I wear neckties regularly to work, and have done so for many years. I'm the Regional Engineer for the South Region of a commercial construction company. As the manager of our engineering department I don't have to wear a tie, and in fact I'm the only person in the office who does. I just like to, since it maintains an almost extinct sense of decorum and professionalism; it's my small way of rebelling against the trend of casual dress at work. Simply put, I just enjoy the sense of personal style that comes with wearing a tie and shirtsleeves during the workday. A suit, or even a waistcoat/jacket, would be overkill in this evironment.

I also, of course, wear a tie with my kilt when appropriate. Not all my neckties are of a style suitable for kilting, but I do like to have as many options as I can that will do double-duty.

A few days ago I decided to reorganise my ties neatly on hangers, as they tend to become a jumbled mess over time. It's been a while since I inventoried my ties, but apparently I have 55 neckties and 4 bowties. I have skinny ties, fat ties, striped ties, paisley ties, tartan ties, plain solid-colour ties, silk ties, wool ties, knit ties, vintage art deco ties, you name it. I probably only wear about 35 of them on a regular basis, and could get rid of about 20 of them that I just don't care for that much. The ones I need to get rid of just aren't my style or don't go well with my build (I'm on the small side, and super-fat ties don't suit my physique).

What I want to do is rotate out my seldom-worn ties and replace them with something I'll wear more often. But I'm not about to go out and buy 20 brand-new ties. Have you priced neckties lately? My goodness, they're expensive. I need to do this in a budget-friendly manner.

So, with that said, do you have any online sources of inexpensive neckties that are still decent quality? I have some sources I shop regularly, but let's see what you have to share.

Are there others here with neckties in their closets that aren't worn? Is there any interest in an XMTS necktie swap? Maybe we could do some trading, or you have some you'd be willing to sell off. If so, we would need to do it in the swap forum (yes, we have one, which rarely gets used). I just want to see if there's interest here before taking the time to sort them out, photograph them, and post them.

And a question: I have a handful of ties that I otherwise like, but they are just too wide. Has anybody successfully modified a tie to make it narrower? It would appear that many ties could just have a few stitches removed, then be re-pressed at a narrower width (more overlap in the back), but I'm not sure if it's really that simple. I've decided that anything wider than 2.75" just isn't suitable for me. Some of my 3.5" wide ties need to skinny up. Thoughts?