Recently, I met a man about a bow tie.
But not just any bow tie, we’re talking about a bow tie tailored to one man’s dream. And to be honest, his bow ties are all I’ve been dreaming about lately.
Look, I know there’s a stupid grin on my face. But can you blame me? Look at that bow tie, made just for me! It’s pretty much the best day of my life…
Diamond point and reversible?!? No, no… just let that sink in for a minute.
The Clad Stache officially launched at the beginning of this year on Etsy and Instagram, but Taylor Hanna’s romance with bow ties has been long in the making. And let’s just say it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.
As a kid, Taylor’s dad always wore bow ties. It was only natural that Taylor wanted nothing to do with them. But all of that changed four years ago, when he found himself in a bit of a bind.
“My wife and I were swimming at my parents’ house and we had a wedding to go to,” recalled Taylor. “We kind of got stuck out at the pool a little longer than we thought…So, I’m getting cleaned up and changed and I’m completely dressed, but I had no tie on.”
Taylor had accidentally left his necktie at home. Fortunately, his dad came to the rescue–bow tie in hand.
“I thought, ‘Whatever, it’s a stupid bow tie. I’m not going to put that on,’” said Taylor. “I told him, ‘I don’t even know how to tie it.’ He had quit wearing them for like two years, so he was out of practice and we ended up having this whole ordeal where he’s trying to tie it on me.”
After several attempts, Taylor finally fashioned the bow tie around his neck. It was love at first tie.
“As soon as I put it on, I completely fell in love with it,” said Taylor. “Right from the get go I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t tell my Dad I absolutely love this, because I’ve given him a hard time ever since I was a little kid for wearing these stupid bow ties!’ But, I loved it–End of story.”
But there was just one problem–Taylor never seemed to find any bow ties he liked. When he got the idea to have a custom bow tie made from two separate fabrics, he realized it would be much easier to just create a Taylor-made bow tie. So for his birthday, Taylor found himself asking the man in a bow tie for a sewing machine, to make (you guessed it) bow ties.
“Are you kidding me?” replied Taylor’s dad in disbelief. “You’ve given me a hard time about this for 20-something years!”
The Clad Stache owner and bow tie magician Taylor Hanna.
But Taylor wasn’t kidding and thus began the creation of The Clad Stache. And while sewing may not seem to be the manliest of pursuits, Taylor definitely took the manliest approach.
“I tore up old tee shirts and taught myself how to sew,” explained Taylor. “I finally got the nerve to try and actually sew a bow tie.”
But first, he needed to make a stencil for a bow tie pattern.
“So I go into the garage and find this old cardboard box and I literally just cut it out and started on it,” recalled Taylor. “And of course, it’s all jiggity and jaggedy. No duct tape involved, though I wish there was. So my wife comes in from working, I’m sitting there with this cardboard.”
“You drew your pattern on cardboard,” Jennifer Hanna asked her husband, in disbelief.
“Well yeah, I didn’t have anything else to do it with,” replied Taylor.
“Why didn’t you just use a piece of paper,” she asked.
“It’s not stiff enough,” he answered.
Currently, Taylor uses two paper stencils for his bow ties (because he may be the bow tie man, but behind every great bow tie is a woman who was right). His cardboard mencil (that’s short for men’s stencil) may not have made the cut, but Taylor’s managed to find some use for it. The front of his business card/logo resembles shredded cardboard.
The Clad Stache bow ties can be tied four different ways! Magic, right?
But Jennifer Hanna wasn’t just right about the stencils. She was also right in always supporting Taylor’s dreams. It was her idea for Taylor to quit his job and pursue The Clad Stache, full time.
“She’s always pushed me and I’m kind of a scaredy cat and get a bit nervous,” said Taylor. “I get nervous about my stuff. I’m confident in the fabrics that I put together and everything like that, but I still get nervous because I know that my stuff is different.”
The Mr. Mister and James bow ties were both inspired by two of Taylor’s closest friends and inspirations.
I always was a seersucker…
Blue Seven recently started selling The Clad Stache, and since then Taylor has been dodging seeing anyone sporting one of his bow ties around town.
“I’m the last person to judge somebody, so it has nothing to do with me seeing a bow tie on somebody,” said Taylor. “It just makes it real. And that’s kind of what I’m scared of. It actually being real.”
But The Clad Stache has become very real. Currently, Taylor is working on orders from all over the country, including orders from overseas. The official Clad Stache website (TheCladStache.com) is set to launch within the next month and will feature an upcoming vintage line created from repurposed vintage materials. The site will also feature bow ties just for kids!
Taylor is also in talks with several local retail shops about adding The Clad Stache to their lineup. View The Clad Stache’s complete line here or contact Taylor Hanna directly at TheCladStache@gmail.com to place a custom order.
Besides bow ties, Taylor is really into taxidermy. Say hello to his friend and office mate, Bobby (He also goes by just Bob, according to Taylor’s two daughters). Bob is modeling my custom-made Clad Stache. Who do you think wore it best?
SIX STYLE 