Review: SKINNYFATTIES Tie Slimming Service

So, you went out thrifting and found an awesome tie for dirt cheap. Problem is, from the 1980's through the 90's, and even as recently as the 2000's, the widths of neckties have been on the wider side, sometimes tragically so.

While you may have found a great looking tie from Ermenegildo Zegna, Polo Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Ben Silver, GANT, or one of many other fine tiemakers, having a 4" wide tie and an athletic, non-portly frame doesn't look quite right. While I have discussed the ideal width for ties before, I think the best piece of advice I can offer is that ties should be proportional to your frame, and your jackets-- specifically, coordinated with the widths of the lapels.

The Basic Idea:

So, what to do with that awesome repp tie you thrifted, got as a gift, or say inherited, that doesn't quite look right? Well, there's a solution that doesn't involve going out and buying a brand new tie. Skinnyfatties (Pronounced Skinny Fat Ties) is a tie tailoring service that will slim down your neckwear to any specified width (in .25" increments). As a web-based service, you simply mail in your ties, and in a few days receive them back with the requested tailoring.

In this article, I will be writing an in-depth review about my experience with the service as well as providing some photos.

Some of my favorite ties in my collection have always been the vintage Brooks Brothers repp ties. These fit the "Mad Men" look perfectly, because they are quite literally the same ties that the characters in the show would have been wearing in the late 1960's. This is regarded by many, to be the ideal width for a "trad" tie, and in my measurements, they clock in right at about 3-3.25".

A vintage Brooks Brothers tie, thrifted for $1

Here we see two vintage BB ties, with a wider, more recent tie on the right. Notice the difference in width.

This tie, the BB#1 in burgundy/gold/navy, is one of my favorite ties, and one of the most recognizable patterns out there. It's a beautiful tie, however on many occasions I felt awkward wearing it, due to the width being slightly wider than what I normally prefer.

According to the website, this tie is now manufactured at 3.25", however this one, being a couple years old, is 3.625".

While this width works for bigger guys, the college aged guy or young professional looks better with widths around 3" in my opinion. This tie, a wonderful BB#3 stripe in navy and pink, would be my 2nd tie I selected to be tailored by the service.

I got in touch with Joshua Adam Brueckner, the founder and current CEO of Skinnyfatties. One thing I will praise them for right away, is amazing customer service. Every time I visited the site, someone working directly at the company (not some outsourced BS) was able to live-chat and discuss any questions I had on the spot. I just wish more webstores had that level of service. 

Anyways, the first part of the tailoring process is choosing your size. I measured up my beloved vintage BB ties and found them to be right about 3", so I requested one tie to be tailored at 3" and one at 3.25"

My two ties, boxed up and ready to go in a Brooks Brothers tie box.

Skinnyfatties provides a shipping label, using USPS First class mail. Their facilities are based in Brooklyn, NY.

The Price:

The total cost to have two ties altered is $58 + $11 for return 2-day shipping.

I received a discount on the basis of publishing this review, however I won't deny this service is on the pricey side for a college student or young professional. On the other hand however, say rather than altering the ties, I went out and bought two brand new ones at a cost of $70 each, I would have had to spend $140 compared to $69, so depending on how you look at it, it isn't necessarily terrible. 

Lets also keep in mind this is a labor intensive process that has to be done completely by hand. The company quotes that the alteration process requires about 2 hours of work, so I would say considering this, the price is fair. 

The relatively high cost however, means that to me, this service would be limited to "luxury" ties, or those which I feel are fairly valuable, just unwearable due to their current wide width. 

I would not use this service on any tie that was fairly inexpensive new, as it would be cheaper to just go and buy something similar. When you have a $150+ tie however, a $29 alteration doesn't seem like such a bad deal.

The Turnaround:

I mailed my ties in on a Wednesday, and received them back the Friday of the following week, with a total turnaround time of 10 days (7 business days) including transit. This could fluctuate based on how busy they are, but I was very impressed with how quickly I got them back.

