Tie One On
Big biz is awash in hardship. Profit sullied by Loss. The Widgets 2.0 aren't selling. And - brace yourself - guys don't like ties anymore. Yes - this is a fact. Gone are the days of neckties. Seriously! When was the last time you saw a tie at the office? On someone other than the intern - a mod hipster type ?
Us girls still like ties - and I mean wearing them. I made this halter dress from a man's necktie - and sold it (and 20 just like it) for about $100 bucks each. The profit margin was 30%. But that was for the ladies. The guys...well, even the tie guys aren't even wearing ties anymore.
The Men's Dress Furnishings Association, who represents American tie manufacturers, has lost 85% of their membership in the last 20 year (since the 1980's, when power suits needed power ties.
Unless you were Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas
The scoop is that U.S. tie companies have been consolidating and overseas competition has taken half the market share that used to belong to US necktie manufacturers. Why? A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 6% of men wore ties every day to work in 2007, down from 10% in 2002. Worse, NPD Group reports that US sales plummeted from $1.3 billion in 1995 (who knew?) to $677.7 million by March 31, 2008 from their peak of $1.3 billion in 1995.
Well, fashion evolution is necessary, even in the workplace. I better get out the sewing machine; I sense a tie sale.
A Brief Look at Ties Through the Ages (WSJ, June 4, 2008)
Us girls still like ties - and I mean wearing them. I made this halter dress from a man's necktie - and sold it (and 20 just like it) for about $100 bucks each. The profit margin was 30%. But that was for the ladies. The guys...well, even the tie guys aren't even wearing ties anymore.
The Men's Dress Furnishings Association, who represents American tie manufacturers, has lost 85% of their membership in the last 20 year (since the 1980's, when power suits needed power ties.
Unless you were Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas
The scoop is that U.S. tie companies have been consolidating and overseas competition has taken half the market share that used to belong to US necktie manufacturers. Why? A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 6% of men wore ties every day to work in 2007, down from 10% in 2002. Worse, NPD Group reports that US sales plummeted from $1.3 billion in 1995 (who knew?) to $677.7 million by March 31, 2008 from their peak of $1.3 billion in 1995.
Well, fashion evolution is necessary, even in the workplace. I better get out the sewing machine; I sense a tie sale.
A Brief Look at Ties Through the Ages (WSJ, June 4, 2008)