Yong 'Chairman' Mao

Come, thou mortal wretch, with thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate...
-- William Shakespeare, c.1607, Antony and Cleopatra.
Knotting ought to be reckoned, in the scale of insignificance, next to mere idleness.
-- Dr Samuel Johnson, 1755, Dictionary.
`My dear Catherine,' sighed mama, `I am afraid you are growing quite a fine lady. I do not know when poor Richard's cravats would be done, if he had no friend but you.'
-- Jane Austen, c.1800, Northanger Abbey.
In an elegant world, an irreproachable tie knot is an essential part of one's toilette; it does not matter whether the knot is simple or complicated, because the art is what counts. There are some knots which seem casual in appearance, but which have taken considerable labour before the mirror, and many a stamped foot, many an exclamation of impatience. -- Doctor A. Debray Hygiene Vestimentaire, 1857.
Medical men ascribe many deaths during the past winter to the fashion of low collars and to gentlemen not being sufficiently protected by their clothing at the throat and neck.
-- The Gentleman's Magazine of Fashion, 1875.
A well tied tie is the first serious step in life.
-- Oscar Wilde, c.1880, A Woman of No Importance.
"What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this? Do you realize that Mr. Little's domestic happiness is hanging in the scale?" "There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter" -- PG Wodehouse, Jeeves and the Impending Doom
Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.
-- Jean Cocteau c.1940.
Season after season, tie is the number one gift item for sales.
-- The Saturday Evening Post, 1946.
Tell a man you like his necktie and you will see his personality unfold like a flower.
-- Countess Mara, 1950.
May your tieknots generate conversation.
-- Anonymous

more later ....

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Yong Mao (ym101@cus.cam.ac.uk)