official Chipp Neckwear Thread

[paul winston]

I have never counted Halloween as a holiday. The next holiday on my personal list - Thanksgiving.

For those among us who still wear ties periodically, we still have a few "Roasted Turkey" ties.

 

[paul winston]

When my wife and I got married - 1966 - we bought an Old English Sheep Dog puppy in England.

I soon realized Herman was smarter than smart.

I taught him how to play chess. (In the attached photo Herman was 2 years old. He lived to the age of 14)

In spite of his intelligence he was not a very good chess player. We played many games through the years. He only beat me 2 or 3 times.

He would accompany me to work and sit in my father'

s office.

Herman appeared in a few television commercials and was the logo for my web site -www.chippneckwear.com and the logo is seen by all who visit the site.

Herman did have a flaw. He was a womanizer.

No female - canine or human - was safe from his uninvited advances.

He would run up to women on the street and jump up and lick them. He would stick his nose in their most private places. What he did to female dogs was even more embarrassing.

Most passed it off as " That's what male dogs do."

I think if he had learned self control he would have won Best In Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Show.

 

[paul winston]

One evening in the summer of 1963 I was caught in a summer downpour while on my way to join my father and mother at their apartment.

My trousers got drenched.

I had to borrow a pair of my fathers trousers to go out for dinner.

My waist size in those days was 32. My father's waist size was about 44.

Suspenders saved the day and I have had a warm spot in my heart for suspenders ever since.

That is part of why I offer 21 colors in solid grosgrain suspenders and 4 different stripes.
The other reason is when you use suspenders trousers hang cleaner and do not need to be tight
around one's waist.

You can see them by visiting www.chippneckwear.com

( For any collectors in the crowd, I have a few pair of the Trafalgar Limited Edition braces. They are not on the site. They are available at a special price.)

 

[paul winston]

Tom Watson Jr spent a considerable amount of time with my father.
He really liked our business. He would sit with my dad and talk about Chipp for an hour or two a few times a year.

The chats continued with me after my dad's passing.

In one of my sit downs with Mr. Watson he related the following story:

His father had given Tom and each of his siblings a painting by one of the prominent French Impressionist artist.

He never really liked the painting and he thought if he changed the frame he might like it.

One Saturday morning he took it to the frame shop in Greenwich .

He selected a new frame and asked the shop owner if he could pick it up the following Tuesday.

The owner told Mr. Watson he couldn't leave the painting in the shop over the weekend because he didn't have enough insurance.

Mr. Watson told me he was very surprised because he thought the painting was worth about $50,000.

He took the painting home and called one of the NYC auction houses.

They told him the painting would fetch a number of millions of dollars.

They told him they would give him 6 million with no auction.

Given his lack of fondness for the work and because he was having a new sailboat built, he accepted the offer.

I told him if he had told me he thought it was only worth $50,000 I would have offered him $100,000.

( The largest order Chipp ever received was from IBM. When the World's Fair was held in NYC in1964/65, IBM had a pavillion which was maned by IBM employees. I don't remember exactly how many men there were - my foggy memory is it was 50 +. Each man received 3 suit, 6 shirts, and a few ties. When the fair was extended for a 2nd year , a different team was selected and clothed.)

 

[winghus]

You should write a book and put all these stories in it. It might not sell well but the history of Chipp should be recorded. I would buy it for sure.

 

[paul winston]

Another Watson story - this one concerns Tom's younger brother Arthur/Dick Watson.

Dick Watson, as is often the case in brothers, was very different from his older brother. Dick Watson had a biting sense of humor.. Sometime he was quite "brassy".

One thing he had in common with Tom was enjoying his "Chipp" experiences.

In June of 1971 a customer came in for a custom suit fitting.

He told my father that he was leaving for Paris before the suit would be finished. He said he really needed the suit and he asked if we could get one of our Paris bound customers to bring the suit to him.
( He didn't want the suit shipped because the French Import duty was notoriously onerous.)

In those days a summer visit Paris was fairly common among our customers.

The first Paris bound customer to come into the shop when the suit was finished was Dick Watson, who was the US Ambassador to France

My dad knew that Mr. Watson and the customer were friends, so he asked him to ferry the suit to Paris.

The sit was delivered to our customer in Paris.

The customer sent my father the following note:
Dear Sid,
The suit is great as usual.
I have always been impressed by the Chipp quality and service,
but never as impressed as I am now that I know who you employ to make your
deliveries.

 

[paul winston]

One of Chipp's most colorful customers was E Michael Burke.

Mike was a good enough athlete play for the Eagles in the NFL, put in time with the OSS, and CIA, was dropped in behind enemy lines in World War 2 to help plan the D Day Invasion, served as General Manager of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily Circus, President of the CBS owned Yankees, President of the NY Knicks and President of Madison Square Garden.

In 1951 he traveled in Europe for a week with my mother and father. ( Mike sat on the luggage rack of the red MG TD that my folks had purchased in England.

It was in his capacity as a Chipp customer and as President of the Yankees that I worked with Mr. Burke in the 60s.

He thought the team look sloppy and decided that when they were traveling the players and support individuals should wear Navy Blazers, grey flannels, BD shirts and ties.

When Spring Training Camp opened, we sent a tailor and salesman to Florida to to take the measurements of everyone who traveled with the team when they "hit the road."

In spite of the uncooperative attitude of the players, the jackets, trousers, shirts and ties were ready for the beginning of the season.

When the team traveled for "road" games, with a few exceptions, the clothes was not worn.

Class will tell.

 

[fred johnson]

Paul,
I second the motion.. write the damn book!