Why are ties so expensive?
I don't mean this as a gripe about clothing costing money. I've been genuinely curious for awhile.
Using J. Crew as an example, a long-sleeve shirt is $90 full price, and ties are typically $60.
So the shirt costs 50% more, but I would think it requires far more than 50% more labor. Similarly for materials: silk may be more expensive per square foot than cotton, but there is very little material in a necktie.
Am I missing something about the cost to make a tie? Do companies just inflate the price of accessories, because they have found people are willing to pay?
30 Replies
Depending on the tie there might be more to it than you realize https://www.wilmok.com/blogs/news/seven-fold-ties-guide
Wilmok
The Art and Elegance of Seven Fold Ties: A Definitive Guide
Learn about Italian seven fold ties in our exclusive guide from Wilmok. Worldwide express shipping from Rome.
also iirc all but the cheapest ties are quite labour intensive
and generally made in countries with expensive labour cost than those where most shirts are made
J Crew is also a bad example because you can buy pants from there for $10 that have a MSRP of $90
So who knows what they're doing with pricing
Using Brooks Brothers as an example, their OCBD is ~$100 and their ties are also ~$100
More material in a shirt, but the ties are silk not cotton and take more than just cutting/sewing patterns to make em
I just took a quick look at Todd Snyder. Shirts look to be $150-200, ties $100-150
Ok, what I'm getting from this is that ties are more complicated to make than I may have realized
I'm sure you know what I'm gonna say next too
If it involves eBay, that's actually why I started to get curious.
Because the price parity exists there too.
A shirt and a tie are both around $30, ballpark, on eBay
Buying ties new is a bit silly considering you can get excellent ties secondhand for a fraction of retail price. ebay yes but also thrift stores, I know art gets most of his ties at Goodwill
I've been looking for knit and woollen ties in particular
It depends on the tie, black knit ones are in high demand but if you just do a search for "madder" you'll probably find some great ones in the $15 range
I need to do more in person thrifting TBH.
Wool ties are kind of a menswear nerd thing, which is cool, but means that the ebay sellers and buyers are both menswear nerds
Which means price will be higher
I'm sure wool ties that aren't explicitly sold as wool ties would be cheaper, but will require some more searching / picking thru
Black knit I already have. Got it from Tie Bar. But definitely looking for some variety in casual, textured ties
Interesting. That's helpful to know.
I recently nabbed this one for $15 to wear to a wedding
But yeah check out your local Goodwills if you can, tons of bad ties there but you occasionally find some really good ones and they're like $5
I guess ties are good shop for in person, because color and texture are hard to capture in an eBay photo
There are sellers (at least on Y!JP) that will bundle like 5-7 designer ties, regularly go for under $20 for the bundle. But often only 1 or 2 of those is a desirable design. Still a decent deal.
for sure
also sometimes they can be too long/too short which is also hard to judge online
Yeah, you get that on eBay too. I bought a lot of like 10 BB ties. Some are great, some are not. I've been treating the bad ones as a fit skill challenge. 😃
Cheaper by the dozen.
Yeah, I've made that mistake too.
that being said, online you can try to find "a guy" selling vintage ties and buy from him and know he's reliable and has good info on sizing etc
that's how I got most of my ties
one particular guy on Vinted (an EU platform)
Seconding goodwill, wool and knit will be harder to find but decent silk ties go for dirt cheap.
Ngl… while cost of inputs is definitely worth considering, it does seem that a lot of makers overinflated their prices by a good bit —
Mountain and sackett does MiUSA ties with Italian silk for $70. They are complicated, yes, but like $70-$120 is pretty fair for a new, hand made tie with fair labor.
Part of why they’re expensive when comparing to other garments is that ties can’t be cut in the same way as mass manufactured clothing. Often, clothing factories can cut cloth in many layers at once, which is usually built into the seam variances you see in sizing charts.
Ties, however, are usually hand patterned and cut. The assembly is comparatively quick, but the volume is massively diminished.
M&S has a pretty video too
https://vimeo.com/191575875
M ROCK Productions
Vimeo
MOUNTAIN & SACKETT web ad
This is "MOUNTAIN & SACKETT web ad" by M ROCK Productions on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
Best way to figure out tie sizing is just to get any old tie and figure out if you need more length or like them thicker / thinner.
I’m 6’1” but wear high waisted trousers, so a regular length (58”) tie is pretty much bang on for me. If I wore lower waisted trousers, I may want a long 60”+ tie. I also subscribe to the camp that 8cm/3.15” is a pretty universally good width for ties.
My fav knit ties are from granqvist, and my fav customs are from Sam Hober. Otherwise, it’s eBay all day.
amongst other things i think your point about people being willing to pay is partly true - there's not many dedicated tie vendors aside from tie bar so clothing companies can charge more due to the lack of competition
OK, I think I found the knit/wool tie guy on eBay. 👔
I think people are also more willing to shell out for ties because they need fewer ties than for example shirts and that is also why they are priced higher
I need MORE ties than shirts.
Checked out Goodwill near work. Seems like the solution. Ties are $3 each.
truly it is, a PRL or BB for $3 can't be beat short of inheritance
I got 2 J. Crew and 1 Lands' End. Still a good deal at $3.
Because I'm looking for knit and woollen, the selection is limited. They had 4 that fit that description, out of lots, and I bought 3 of them. Passed on the lavender one.
I'm also seeing some luxury brands used for prices which are close to what you would pay for a normal tie used