Open for business.
A What?!
What is a Twilly I hear you cry, well it’s my most favourite type of tie for a start. In its simplest form it’s a long thin scarf that can have multiple uses and looks great on both men and women. Made of fabrics such as cotton, silk and everything in between. My inspiration for wearing and making them comes from vintage styling and Doctor Who, my favourite TV programme. A man of vintage times would quite often finish off an outfit with a scarf, cravat or tie of some kind, and the Doctor is no exception to this. Once when I worked for a well known high street bank a customer told me - ‘How to make a corporate T-shirt look good - wear a scarf with it.”
The Discovery
Now I hadn’t heard of Twilly until I paid a visit to Liberty London a few years ago. I was looking at the scarves in the sale and had found some long thin ones which I liked. A young member of staff came over and said “There are more Twillys over there”. She pointed across the room and, not wanting to be rude, I complied. I didn’t know what she meant but assumed that ‘Twilly’ was a brand name of some kind. Well she must have seen the puzzled look on my face, so she came over and said “No! Twillys. Here look.”
That’s when the penny dropped. These long thin scarves where called Twilly’s! I had no idea they had a name. I must have made her doubt her self as she then had to google it to check she had not made it up. But no. She was right. A Twilly is a thing.
The Collection
My husband, Clive, and I had been buying these lovely long scarf things for ages and never knew that they had a name. I love a good rummage though a charity or vintage clothing shop. Rescuing redundant pieces of clothing and accessories. It’s very hard to resist sometimes, but you just have to step away occasionally. I had also been adding my own handmade versions to the collection too. These lovely simple pieces are a joy to wear and make.
The Inspiration
The Sixth Doctor played by Colin Baker in the 1980’s had a great selection of these cravats, or Twilly’s as I call them now. Usually in polka dot and one in vintage YSL fabric as well no less. His outfit was deigned by Pat Godfrey to be ‘totally tasteless’ as the brief stated, but they really struggled to fulfil that completely. The costume has a great silhouette and many of the individual items are great in their own right. Together it’s a riot of colour and pattern and design, but there is a colour pallet to it, a linking theme and charm about it. It certainly sparked my imagination as a kid and I loved dressing up like my hero as a kid. One of the parts of the costume that resonated with me was his tie or cravat or what ever that thing was. Luckily my Grandpa could sew and i asked him to make me something like it from his little stash of fabric. I still have it to this day although I haven’t worn it in a long time now, but I love having it there as a reminder of him and a reminder of where it all started so long ago.
Today
I was able to wear several of my Twilly Ties on the Great British Sewing Bee, all of them made with beautiful Liberty London Cotton Tana Lawn fabric. They certainly struck a chord with folks on my social media and the other sewers and crew of the programme took to them straight away. So what else was I going to choose for my first product in my new shop but the Twilly Tie.
All of the Twilly Ties in my shop collection are handmade by myself in our home studio. The first collection is made up of some Twillys in a beautifully soft Liberty London Cotton Tana Lawn fabric with others made in a lovely soft 100% cotton fabric. They are just over 2 meters long and flare out at the ends finishing in a point. They can be worn and tied in a number of different ways, as a tie, a scarf, in your hair and can really finish off your outfit for both men and women.
