Oviatt's Ties

[Lili Lara]

Just saw some vintage ties on Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/266576762/rare-vintage-oviatts-boxed-tie-set?ref=shop_home_active_1

What do you think about the price? Are they even worth it? Will probably make a good Vday gift.

 

[Awesomest Guy]

Well, these are very expensive, for a start. Also, they're very similar in colour scheme, so you wouldn't get many wildly different combinations. I would personally recommend hunting round in thrift shops, ebay, etc for a better deal. The items may be newer, but they'll be far cheaper, and in similar condition.

 

[Patrick Hall]

The price is probably due to the fame of Oviatt's, a storied and now defunct purveyor of quality menswear in Los Angeles, and the fact that they are still in their original box. You'll see curiously nondescript items from A. Sulka & Co (same kind of store but in NYC) offered for high prices as well. It just happens to be that items from these makers are particularly coveted among collectors. These three ties are lovely, but unless you are turned on by owning high quality, pristine pieces of old stock from a storied business that is no more, I'd say move on. You can find etsy dealers selling beautiful, wearable ties of 30's vintage for a minuscule fraction of the price.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

$10.00 per tie in the 1930s? Some suits cost less than that in the '30s. I don't think they are 1930s at all.

 

[Patrick Hall]

Have just heard from Marc Chevalier, an LA based menswear historian who specializes in Oviatt items. He asked me to post the following: "Marc Chevalier says that these ties are from the mid 1950s, not the 1930s." So it would seem Dirk Wainscotting's intuition that these ties are misdated is on the mark.