Although Spring has Sprung, there is still a bit of chill in the air! On days like this I wear my half down Patagonia jacket. This jacket is amazing, in the winter it keeps me super warm it also breaks the winds and keeps all my body heat compact. Being a fairly large man (5’10 | 225 lbs) I get hot very easily, even in the winter time! Somehow this jacket keeps me at the perfect level of warmth when I wear it. Prior to purchasing this jacket, I would often alternate between different blazers and jackets. But could never find the right one to give me what I needed which was to be warm not hot! Living in South Carolina you can experience every season within the matter of days so you always have to be on weather alert. Luckily for me I finally found the perfect outerwear jacket for these abrupt weather changes. I couldn’t be any happier with my purchase it was worth every bit of money!

Now on to the bow tie I’m wearing. In 2007 I was fortunate enough to study oil painting in Umbria, Italy at The International School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. It was an experience I will never forget. We traveled to Rome, Florence, Assisi, Perugia, and spent the last week in Venice. Along with seeing the Statue of David and Sistine Chapel I also saw Italian fashion at it’s finest. It intrigued me so much. The men were dressed to the nine’s every where I turned! It was such a culture shock to me, I was so used to being “the overly dressed one” but in Italy there is no such thing as being “over dressed”. While I was wrapping up my trip in Venice, I decided to go shopping for one last time and I stumbled upon this hand-made bow tie shop. I walked in and the guy spoke to me in Italian. I started to walk around his shop gazing with fascination at all the different bow ties he created with his bare hands. It was a surreal experience watching him make the bow ties after spending a good 45 minutes searching for the “perfect” bow tie. I found this one along with another one that is pastel blue and pink. It was one of the most satisfying and humbling purchases I have ever made in a retail store. One day I hope to go back to Italy and visit the same shop while reliving the memories I made in Venice.