I must admit, I showed up at work today feeling quite pleased with my above-the-waist fashion choices: blue oxford cloth button-down, paired with a sharp-looking tweed tie from Pierrepont Hicks. Then I caught a glimpse of the knit neckwear being sported by my colleague Jared Flint. In the constant game of backstory one-upsmanship, I’d clearly been bested. Because while my tie was painstakingly made in Long Island City, Queens, Jared’s was hand-knit, from baby alpaca wool, in Chinatown—by his girlfriend. It’s hard to compete with that. Though you don’t have to be dating Monocle editor Aisha Speirs in order to get a tie from Pierrepont Hicks. (In fact, all you need is enough patience to wait till Monday at noon, when they go on sale on Gilt.)