When did it all start? I suppose it wasn’t so long ago. Mad Men started and I watched it from the get go. I had a wedding to go to, alone, and I was out shopping for something to wear. I remember that specifically being the point where it started.

I had always liked wearing a suit, but didn’t much wear them unless someone died or got married. A few interviews and big meetings at work, but that was it.

I was shopping and I picked out a vivid purplish pink paisley tie. I’d never owned a tie like that before. I paired it with a pinstriped DKNY shirt. A little expensive for me, but I tended to be a little blue collar.

I went to the wedding in my suit and tie. Decided at the last minute to add a vest. I stood a little straighter. I felt a little more in control. Confidence and strength through fashion? I liked it. That week I bought four more ties.

A few years later and I have around fifty of them. A closet full of dress shirts. Cufflinks, sweater vests, a new suit, collar stays and lovely colognes and so on.

I’ve been through this all before. Yes, Jack likes ties.

Enter my friends Sara and Zac and their 500 Hammers Project, which is a endeavor to “designed to highlight the ways in which small, useful objects shape – and are shaped by – our lives.”

Sara interviewed me about what kind of tool might help me in my life. All parties involved seem to come to the same conclusion simultaneously that a tie rack would be the best choice.

Sara, Zac and I went back and forth and I sent them a few crude drawings of how I imagined a metal tie rack to look. Zac incorporated some of my ideas, but came up with something wonderful and original. I was shocked when just a few days later Sara sent me pictures of the nearly finished product!

A few days after that I came home to find a box with hardware and a few simple instructions. Fifteen minutes of work with a screw driver and an hour or so figuring out a concise, aesthetically pleasing and useful organizational ordering system, my ties were up

Empty Rack

Tie Rack Up

Tie Rack Down

Tie Rack with Book Shelf

I love the rack. Not only is it a great place to keep my ties, but it is a lovely piece of artwork in my room and a conversation piece. Unique and well made, beautiful and functional. Everything I wanted and more.

Thanks Zac and thanks Sara. I can’t wait to see what new things Zac makes and read the interviews and behind the scenes stories of how these tools are decided upon and imagined.