Birds Fly South...And Some Never Leave

Fall is on the way and it can’t come soon enough. Although we love the summer here in the South, it’s always nice when we get a break from the extreme heat. 

With the shift in the season comes a shift in our wardrobes as well. We tend to put away the whites and vibrant colors that we associate with Summer. We head to the closet and pull out the earth tones that are just as elegant yet a little more subdued — the colors that remind me of the leaves starting to turn. The browns, deep greens, orange, rust, red and amber. So many colors that nature offers us. The light sweater or cardigan might also make an appearance and the days of shorts are all but over. 

But don’t worry just because the white shirts and pastel colors are packed for the return of spring doesn’t mean you’ll go without your color splash and pop. It may just come from areas it hadn’t come from in the past. How you ask? It’s simple: let it come from your accessories, and in this case, your bow tie.

Just as nature offers us new colors in the fall, nature again has so much to offer — you just have to know how to harness it. And we have discovered yet another fantastic company here in Charleston committed to bringing us the best product possible, a product that they have plucked from nature. That’s where Brackish Bow Ties comes in. 

Brackish was created as we see it today in 2012 ,but their story goes back to 2007. Co-Owner Ben Ross was set to be married and he wanted a unique gift for his groomsmen. Ben, an avid outdoorsmen, created a set of turkey feather bow ties for his groomsmen to wear for the wedding. This simple idea and creation became the catalysts for the journey that Ben and one of those groomsmen, Jeff Plotner, would embark on. 

Each one of the bow ties are handcrafted by a team of 50 artisans right here in Charleston. Each tie takes about 4 to 5 hours to make from start to finish. Although that may not see too long ,what takes a tremendous amount of time is sorting all the feathers ahead of time. This sorting of the feathers takes place long before the bow ties start their journey into your wardrobe. The feathers for each tie are sustainably sourced from various farms. No birds are harmed in the process. In fact, since birds naturally malt their feathers off Brackish uses these materials that would otherwise be discarded.

Each feather is then hand chosen by the artisans specifically for each tie. What makes this so amazing is that no two ties are ever the same. Even ties of the same design are individually unique. The wonderful people at Brackish were kind enough to give us a private tour of their facility and let us ask all the questions we wanted. 

The product line at Brackish doesn’t just include bow ties. They have a full line of lapel pins, loafers and even a feather cummerbund. The cummerbunds take an astounding 30 hours to make! It was so amazing to see the team hard at work each during our tour. Each and every product truly is a work of art.

Brackish was kind enough to lend us the tie pictured here, the “Etna,” so we could take some photos and show you just how handsome these ties are. Brackish also just recently released their collegiate line so that you can show your team pride anywhere! Just when you thought it couldn’t get better Brackish also does custom bow ties and will work with customers throughout the process to ensure that you get the tie of your dreams. 

Thank you Brackish for your generosity and hospitality. We know your experience with Brackish will be as wonderful as ours has been. Need some style inspiration with you new tie? Check out Brackish on Instagram at @brackishbowties!