Bow ties

So, I'm back in Arizona for the summer. Quite a few friends have scattered across the globe, and even the ones who are still here feel a bit disjointed. People are busy with their lives and schedules. But every once in a while, a few of us manage to get together.

The one instance I've managed to not be unsocial [except for brief excursions to the high school and (today) to Barnes & Noble with some friends] was the Glee Finale party hosted by my friend Kaylie. I wasn't sure about going at first--I hadn't been keeping up with the season, and I felt a little guilty leaving behind people at home, but ultimately I decided to go a little bit before the event. In the hours leading up to it, I searched frantically for a bow tie. The reason? I wanted to dress up like Darren Criss.

Alright, so it's Blaine Anderson to be exact. Darren Criss's style is a bit more varied than Blaine's, since it seems that since transferring to McKinley Blaine's been wearing a bow tie with every outfit. So, I needed a bow tie in order to dress up as Blaine--and maybe some suspenders too. Well, I drove around to the Goodwill, then in the other direction to another thrift shop, and I still couldn't find a bow tie! Lots of regular neckties, but I had enough of those. So I finally headed off to Walmart, hoping that they'd at least have some cheap, basic ones. No luck. Found some suspenders, but decided against investing in them. If I couldn't find a bow tie, then there was no point to them.

I headed home after 45 minutes of searching. I didn't exactly give up, though. Instead, I headed to my dad's closet to do some digging. It took a few minutes before I located his ties--just a measly few hanging on a hanger. But behold! there was indeed a bow tie. Unfortunately, it was a cheap one, made of extremely hard fabric with a fairly cheesy pattern...and it was velcro-ed on. The tie-enthusiast in me died a little, but it couldn't be helped! I tried it on and decided that it didn't look /too/ bad.

So...off to Kaylie's, where I discovered Kaylie dressed as Kurt! It was perfect, since over the winter we had taken a picture with us matching [wearing scarves and cardigans, ahaha]. Time for another snapshot!

The Christmas-time picture. :)

Klaine! Ahaha. :)

It was great, and the plot didn't require a lot of context. Just knowledge that the seniors were graduating [our high school's graduation was just a few days ahead!]. The episode mostly consisted of singing, and Finchel drama. Many cheesy moments, some questionable directing/storyline, but nothing that wasn't classically GLEE!

Anyway, you'd think that my obsession with bow ties would end with the conclusion of the need to dress up as Blaine. But nope--my brain doesn't let go of things that easily [perhaps I am more obsessive than I'd care to admit]. So, Friday afternoon, I went with my cousin and uncle to Scottsdale Fashion Square to locate some bow ties.

My expectation for their prices was that a cheap bow tie would cost around $5-$10, and an expensive one maybe $20. Turns out the super cheap ones were $30, with most being around the $60 range! Expectations shattered. [that said, $5 bow ties are available here.] We left without any bow ties [or pocket squares, which we spent a good 15 minutes looking at]. Instead, I left with a pair of $30 shoes [that my uncle paid for--I can't believe I let him do so without a fight! So ashamed of myself] that I can wear without socks. They look fairly nice!

Given my unsuccessful search, I resolved to look for some cheap bow ties in my time in China. But before giving up, I scoured the interwebs for more! eBay was actually fairly nice--there were a few that looked appealing and cheap. But I resisted the urge to make impulsive, late-night purchases, and instead looked around for some DIY guides. What I found were:

(1) Making a bow tie out of a neck tie. Both temporarily and actually. Since I didn't care to actually cut up one of my ties [or to obtain a tie just to cut it up] and definitely didn't have the skills to actually do so, I ended up doing this:

So tacky, I can't even...

(2) I found some actual DIY guides that I think will be feasible. This one in particular. I was actually leaning toward this at first, but then I realized [or rather, my cousin helped to remind me of] my dislike for these velcro bow ties. :P

So then I looked around for some fabric places near Cambridge and found this nice gem. I think I will be frequenting it at some point. The fabrics are cheap and nice looking. In particular, I think this would be a nice bow tie pattern. :)

Hopefully I don't kill my fingers attempting this, whenever I actually get around to it, if ever. Ahah.