Each tie is some gentleman’s memory…
Today I will let another voice tell a story. Ila B. Martin is a 88 year old friend of mine. She is a quilter and has specialized in making patchwork with men's ties.
Ila has graciously donated a tie wall hanging for Carnival Charlotte's Silent Auction. Here is her story told in her own words:
All ties are not created equal and each tie has a voice of
its own. They say to me as I am “the tie watcher”. This is a collection that
started in the 1950s right up to last week when I had the Pink Donald Trump tie
in my hand that got away just because of a look from his wife.
When watching old black and white movies such as Marty or some gangster or pressmen, their ties were short and wide, the extreme was a skinny string tie. Fabrics
change over the years, silk, wool, rayon, polyester, and blends. For a long
time, ties have been 31/2” to 4” front bottom wide, have been longer and extra
long, many ties come from other countries…
Please remember all men “get hot under the collar”;
depending on the tie there are 5 to 8 layers in each of them because of the
fabric, price, and according to the designer’s style."
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| Ila at her work table |
1. With
each tie comes a memory, a statement like who
gave it to me? I wore this one to …
or when… my wife picked it out my tie, I needed a tie… got it in a subway shop.
When in San Francisco we rode the cable car… I am a broker of Soybeans and
Cotton in Memphis. Executives, men on TV almost like a uniform wore
stripes. Think of Jay Leno who must have a new one every night: antique car,
fraternity tie, what tie goes best with this suit or the wild ones as a
conversation piece; the woolen one came from the north, summer ties with a seersucker
suite, solid black for pall bearers or formal wear…
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| Ila cutting a tie to fit into the new design |
"
2. When
you find the three ties with birds I like to recall the story from a wife,
whose husband and son hunted birds together. The one that won the most birds
bought a tie for the other.
" 3.
The
strips between the ties are from my husband’s tailored suits. I never bought a tie;
ALL ties have been given to me. The ties across the top were the latest sent to
me by relatives from Ohio. They tell a story: on the left is the skinny tie, on
the right is a clip-on, do feel the wool from north, the opened ones have been
dry cleaned; the crease did not come out.
4. Tie
tails tell a unique story…as you lift up some tails the price is still on, they
reveal fabric content, sometimes a dry-cleaner's tag. Knowing where they came
from has been fun for me. Like the wild flower on the left hand site belonged
to a judge, the red, white and blue was from the owner of a car dealership, another
from a rancher, politician, lots of sales men, golfers, my husband’s friends.
Ask any man who is wearing a tie, he will tell you, because they are sentimental
at times, just needed to up-date this suit
for a sales meeting, dots are in, my wife bought this one because she does not
like what I pick out, wore this one to a wedding, this one was the last one my
mother bought for me, this was a retirement gift, some of my ties are so old,
but I can’t part with them.
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| Close-up of the wall hanging |
And my latest story the One that got away…Pink Donald
Trump (with gold tag), just like that big fish that gets away, this was just a
look for the wife, you know that look you
better not give it away! These days fewer men wear a tie, even men on TV.
Guess that industry will be going away like lady’s white gloves…
" 5. Tie
Tales, Ties Made by Ila… is my
signature trademark when I showed at the Gallery. My quilts and wall hangings
were bought by interior decorators. They told me that wall hangings go best in stairwells,
pillows, and laptop throws, are conversation or accent pieces.
This is my story, and the story of this
piece I am donating today to the Latin American Women’s Association."
Charlotte, February 6th
2013
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| Tags, labels and her name |
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| View of the wall hanging |
You will agree, this is a unique piece based on a unique idea.
It is people like Ila Martin, who make Charlotte a great place to live. Thanks Ila for your generosity!
