Alexander Shields I. Magnin Red Raw Silk Tie EUC VTG Ivy Mod 1950s 1960s 1

Description

Length: 56.875”
Width: 2.125”
The eighth of twelve square-end ties from midcentury designer Alexander Shields, Wednesday’s #tieoftheday is a lustrous raw silk shantung dyed the most lovely shade of red, one equally bright and dusky. A true object of appreciation. 100% slubbed raw silk, designed and made by Alexander Shields and retailed through I. Magnin, the former San Francisco high-end department store, c.1950s/1960s. Immaculate vintage condition.
“Originality is their trademark.” Had you been at 58th Street and Park Avenue in the 1950s and 1960s, you might have peered into the shop of Alexander McMillan Shields (1916-2010), an influential designer of his day, but today a largely obscure figure. Together with his wife “Sandy” (actress Aina Constant, 1913-2009), he produced outfits that brought simplicity of design, trim silhouettes, and modern comfort into menswear while expanding the range of colors available to the male consumer. After having spent much of his adolescence (and later military service) at sea, he forwent a diplomatic career in favor of devoting himself to modernizing men’s fashion—some of his innovations failed to endure (buttonless suits, short “dinky” jackets, “Americanized” yukata), yet others, such as tartan dinner jackets and use of performance fabrics, have endured. In regard to neckwear, Shields’s trademark was square-end tie, usually of fine Swiss silk, and always stunning in their use of color.