The Kentucky Derby is less than a fortnight away! If you have never been to the Derby, then please do yourself a favor and cancel whatever plans you have for Saturday, May 2nd and Go! here at Bird Dog Bay, the Derby acts in a way as holiday for us. People from all over the country flock to birddog bay.com to check out our equestrian themed ties, derby themed socks, and bright and festive dress shirts. Our line seems to go hand in hand with the Kentucky Derby and all of the festivities surrounding it! This Spring our collection has a myriad of options for getting that perfect derby look!

Derby Dreams is clearly the frontrunner of our Derby themed neckwear this season. Complete with a jockey, bits, and a beautiful steed racing for the finish, this tie will receive accolades from every big hatted gal in town.

Another more conservative and classic option is “Just A Bit” in mint. Imagine this tie, in a bow, with a seersucker suit… They might just declare you the winner and give you a coat of roses.

 

Now you need a new shirt to pair with your tie, luckily our shirts were designed to match that whimsical derby tie. Try out our classic MacFarlane Gingham with any tie we sell… (Yes, that mint julep you may spill on it will come out at the dry cleaners)

Finally, the finishing touch is needed. Socks… Really, any pair will add the fantastic finishing touch to your ensemble. Yet, the granddaddy of them all has to be the Trifectas…

Grab one of these whimsical Bird Dog Bay items, and you will be the talk of that charming Louisville town this Spring!

Pheasant Flight
Design #288, Portfolio Entry #5

I’ve been on a sales trip in Florida for the last couple weeks and from what I can gather fans and customers have been enjoying my weekly Bird Call Blog. I’ll continue to make time to churn these out whether from bohemian coffee shops drinking overpriced coffee so I can take advantage of their Wi-Fi, or wedged between two strangers on a flight as I write feverishly in my trusty sketchbook between pencil scrawls of race horses juggling mint juleps and monkeys reenacting hear no evil/see no evil for future silk drawings, to as of right now, sitting at a picnic table at Longboat Key’s Coquina Beach, choking back a terrible cup of coffee waiting for the sun to peek over the mangroves. Far from the world of the sporting birds featured in today’s design, unless you consider these two fat seagulls perched on the recycling bin throwing me suspicious looks. Their only sport is endless cawing as I try to finish my equally questionable breakfast sandwich so I can focus on typing this blog on my laptop.

I’ve been drawing sporting birds my whole life, I almost went into the profession of medical illustration in college, never considering myself a great “artist” but more of a technical “illustrator”. I stumbled into my current trade as a necktie illustrator, which happened to be very suiting of my drawing capabilities, while studying art and graphic design at the University of Illinois. While growing up in my small town of Sleepy Hollow, IL I just happened to have one of America’s most renowned bird sculptors, Bob Guge, living down the street. I was always inspired by his work and enamored by his three-dimensional wildlife art. Plus, my father, although mainly a potter, was also a wood sculptor. Surely I was the only kid in town with several potters’ wheels in the basement and an endless supply of fire clays. As a child, I could watch him endlessly as I barked out different birds and animals for him to sculpt while he peddled the wheel and created the entire Lincoln Park Zoo in muddy sepia colors right before my eyes. Unfortunately though, I didn’t pick up the knack for the three-dimensional arts like my father and naturally leaned toward soft leaded drawing pencils as well as pen and ink work. I also grew up with stacks of encyclopedic books on wildlife animals and bird species field guilds for inspiration, books I still have and use today as reference to work out what exactly the visual difference is between a flying grouse versus upland quail.

In today’s featured design you’ll see the flying pheasants that I grew up admiring as my endless line of crazy Irish Setter’s flushed them from the brush in the horse and cow farm in my back yard. Never in all my years do I remember one of our goofy dogs ever catching one mid-flight, just a collection of near misses. I drew this tie to match our new collection of gingham dress shirt patterns. Print ties are traditionally designed as tight step and repeat patterns, but pheasants in flight are so visually impacting I thought this beauty needed a little space to breathe which, in-turn will make it easy to sister with complicated shirting patterns more like a classic English woven club tie. My mill was beating their head against the wall trying to register all the colored screens to hand print this design seeing I drew it without a filetto, the typical black outline that is the original width of my drawing pencil that traps the bleeds of the inks. This affect gives the design a softer appearance, which I try to use whenever possible with animal designs like birds, fox and setters that naturally have a lot of feathering. Either way, I hope you like this one; it even has matching socks for you advanced dressers. Win. Win.

All right, the sun is officially up, I’m down to my last sip of caffeinated swill and my now disinterested feathery companions are pecking at the cool morning sand. Time to head back up to the frozen tundra to start drawing Spring 2016, maybe I’ll draw some new sporting birds for next spring or maybe some fat morning seagulls attacking a hapless typist at the beach in classic hitchcockian fashion. Stay tuned; I’ll keep you posted.

Go Green!

 Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at Bird Dog Bay! Whether you’re in the office or out on the town, there’s no reason not to have some fun today. With brand new Green Gus Caps, Four Leaf Luck Socks, or our Lucky Horseshoe ties and , you’re sure to make your coworkers green with envy! This day of the year is always a celebration for us in Chicago. Our river is dyed green, our streets are flooded with loyal patron of our famous Irish pubs, and everyone seems to be in a jovial spirit.

