Back in the 90s I purchased a designer tie by Erte. At the time, it was the most I had spent on any one item of clothing. I got so many compliments on this tie (A CEO of an S&P 500 company once commented that his Chauffeur was better dressed than he was) that I wore it for all special occasions. After all those years of Valiant service, the tie was getting scruffy and was actually torn in a few spots, like where the knot always went. I reluctantly retired the tie.
Enter Del Valle custom tailors. I brought them the tie and told them I wanted to get it back in service. I realized that it would need some major work for that to happen. They gave me an estimate of a couple of weeks which stretched out into a month. The problem was the tie was worn through in so many places that in order to make it wearable it would need to be taken apart and put back together in a new configuration.
Del Valle did an excellent job. They took apart the tie, cut away the worn spots, added silk material to the back of the tie, and put it together again 1/2 inch narrower. Of course, the new configuration changed the centering of the design, but with this tie that was not a significant issue. The $100 price tag was worth it to have this tie rejuvenated and ready for another 20 years of service! (Note: To buy this tie brand new today, the price would be approximately $2,500. I did find some used ones online, but they were also worn out) read more