Neckties that belonged to my dad

The other day my mum gave me all, or most of my dad's neck ties. This was a collection dating from the 1970s, to the 1990s at the very least. It was an amazing treasure trove of ties that were from 4cm wide (must have been from the 1960s) to a whopping 10cm wide of the 1990s. The majority are those between 8-9cm and can be used if one wants to fill out the chest area unlike the current 5-6cm ties of today. It is harder to find ties like this today and I find it nicer to wear with those neapolitan styling that I like today. Note that even Rubinacci sells 8 cm wide ties today unlike the slimmer ones. This wider ties would make peacocking (if there is such a word) a much nicer thing.

The shirt is usually outerwear here

Here in warm, humid Malaysia business wear is usually a long or short sleeved worn with or without a tie. The jacket or suit usually reserved for meetings and functions unless you're a director, CEO etc. Then suddenly you wear a suit. But outside the confines of the air conditioned offices, the jacket is removed. Unless you get those unlined, unconstructed ones in an open weave summer fabric.

So the shirt becomes outerwear. Have many. And since they are outerwear do not be afraid to try out some patterns and textures - stripes, checks etc. for the sake of variety. Within the confines of good taste and your office dress code of course. For all occasions and for work rotation. About thirty to sixty days worth would be good. Having many shirts also allows shirts to last longer as you do not wear them out prematurely.

Vintage Stratton Cufflinks and Tie Clip set

This is a late 1960s or early 1970s cufflinks and tie-clip set that belonged to my father. I have no idea whether he bought it locally or when we were over in the UK in the mid 1970s (I was a tiny tot at the time). The set was made by Stratton, a well known UK company (based in Birmingham) that made a lot of women's accessories as well as some men's accessories like this set. 

Those days Stratton made their cufflinks and tie-clips in their Birmingham factory. Everything was made in the UK and everything was a big deal in some ways. Stratton were not known to make high end stuff, but for the working man. These were not ST Dupont grade items. But you could see a bit of history in them.