Beyond stupid. Reality is if someone goes beyond $50 for a tie something is wrong. It is just a freaking tie. I'd put money that Warren Buffet never spent over a hundred on a tie.

You know how they say that there's sheer intellectual intelligence, book smarts, street smarts, "emotional intelligence", and all that crap? One need look no further than P.T. Barnum as far as common sense goes. This is a perfect example of his maxim that there's a sucker born every minute, and two to take him.

Conspicuous comsumption.

I won't fill in the nationality on this joke, but it deals with the taste for ostentatious displays of wealth among one of Europe's "nouveau riche" nations:

One guy joins his friend for drinks and says, "Nice tie."

"$100 dollars," he proudly tells his friend.

"You idiot!" replies the first man. "You could've gotten it for $200 across the street!"

Actually, I forgot George Carlin's update to Barnum's theory. It's kind of like league and park adjustments. :) It is:

This may have been true in the past, but now,
if you adjust for the increased population base,
birth control, and...moral decline, not only are
there five suckers born every minute, there are
now fifty-three to take him.

:)

Obviously this tie has been design and manufactured to military specifications. That is the only possible explaination. When there is no competitive bid process were quality and price count and there are 2500 pages of directions and requirements, you get $1200 ties and $500 hammers.

"Plus, even if I was a billionaire I'd still be worried about spilling something on a tie that expensive."

Crank, oh Crank, you are missing the point. When you spend that much on a tie, you get (at no additional cost) the person who spills things on themselves for you.

Ah, yet another good example of the diminishing marginal utility of consumption.

It's the Gil Meche of neckties!

I've got to tell you the Matthews and Pierre contracts are a lot worse than the Meche contract.

It's the Gil Meche of neckties!

That is hilarious...

here's the $1200 tie in question - it's woven with 2,980 Swarovski crystals:

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?cmCat=search&itemId=prod37400487

Personally, I have trouble finding acceptable ties for less than $400-500 -- it's not so much the designer, as the bespoke wool.

True story. Sitting in a bar on a slow night; bartender is looking through a Neiman-Marcus catalog. Bartender says something to the effect of: "There's a toothbrush in this catalog that costs $90.00! Who the h* would pay $90.00 for a toothbrush?" Old man at the end of the bar raises his hand and says: "There have been times..."

You don't have to spend a lot of money for a great tie. I have a website that sells neckties and beleive me...there is very little difference in the quality of the necktie once you have reached the $100 mark. Name brand plays a big part in the pricing of a necktie. I recently went into a Hermes store to have a look at what a $250 tie looked and felt like.
all I could honestly break it down to was the name that was soo boldly diplayed on the tie. I personally prefer a good quality woven polyester tie. nobody can tell the diference between silk and Poly these days and you can actually wash out the inevitable stains you'll get in a social life. Everything having being said....buy the tie you like regardless of price...you'll respect yourself in the morning.