Here's the box that arrived yesterday with my ties. I was slightly disappointed I didn't receive back my origional packaging, as I sent these off in a nice Brooks Brothers tie gift box. While it's not really a big loss (I have a few laying around), I suggest they put a disclaimer on their site saying that you will only receive back your ties, and not any packaging material you send them in.

The BB#1 tie, post alteration. 

Both ties after their diet and exercise regimens.

The keeper (the strip of fabric that says "Brooks Brothers Makers and Merchants" is still in place. According to the website, if your tie is to narrow to keep the original labels, they sew a new one in place, and re-sew the original label onto the back-blade of the tie. It seems 3" is about as skinny as you can go while keeping the tags as they are-- Perfect.

Measures to 3.125"

Also measures to 3.125"
I had requested this one at 3", but I actually am quite happy with how it came out.

The alterations process involved re-creating the look of the tie, and I think they did a good job of keeping it proportional and symmetrical.

Comparison of tailored, recent BB#1 tie left, with classic vintage BB#1 tie, right. The widths are now identical. One thing I did notice was the placement of the bar-tack (the stitch that keeps the back of the tie together, was considerably lower on the tailored tie. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, but a higher placement would be more true to the original build of the tie,

Skinny-model glamour shot

Overall, I was quite impressed with the final product. The ties look as if they came that way right from the store, in a more perfect width matching the classic variety loved by so many. There is no obvious signs they had been altered, and all the needlework was cleaned up perfectly (no loose threads or sloppyness).

Pros:

• Quality of the tailoring was quite good
• Very fast service clock in at 10 days, including shipping both ways.
• Amazing customer service, live chat was a great feature.
• Wide variety of widths, pick anything from 2" to 3.5" (I reccomend 3")
• Discounts when sending in multiple ties. 

Cons:

• Fairly expensive, however still cheaper than many brand new ties.
• Their shipping kind of annoyed me. They use a USPS First Class label (provided) to get the ties there, but then only offer expensive shipping for returning them to you. $10+ for return shipping is simply too much for a service like this, where the goal is to save money.
• Original packaging was not returned, no warning on website regarding this but a small caveat. 

My Suggestions: 

• The return shipping should be free, and be based on USPS first class which is the most economical way to ship anything under 1lbs in most cases. I know for a fact I can mail a package to NYC (where Skinnyfatties is based) for under $3. Priority 2-day mail would be a meager $5.05, so charging $11 for return shipping seems to be unreasonable.  Change your platform to support USPS first class mail, absorb the cost, and offer 2-day rush shipping for $5-$7 per order extra.  For customers in a real hurry, also offer USPS Priority 2-day for the initial shipping label too. 

• Insurance. Lets say I sent off 10 ties each valued at $200 new. The package gets run over on the tarmac at Newark airport, or one of my ties gets accidentally damaged or destroyed during the alterations process. While these scenarios are unlikely, they are very much possible, and the current site has no real section that covers liability or insurance for a loss. The provided shipping label should have insurance on it for the value of the package, and the company should assume some liability for if a tie gets irreversibly damaged during the alterations process. While this isn't a huge deal when sending one or two ties, say a customer was going to send you $2,000+ worth of neckwear, it becomes kind of a big deal. 

Otherwise, I think Skinnyfatties offers a great service, that could really come in handy, especially those who thrift ties, or say, were gifted many from a father or grandfather that just seem a little out-of-proportion with your younger body type. 

They aren't alone in the tie altering business, and TieCrafters offers a similar service, which can also include a professional cleaning. Their costs are very similar to Skinnyfatties.

So, if you have a little extra money, and a few ties that have been sitting in your closet, I recommend sending them off to Skinnyfatties for alteration to achieve that perfect width. While it may seem ridiculous to care so much about less than an inch difference, in practice, this small variation in width makes a HUGE difference in the overall look of an outfit: and makes the difference between looking like you raided your dads closet, to having custom-designed ties made especially for you.

Check out Skinnyfatties for yourself, and get $10 off if you use my special link!

http://skinnyfatties.refr.cc/N5567NZ