Ropeknots, and Whales, and Buoys! Oh, TIE?

Vineyard Vines "Vineyard Whale Tie"

Vineyard Vines, an extremely preppy Martha's Vineyard brand makes clothing of all kinds but by far, the most popular item they make is their ties. Ranging from the simple VV Whale logo to surfers and golf clubs, these ties are far from ordinary. Their motto for the ties: "Ties for all guys" shows how easy-going these Martha's Vineyard guys really are.

These ties not only come in preppy logos but also come in prints made especially for colleges and universities. On my college trip out to University of Virgina, a small store carried the school-specific ties. The "College Collection" as named by creators, Shep and Ian, comes in a variety of colors with the logos of many colleges (if the college is considered preppy that helps too!). My favorite UVA tie was salmon in color with the UVA "V" and the cavalier swords beneath it. Let's just say that if I was a frat boy and went to UVA I'd have this tie in every color that it comes in.

These preppy prints are not only limited to ties! Sashes and D-Ring belts (all the true preps know what D-Ring Belts are, but for everyone who is new to the preppy thing, D-Ring belts are typically cotton or ribbon belts that have silver D-Rings used for fastening) come in many of the signature prints VV makes. "Sconset Sashes" are very popular and can be seen in the Summer catalog, being modeled by a recent Princeton grad (ahem, she is also wearing a sconset sash which is part of the college collection).

Vineyard Vines is also a clothing manufacturer. VV makes ladies polos, which run pricey but wash extremely well, skirts, dresses, pants, flipflops, sashes, and more for fall and winter. For women, the polos are probably the most popular, but you can always recognize a girl in a Vineyard Vines skirt. The New England themed prints come with lobsters, buoys, whales, and hermit crabs (and I'm only naming the items I have in my own closet!). One of my favorite things to see is a mom and her daughter wearing matching Vineyard Vines (dads and boys too especially with matching ties!!)

Another favorite item from Vineyard Vines of mine is their lacrosse tie! Since I live in Maryland, and lacrosse is extremely popular, I appreicate this tie more than most. At our school many boys have their fair share of Vineyard Vines ties, not to mention most of the lacrosse players have some version of the lacrosse tie. There are two versions of the lax tie, one with criss-cross sticks and one with actual little "laxers" on it. A classmate of mine even remarked that "They're the best ties ever!" Another classmate of mine admits to having 5 ties himself (which makes me very happy...there are preppy boys out there!) Vineyard Vines also makes many other sports ties like football, basketball, hockey, golf, and baseball but the lacrosse print tie is BY FAR the most prominent here.

xx Katie