege to alter them too much.

Here is a detailed picture of the left back pocket. The pockets are quite low actually.

And Finally a shot of the G-STAR labelling and view of the weave of the jeans.

Right, on to the rolled cuff.

The jeans I ordered had an inseam of 32. I was lucky that I had lots of length to work with and I didn't have to cut off too much. There was no point in just leaving it all on and sticking it up inside the leg, that would just be too bulky and look weird. So I measured and cut off about 2 inches. I will probably trim a bit more off when it's all done.

Then I folded the cuff back inside the leg quite a ways up. This way I would have a nice unblemished cuff that hid the inner seams, just like 11.

Now with a smooth leg opening I simply rolled the leg up a bit exposing the right side of the jean while hiding the wrong side of the fabric.

And after measuring to the right height to fall when wearing my S6 boots I pinned the new cuff in place.

Now I have a nice clean cuff like 11's.

Note: His cuff is not very tall. It's only about an inch rolled up, and see too how this is not bulky.

Just as a point of reference, this what the cuff would look like if I had simply rolled the trouser leg the ordinary way. As you can see the wrong side of the jean fabric is exposed. In this case it doesn't matter because the color is the same as the outside.

However, you can see the stitching is visible on this rolled leg and not seen in any of the screen captures.












And one final comparison shot. The regular roll is the featured on top and the clean roll can be seen on the bottom. The trick is to get the roll at the right height. Too low and it hides the boot, too high and you look ridiculous.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, shoot me a message -->

Also I should have my Spark Denim jeans in tomorrow with will basically complete my 11th Doctor wardrobe. So you can expect in April a few posts about Steve Ricks S6 Tweed and my own bow tie collection. I'm sure you're all riveted with excitement.

I might also mention here that I will be at the Official Doctor Who Convention in Cardiff later this month. Will I see you there readers?

Doctor's Daughter Tie

Now admittedly this is form dw_cosplay and indirectly from the one and only Bob Mitsch but it is pretty spectacular break though.

The tie from the Doctor's Daughter was only used once. And there are not many good shots of it.
It was never popular enough to be hunted for and so obscure that it's colors and patterns were completely unknown.

Things have changed. Bob had a contact at this years Gallifrey One who owned the original tie.
Sadly there were no tags or markings on the tie that indicated who might have made it.

And there it is, a piece of history. It's like buried treasure.
I can admit now that I was wrong about it's colorway. For the longest time I was convinced it was burgundy with navy stripes. Well, not unlike the John Rocha tie that is also brown, this tie appears to be be brown as well.

I just assumed that because Ten always wore burgundy and blue ties with his suit, this one would be the same, it was a real red-herring. Also the stripes to it. From any of the camera shots you can't see the faint stripes running between the wider ones.

At least this gives us an idea of what we should be looking for and opens my eyes to matching brown ties with the blue suit.

UPDATE: April 22 2012
When I spoke with Steve Ricks in London I asked him about this tie. He had been to Gallifrey and seen the tie himself, as well as communicating with Tenth Doctor costumer designer Louise Page.
What he he told me is that this tie is not the tie from the Doctor's Daughter.
The tie as Louise Page reveals in her interview was a Massimo Dutti tie, and was navy with burgundy stripes. Whatever this tie is, it is not the Doctor's Daughter's tie.