Countess Mara Designer Mens Ties

Many of you might be familiar with famous designers of men’s fashion and accessories such as Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, who in the 1970’s and 1980’s prominently displayed their logos near the tip of their designer mens ties. This was done to bring attention to the designer name as well as give a distinctive look to the necktie. But did you know that logo ties were the brainchild of a woman by the name of Countess Mara?

The CM Logo is Born

Born as Lucille Mara de Vescovi in Rome in 1893, Countess Mara went on to become one of the most popular necktie designers of her time. She made several novel marketing decisions that catapulted her ties to popularity by 1938. The first thing she did was change her name. Although Lucilla herself was no countess, she named her ties Countess Mara and integrated her trademarked name and the CM logo with an open crown to give them snob appeal. It worked.

In their book "Fit To Be Tied: Vintage Ties of the Forties and Early Fifties", authors Rod Dyer and Ron Spark note that Countess Mara created "exclusive ties", manufacturing only fifteen dozen of each design. She prominently displayed her distinctive CM logo by including it as part of the printed tie design, and charged a hefty price. This really appealed to the fashion elite. Mara's trademarked ties were such an instant success that other tie makers copied her business model and even hired artists to imitate the artistry found in her ties.

Logo Ties With Novelty Themes

Countess Mara loved flora and fauna although she incorporated fantastical themes as well. Subjects include flowers, ferns, insects, butterflies, dragonflies, geese, camels, deer, foxes, owls, zebras, giraffes, horses, fish, sea urchins, to name just a few. Her ties are filled with symbols and unusual objects such as astrological signs, Egyptian hieroglyphs, safety pins, guns, playing cards, key rings and torn love letters. Lady Godiva, mermaids, magicians, the Devil have even graced the more unusual vintage Countess Mara designer mens ties although it was easy enough to find more mundane and safer subject matter such as hunting scenes and golfing themes.

Countess Mara might very well have been the first to introduce novelty themes to ties.  She is famously quoted as having said, "Tell a man you like his necktie and you will see his personality unfold like a flower".  Her unusually crafted themes gave people every reason to notice and be noticed.  Positive comments would have been a common occurrence and most certainly appreciated by the owner of the tie!

Today's Countess Mara Ties

At some point the CM logo with a likeness of a crown above it ceased to be printed onto and incorporated as part of the design, instead finding its final resting place near the tip of the tie. Most all of the later Countess Mara neckties are machine stitched with thread complementary to the color tones of the tie.

Some people consider Countess Mara ties tacky because of the prominently displayed logo and refuse to wear the ties for this reason. Never fear: ties produced in the 1990s and today no longer bear the logo although they no longer offer interesting novelty themes either.

Countess Mara Designer Mens Ties by Strangelittlebird is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.