Bow Ties on Ford in '42'

I can't decide if the excitement I felt in the recently released film '42' was due to the amazing storyline, awesome performances or the shear plethora of bow ties on screen throughout the whole film! Harrison Ford, who plays Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed Robinson is not seen without a bow tie for the entirety of the film. Apparently Rickey "was a man who was passionate about social justice. He cared a lot about ethics and morality," explains Ford in a recent interview about his research into the real life sports figure. Fords character work was phenomenal. He explains in a recent USA today interview his

process; "He's a legend," he says[of Rickey]. "But that doesn't always work in a movie. Sometimes not knowing the actors makes it more realistic. I didn't want people to look and say 'There's Harrison Ford playing Branch Rickey.' I just wanted people to think 'That is Branch Rickey.' "

Fords performance was magical with his character work internally and with wardrobe, externally.  In researching the actual Branch Rickey, it is near impossible to find a picture of him without a bow tie around his neck (see inserted image right). What a gift for an actor to have that one statement, or piece of clothing to work off of from the outside in. I can imagine Ford standing in front of a mirror before each shoot, tying on a vintage tie (a "gentleman's" self-tie bow tie I may add) and preparing to take on the character with each straitening of the knot. I know that Rickey's style had to have played a huge role in the essence of character development for Ford.  Rickey was in the professional world (hence the suit) but had a sense of humor and vigor for life (insert bow tie), making his ensemble a direct reflection of his personality.

You see, a wardrobe may be just articles of clothing to some. To many, clothing is just a materialistic facade, a pointless "costume" to parade around in. However, I too like to see fashion as a gift. A creative outlet of ones individual expression. Although it may only begin to scratch the surface of who you are, it nonetheless becomes like the starting gate for the race you'll choose to run. I think we can take a lesson from Ford, and Rickey and begin to capture our own character from the outside in.

-Lydia Andrews for Horse&Carriage



Ford in his younger years still rockin' the bow ties!

To Bow or Knot to Bow?

I remember sitting down at a computer one year ago feeling so excited to pick out ties for my wedding.  For those of you that don't know me personally, I love fashion.  More specifically I love two things, ties and socks.  I think of all things I got to do for my wedding those were the two most exciting decisions for me, getting to pick out my socks and my tie.  So, with anxious anticipation I put my hand on the keyboard and typed "ties" into the search engine.  I was immediately inundated with 200,000 results from all corners of the internet.  That was a bit overwhelming and I really didn't know where to start.  So, logically, I just picked the top link that popped up.  When the site opened I was informed that there were 623 ties to chose from.  Some had dots, some had stripes, some were plain, some were plaid, some had animals on them, some had famous paintings on them, and some were made of duct tape.  So this got me thinking, if there are 623 ties on each of the 200,000 websites ...how in the heck am I ever gonna decide on ONE tie?!?  And that's where this whole thing started.  In the preparation for getting married I was so overwhelmed by the tie hunting that it took me three months to finally pick out the ties for my groomsmen and I.

Now, I've been happily married for 5 months and the exhausting tie search is something of the past.  I still buy ties every now and then and have a sweet collection of socks, but it's nothing that makes me break into hot sweats at night.  Until one night a month ago.  I was laying in bed with my amazingly gorgeous new wife asleep next to me when a light bulb went off.  Why do I hunt all over the place for the ties that I want when I could just use my resources and make them myself?  I didn't have a good answer...so I laid there and thought some more.  If I started a tie business what would I want from it?  I would want simplicity.  I would want versatility.  I would want something sophisticated and high quality but at a price that I could actually afford.  I would want something like they used to wear in the early 1900's with todays feel.  That doesn't seem ridiculous.  We could probably do that.  And as silly as it is, that's where Horse&Carriage began.  Laying in bed in the middle of the night with a million thoughts running in every direction.  One thought.  That one amazing thought caught hold and has blossomed into so much more.  My wife, Lydia, used to be in the design world so when I posed the idea to her she immediately jumped on the band wagon and we started running.

We're not at a place in our lives where we can afford to be starting a business.  We're not at a place in our lives where we need more things to pull our time away from each other.  And we're not at a place where we thought we would be starting something from scratch (other than our marriage).  However, we are at a place where we have nothing holding us back.  A place where a spark of artistic creativity is exactly what we're looking for.  And when that great idea comes our way we can't help but tie on the courage to see where the journey leads.

We can't wait for you to be on this journey with us.

Welcome to Horse&Carriage.