Vitaliano Designer Mens Neck Ties

Vitaliano mens ties are cut and sewn by hand in Bologna, Italy. The Vitaliano Pancaldi Company has made neck ties for over sixty years. Vitaliano designer ties are constructed only from the finest silk jacquard—shiny fabric intricately woven with a tonal design. The weave creates the effect of a shadow pattern or print.

Vitaliano utilizes 12 color separation in the screening process as they manufacture their designer ties—far more separation than any other producer of mens neck ties. Vitaliano makes both the most exciting designer ties in the world and the most well crafted. Vitaliano mens neck ties have become collector's items among suave and debonair gentlemen.

Men have worn cloth around their necks for 2,000 years. While more sturdy neckwear has been worn for protection of the neck, more commonly the purpose has been to keep the neck warm. Also, neckwear has been used as a bib, as a status symbol, and to symbolize a group to which one belongs.

The ancestor of today's ties is the cravat, thought to have originated in Croatia in the 17th century. King Louis XIV admired the colored silk kerchiefs worn around the necks of Croatian mercenary soldiers he hired in 1660. The Sun King began to wear them, and soon the lace cravat became a French fashion craze.

Colored silk bandanas (the word means "tying") were worn around the neck in England and the United States in the 19th century. The word "tie" was invented in the 1840s, and in 1864 the first mass-produced ties were manufactured, which are similar to those worn today except they were made from a single piece of cloth.

Jesse Langsdorf, an American tailor, patented the bias cut three-piece tie we see today in 1924. French tailors began to produce designer ties that same decade. In the 1950s, ties were associated with uniformity, but by the 1970s designer ties began to express individuality. Some high-end ties made today use six or seven pieces of silk.

100 million mens neck ties are sold each year in America alone, which generates over one billion dollars in revenues. 80 percent of the buyers are women. The standard tie is 57 inches long. Of course, there are also bolo ties, bow ties, and ascots.

I did not own a tie (or a suit) until the 1990s. To a Bohemian musical artist, ties seem an oppressive sign of conformity. When I entered the business world, I had to make a professional presentation of myself to high-end clientele; this included ties.

After struggling to get used to them, I found that I enjoyed them; particularly when I found ties that expressed my personality. The designer ties that I felt did this best for me are labeled Vitaliano. I see them as the most beautiful ties in the world. I don't have the call to wear them much anymore. No one can see me writing my Hubs. But enjoy the gallery!