My Wardrobe: Tied Flies

I mentioned in the post on bouttonieres that I don't wear them in the left buttonhole, so as not to compete with the pocket square on the side. However, I will use that buttonhole for the occasional lapel pin, or, more distinctively, a vintage tied fly. I got that idea from the estimable haberdasher Marty Mathis, who has a shop in downtown Minneapolis, and with whom I've interacted on several menswear boards. It's a great touch; I buy the flies on Ebay and I get compliments on them all the time. The fly's barb, which I grind down slightly to make it less sharp, fits needly through the buttonhole and rests on the inside of the lapel, holding the fly in place.

Marty's shop, by the way, provides a great example of the shopping conundrum I mentioned in my last post. I would love to meet Marty and to see his shop, but even if I visit Minneapolis, I can't go; the goods, I know, are just too high-end, and I'm not in that buying league. What would I do -- buy a pocket square or pair of socks for $40.00? I'd feel ridiculously cheap on the one hand, and would be spending an amount way over my budget for such an item, on the other. Marty wouldn't make me feel bad, but I would feel bad. An even worse sort of experience, which I assume we've all had, is moseying into a high-end shop out of curiosity and getting the big chill once a salesperson sniffs out (as they do) that you're not "money." That's one of life's shittiest moments; you feel about two inches high, and I know that my hatred for the salesperson in those situations verges on the murderous. There's nothing like being scorned by a suck-up!