Finally Got My Fix

As other Sam Hober necktie customers know, David and Noina Hober announced that they were going on vacation for a few weeks this past August and that vacation somehow turned into a four month hiatus during which they relocated their tie-making from Denver to rural Thailand.

Now, I am all in favor of the Hobers being able to work whereever they wish, particularly since David has promised that the move means the six week wait for a bespoke Hober necktie will be reduced to three because they'll be able to hire accomplished seamstresses in Thailand. But I'm accustomed to regular necktie fixes and I had placed my order for an Atkinson's striped Irish poplin #46 in July. And then the wait began.

When there was no sign of the Hobers in September I bought a couple of bow ties to help tide me over. In October I bought a wool four in hand so my hands would stop shaking. By November I'd begun hyperventilating whenever I thought about neckties and I thought seriously about taking my business back to Charvet. I was only put off by the logistics - I hadn't looked at silks when I was there this year and Charvet has no web site so I'd be reduced to looking at a few swatches every two weeks. Fortunately, by then there were signs of life on the Hober web site.

Well, it took most of six months but I finally got my fix. A couple days ago a tie-sized box with a collectible Thai postage stamp arrived in the mail and my tie was inside. Perfection as usual, at least since we got the direction of the stripes straightened out. I promptly placed another order, for an orange oxford weave, and hopefully things are returning to normal. After all, I need a regular necktie fix.

A French Point of View

To my mind, it's no accident that the best dressed men I've known personally are French. After all, the French aristocracy represented the world's most sophisticated luxury goods market for several centuries. The best-dressed Frenchmen might buy their suits on Savile Row, but they stayed home for shoes, shirts and and accessories with a bit more flair than they could find in London. For most of the twentieth century, Paris was perhaps the world's best place to shop for clothing.

Unfortunately for French menswear, clothing became a global game and the initial success of Pierre Cardin and other French designers in U. S. ready to wear didn't last. After the Italians conquered that market, most of the French makers spent several decades consolidating at home with only a few names, including Charvet and Berluti, enjoying international recognition. That is starting to change.

If memory serves me right, a man could still find Cardin in U.S. department stores when a young Marc Guyot (that's Marc in the photo above) began designing his own made to measure suits as a teenager. Influenced by Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, Fred Astaire in suits by Frederic Scholte, and the late Duke of Windsor, his efforts struck a chord. Friends began asking him to do the same for them and, after a few years, Guyot left law school to enter the world of fashion. In 1995, with no other experience, he opened his first shop in Paris.


Twelve years later, Guyot's Boutique Cape Cod is filled with clothing and shoes of his own design. It's a look that adds a French point of view to the classics of the golden era of men's clothing. "I like my customers to build a base of good taste and then add some rare items or accessories for a final touch," says Guyot. That might mean a seven fold necktie in a classic dot pattern worn under a made to measure cashmere waistcoat with contrast edging and paired with Guyot-designed shoes.


These are not clothes for serious work. Think of them for a gallery opening, a wine tasting, or a walk in the park on a sunny morning. On those occasions, Guyot has few peers.

Charvet in the Afternoon

My Paris shopping didn't begin well. I began by visiting the arcades at the Palais Royale where I learned that L'Escalier d'Argent is already closed for holiday and later confirmed that scheduling will keep me from seeing shoemaker Dimitri Gomez. But then I arrived at la place Vendôme and Charvet.

Charvet (there is no web site) is a well-respected shirtmaker and one of the leading sources for bespoke neckties in the world. The store is quietly beautiful - simply being there makes the day seem better - and the staff is helpful without being obtrusive.

So much of the Charvet experience is near perfection - like the pictured silk robes - that I'm unable to understand why the bespoke necktie selection process remains so cumbersome. The silks cannot be viewed in a rational fashion. Instead, the customer provides some general guidance such as "foulards on a black ground" and in due time a selection emerges from downstairs. Then repeat - it's a process that puts a damper on discovery. Someday I hope to learn of silks that I didn't know to ask for.

But, no matter. Today the shop had a wonderful selection of semi-solid bow ties, silk knit four in hands, and summer cotton pocket squares. Outside, the sun began shining.

Bespoke Neckties

Most men may have little need for bespoke neckties. I wonder how I got along without them. Like anything else that's made for you, a bespoke necktie gives you exactly what you ask for, such as a lined and self-tipped sixfold with a self-keeper, 3 1/2" wide and 55" long, cut to tie a moderate four-in-hand that fits into the tie space on a tab collar dress shirt.

Once it is tied, the widest point on the necktie should intersect the top of your trousers, and the tip should fall at the bottom of your waistband. RTW ties are too long for me because my trousers are cut two inches higher than most men's. Short men who tie small knots and tall men who tie large ones will also have a difficult time with standard length ties. Necktie individualists like Prince Michael of Kent, who favors very large knots, are even less likely to find what they like hanging on the racks at the local haberdashery.

There are many sources for bespoke neckties and well known suppliers include Turnbull & Asser and Bowring & Arundel in London. Currently I am working most often with Charvet in Paris and Sam Hober in Denver.

But for one problem Charvet would be my choice as the premier necktie source in the world, because the variety of silk they offer is, in my opinion, unmatched. The service is friendly and prompt, the price only a bit above their RTW prices and they promptly and competently make what you request. The difficulty is identifying what you want to order without travelling to view the silks in their store on the place Vendome in Paris. They do not yet have a web site.

Simlar to my experience with Charvet, I can find only one thing to complain about regarding David and Noina Hober at Sam Hober in Denver, and that is that they have been making neckties of English silk for a relatively short time and have "only" perhaps 300 from which to choose.


Today brought a package from them with three more neckties, two of them Atkinson's Irish poplin (one of them the Argyle & Sutherland stripes which is one of the great pairings with a navy blazer), as well as two pocket squares made from printed silk. The other necktie pictured is a burgundy grenadine, and therein lies the tale of why I expect the Hobers will become as succssful as they want to in the necktie business.

Six months ago, I emailed David with a request for a couple grenadine necktie colors, which he didn't offer at the time. He asked a couple of questions, verified with other customers that there would be demand for them, and two months later presented his customers with a choice of several dozen colors. He was equally responsive to requests for Atkinson's Irish poplin.


Whether the item in question has been tailored clothing, shoes, shirts or items with as few variables as neckties or braces, bespoke clothing is a rewarding experience, often in completely unexpected ways. Reward yourself this holiday season with a necktie built just for you.