Spring for a 54″ J. Raffiani necktie (and save 10%)
Last spring I confirmed what I had long suspected: The vast majority of contemporary neckties are just too damn long. It wasn’t always this way: just look at any old movie and you’ll often see neckwear sitting high above the leading man’s already high waistlines. And these were tall men. Today, with ties averaging between 58 and 60 inches, short men are hard pressed to keep the silk north of the belt.
J. Raffiani is aware of the problem. As far as I know, they are the only neckwear purveyor catering exclusively to the “30 million American men under 5′ 8″ tall who cannot find neckwear proportional to their frame.” According to my Tie Length Comparison PDF, they make the shortest ties available at 54″. And they just introduced a new spring line based on customer feedback.
Many of you have told us that our ties were too wide (thank you, Billy Joel), and that the silk was often too thick. We took those words to heart and made our new ties significantly narrower — just 3 ¼”, not 3 ¾” — at their widest point. We’ve also reduced the silk weight to reflect the briskness of Spring, and to ensure the ease of tying a smaller, sharper knot.
Sounds spot on to me! Check out J. Raffiani’s new spring line here. Prices start at $38.
Special Offer: J. Raffiani is offering Short Shrifted readers 10% off their entire purchase (until June 1, 2009). Just plug in this code when prompted: jrfd-001
April 29th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I ordered from J. Raffiani and, while the ties are very nice, they are NOT 54″ long; rather they are 54.5″ long. Doesn’t seem like a big difference but it IS significant. I’m happy to get them this short but I should note that I ordered Barbara Blank ties from JockeyClub and these indeed ARE 54″ long and closer to what I need.
April 29th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Norman – Interesting… You’re absolutely right: the shorter you are, the bigger difference a half inch can make. Thanks for the tipoff to JockeyClub ties.