Fashion, Fashion Is Fun

Sharing Ties: It's Not Just For Homeless People Anymore

Two lawyers are trying to bring the concept of shared clothing to upper middle class men. Women already have places where they can "rent" accessories, but now men have a website that allows them to rent ties. Well, not directly "rent," that probably sounds too low class, like you could also put the tie on layaway. Instead, you buy a subscription, and they send you ties. It's like Netflix! Only, don't get coffee or anything on your loaned Fendi....

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There once was a time when sharing clothes was only appropriate for siblings and poor people. But then hipsters found Goodwill stores, and wearing somebody else’s discarded threads became socially acceptable. No wonder the U.S. textile industry collapsed.

In any event, two lawyers are trying to bring the concept of shared clothing to upper middle class men. I think women already have places where they can “rent” accessories, but now men have a website that allows them to rent ties. Well, not directly “rent,” that probably sounds too low class, like you could also put the tie on layaway.

Instead, you buy a subscription, and they send you ties. It’s like Netflix! Only, don’t get coffee or anything on your loaned Fendi.

I’m more impressed by the guys who thought of this than I am with the potential customers. DCist did an interview with the entrepreneurs:

TieTry.com is the brainchild of David Powers, who works for the firm WilmerHale, and Scott Tindle, who is based in Mobile, Ala., and they bill it as a kind of Netflix for your neck. For a monthly subscription charge, TieTry will send customers between one and five neckties to wear without having to buy. Ties are expensive, Powers says, so why plunk down a wad of cash and be stuck with it when you can loan one for a few days at a time.

“I like Brooks Brothers and Vineyard Vines, but I don’t like paying $90 for a tie,” he said in an interview.

I also don’t like paying $90 for a tie. I especially don’t like paying $245 dollars for a really nice tie. But I solve that problem by not wearing ties that are more expensive than I can afford. I don’t know, confidence is a weird thing. I think if I showed up on television with a rented tie, I’d feel like a fraud. I’d rather show up in my own humble threads and feel familiar with myself.

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But that’s just me. There are probably a lot of people who want to look their best even if they can’t afford the best. Especially in this economy, people would still like to be able to “suit up” super nice for an interview or important client meeting.

If you can get over the issue of wearing somebody else’s clothes:

As far as the ick factor that can come with swapping clothes, Powers says each tie will be thoroughly cleaned once it gets back to Alabama and before it gets sent out again.

Yeah, you do that. I’ll keep hitting the sale rack at Macy’s (I’d rather be caught dead in one of those bolo tie things than go to Century 21 ever again).

Anyone Want to Borrow My Necktie? [DCist]

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