Real or fantasy bird?

[Pinkcoke]

I didn't recognise the name on this tie, but the RN number brought up Swank and Anne Klein, and I gather AKM stands for Anne Klein Men (or men's?). Does anyone know how long this label has been around for? or how long Anne Klein menswear has been available? I'm trying to determine if this tie is vintage or just retro. There is nothing about the company on either their or the parent website :(

 

[tickeryboo]

melanie, you have just solved a mystery for me i have had this silk scarf for a while. the quality is exceptional and the small black label on this one says it was made in macclesfield, and macclesfield silk is the best. however the initials AKM are all over the scarf itself, but i could never work out what the initials meant, AKM, even though i tried to find out many times, buy now i know. it will be interesting to see what your questions bring up!

lorraine

 

[tickeryboo]

but then is this a mans scarf? or does the M means something else?

lorraine

 

[Pinkcoke]

Well you're very welcome Lorraine lol.
I was thinking, how odd though to have a mens label on what appears to be a womens scarf but going on the size I wonder if it's a men's cravat? It would be very short otherwise no?

 

[Pinkcoke]

Cross posted! Try tying it as a cravat under a shirt/jacket and I bet it'll look spiffing, it is quite a manly foulard style print.

 

[jauntyrooster]

I think this answers some questions.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/20/style/patterns-580389.html

 

[Pinkcoke]

Thanks for the link Maureen! that is a very useful article. So now we know - they didn't want men to know it was Anne Klein!

 

[tickeryboo]

Try tying it as a cravat under a shirt/jacket and I bet it'll look spiffing, it is quite a manly foulard style print.

melanie, its quite large 26" x 26" and i had listed it as a woman's scarf, but i did think it was a manly print, so will re-do it on Cuthbert (trusty male mannequin) and some tweedy stuff.

maureen, great info on the link, that explains a lot!

lorraine

 

[Pinkcoke]

Yes I looked up the size Lorraine and put a 26" tape around my neck; that was what made me think it could be a man's, I didn't think you could do much more than tie it simply in front and then it would be quite short.
Love the name Cuthbert!

I've started looking at the bird on this and realised it's not quite a peacock, the colours are different and so is the crown - does anyone know if this is a real bird or have they just taken artistic licence with a peacock design?

 

[retro ruth]

Are there 'eyes' on the tail feathers? I can't quite see. If so I'd say it's meant to be a peacock.

 

[Pinkcoke]

Yes there are, though I looked through all the varieties of Peafowl and none feature red plumage or a crown like this.

 

[retro ruth]

No but I think you are right that it's artistic license on a peacock. I don't think there is any other bird that has those eye marks on the tail, and it's such a distinctive feature of peacocks.

 

[tickeryboo]

it looks quite tropical with the palm leaves etc, is there a foreign breed of peacock? or other exotic bird

lorraine

 

[retro ruth]

Peacocks originated in Asia, mostly.

And they are actually the same family as pheasants.

 

[foofoogal]

I have seen items with a similar bird called Bird of Paradise but I would say Peacock is what they were going for also.

 

[Pinkcoke]

It's funny you should say that, I had it down as a Bird of Paradise in my head and on the draft but when I did a search nothing remotely similar came up.