How wide should a man's necktie be these days? I used to be up-to-date on that -- because all the men I would see during a day used to wear ties, and we held each other to the prevailing fashion standard! Now, it really doesn't matter how wide my ties are, because I rarely encounter another man wearing one.

I've been thinking about that because I collected my father's striped ties last week, when we were visiting my mother and my brother, John, in Charleston, SC. John had cleaned out Dad's clothes from the house after he died, and I thought to ask about those old ties. John is among the huge majority of men who don't wear ties, so I knew he wouldn't want them. As it turned out, he still had them, though he warned me: "Some of these might be too narrow to be in style." Well, I wore one of them today, and no one made fun of me. So I guess I'm ok.

Six or seven of the ties are even from the Ben Silver shop in Charleston. I had no idea Dad had spent that much for a tie! Ben Silver is an English firm, and the only other store location is in London. First trivia fact: the stripes on English ties descend from the wearer's left, which is opposite from American ties. Second trivia fact: Winston Churchill's signature navy blue bow ties with white polka dots were made by Ben Silver.

My Dad bought me a "Churchill dot" bow tie from Ben Silver one year for my birthday. It's the same tie Churchill wore, and I'm proud of that because he is one of my heroes. For another birthday, Dad bought me a Ben Silver bow tie in the school colors (orange and blue) of my alma mater, The University. I was wearing it yesterday, when they blew a two touchdown lead to lose the Gator Bowl. (Just kidding.)

For some reason I do very much like to wear ties. Usually, I wear bow ties. This, despite my wife's opinion of them. Last month, I was getting ready to accompany Patty to a Christmas party of her Walsingham Academy colleagues and their spouses at the Williamsburg Inn, and she asked me to wear a long tie. When I asked her why, she explained that she didn't want me to seem to be stuffy. (Sigh ...)

The bad news is that I'll persist in being a boring, stuffy person. I bought two new bow ties while down in Charleston. (Rest assured I didn't pay Ben Silver prices! I got them at another store.)