What Do I Do With All My Old Ties?

My husband, a scientist/engineer, labored in Tokyo for 13 years the place enterprise apparel for males is pretty inflexible: darkish, well-tailored swimsuit, white shirt and tie. Now he’s in Silicon Valley, the place nobody wears ties. What to do with the 50-plus stunning silk ties in his closet? Even thrift and charity outlets don’t have an enormous want. I’m considering of turning them right into a psychedelic quilt. Another concepts? — Kat, San Jose, Calif.

I think about there’s an ocean of males with the identical drawback: a tie rack filled with ties and nowhere to put on them.

Silicon Valley just isn’t the one trade the place the necktie, as soon as funding dressing and one of many few methods for males to specific their individuality in an workplace setting, has fallen out of favor. Even within the monetary sector, ties are more and more an endangered species, which can be why resale outlets are much less ; the market isn’t there.

That stated, there are nonetheless events the place a tie is useful: weddings, court docket, funerals and Washington, D.C., amongst them. There’s a cause that, when the tech titans testify earlier than Congress, even they emerge in fits and ties. So I’d hold a handful, perhaps even 10, round for good measure. The very old-fashioned-ness and establishmentarianism of the tie can typically be a bonus.

And ties are nonetheless typically anticipated in job interviews, so there are charities like Profession Gear, Vietnam Veterans of America and Suited 4 Success created particularly to assist males get again to work (they’re the male equal of Costume for Success), that are searching for donations of extra formal skilled costumes. The RealReal can even settle for ties by title manufacturers like Hermès, Brioni and Ralph Lauren if you wish to go the resale route.

As for the remainder, you have got the proper concept: upcycle. Ties are sometimes made in attractive silk colours and patterns, and they are often put to all kinds of improbable next-use situations. Erin Beatty, a designer whose new model Rentrayage is completely dedicated to upcycled clothes and homewares, steered desirous about a skirt.

“Begin by pinning the ties all along with the narrowest half on prime till you get your waist measurement,” she stated, and stitch from there. Ms. Beatty additionally steered that the ties might be used so as to add some pizazz to a button-down shirt by opening the facet seams and inserting a little bit of silk. “Abruptly you have got a one-of-a-kind shirt that everybody will discover,” she stated.

If you’re searching for inspiration, Etsy has a complete part dedicated to repurposed ties which were given new life as pillows, pins, patches, scarves, bracelets and so forth.

If all that appears an excessive amount of, or if extra sophisticated stitching just isn’t certainly one of your ability units, Ms. Beatty had an easier suggestion: “Merely lower them up and stitch them on as patches,” she stated. “Cowl half the again pockets of your favourite denims or the highest one inch of a patch pocket on a shirt.”

By no means, she added, “underestimate the facility of trimmings.”

Your Type Questions, Answered

Each week on Open Thread, Vanessa will reply a reader’s fashion-related query, which you’ll ship to her anytime by way of electronic mail or Twitter. Questions are edited and condensed.