Tie one on today and for spring break, which is just around the corner, with Hoppy Hour. May the luck of the Irish be with you today, tomorrow and every day.

From all of here at Bird Dog Bay, have a Happy and Safe St. Patricks Day, wherever you may be. Slainte!

Next wednesday is Saint Patricks Day. Growing up, this was never a big event for myself, other than the awareness to wear green so Joey Fleener would not pinch me on the bus. Yet, a couple of years back, I moved to Chicago… Lets just say, it is a big deal in this town. So big, in fact they die the river green. Thats right, the river that cuts through the city like a knife through a loaf of bread is dyed the greenest green you can imagine. It is quite a site to see. every pub in town is jam packed, the streets are overflowing with people of every walk of life singing. dancing, and drinking pints of guinness. If the sun is out, most people just chalk up a vacation day to celebrate. Here at Bird Dog By a we like to get ready for the big day by showcasing our fun collection of St. patrick themed ties, shirts, and accessories.

I will definitely be wearing green next week, not only for the slight chance that Joey Fleener flies up to Chicago to pinch me. but just to be in the spirit. Bird Dog Bay has quite the outfit if you really want to show off the luck of the Irish. Start off with our newest dress shirt the “Barrington” in green and blue check… pair it with our “lucky horseshoe” bow and “lucky clover” four leaf luck socks…Not to mention of selection of green goods and accessories to complement your outfit for the office or the bars… Wherever you are, tie one on! You will be the talk of town, when folks see you jig dancing down Division street in this snazzy outfit. We at Bird Dog Bay would like to wish a safe and happy St. Patricks Day to everyone, and Cheers!

 

Good Morning, This is Steve Mayer, the guy behind the Bird Dog Bay brand. Frequently, the question I’m asked to field most when chatting with fans is “What’s your inspiration for your designs?” After years of our marketing manager hammering me to write a weekly blog describing my illustrations and the stories behind them, I’m now waving my white flag. Every week, I’ll provide fans with a bit of a glimpse into the hundred or so designs I create each year. I’m known among friends to be a bit of an embellished story teller, so bear with me: short and sweet is not the Mayer way! Anyway, I hope you find it interesting as the rest of my team thinks you will enjoy it…

Elephant Club Med

 Design #287 – Portfolio Entry #5

 

What is it with fans of Bird Dog Bay and these Elephant patterns? Who’s buying these? After hunting and fishing themes, the other animal theme I’m encouraged to cover when illustrating my collections are goofy little elephants. Year in and year out. Why? I haven’’t have the slightest idea…

 

What started with a Christmas tie with elephants balancing wrapped gifts on their noses called “White Elephant” tumbled into “Elephant Bath” then “Out of Africa” then “Poll Position” then “Wet Trunks” then “Big Five” then “Lucky Trunks” then “Pink Elephants” getting us to my current design of “Elephant Club Med”.

 

We have elephant everything: socks; cufflinks; linen pocket squares; belts; bow ties; key chains and cummerbunds. I was just  commissioned to designed a custom elephant themed shirt for one of our accounts. If I’ve learned anything in this crazy business it’s that Elephant patterns sell. I saw more of that Lilly Pulitzer shift dress pattern last year than any other clothing pattern in public, although that may say something about the circles I run with while on the road peddling my wares. We have a nice footprint in the state of Alabama for all those Roll Tide fans, and of course, all you staunch Republicans. But, even then, it doesn’t seem to add up to the strange volume of elephant themed products we move from my Chicago studio. One thought may be that PT Barnum has an enormous extended family of men’s clothing accessory horders. That seems like a plausible answer.

 

It’s not as if anyone has any personal kinship with them, they aren’t walking on retractable leashes down Michigan Avenue, you don’t see them swimming north up the Mississippi delta, people generally don’t like seeing them in captivity at zoos or at the circus. Their jokes are famously known as terrible and for some reason an upward elephant trunk is considered good luck, though nobody knows exactly why.

 

I start designing the Spring 2016 collection this week and I have a few ideas for next year’s new elephant tie. One is of our hapless little guys drifting down from the sky with umbrellas clutched in their trunks, some with their umbrella folded outward as they plummet South. Not sure where I thought of that one, my childhood orthodontists wallpaper? Was that a jacket cover for an old Shel Silverstein book? Or maybe I’ll have our little gray scuba swimmers with trunks above the surface while one confused little bird perched on a single trunk peers down into their hypothetical blow hole. With 2016 being an election year, I recently sketched a cartoonish elephant mid swing at the tee box driving golf bal ls at a hapless donkey hauling down the fairway with his tail between his legs. Though that would require I’d have to do the complimenting design of that same frustrated donkey bucking our little African swinger into a water hazard full of chomping alligators. I’ve had worse ideas… At this point, it seems I could swap “Dogs Playing Poker” with our wrinkly gray friends and our fans would think that’s perfectly acceptable and send in their accolades. It seems the odder the better for our fans as our elephant portfolio continues to grow.

Either way, you’ve got our whimsical Serengeti heroes on a well deserved holiday at “Elephant Club Med” to hold you over until I put pencil to paper for next spring’s collection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy thinking about and drawing them. I especially like the turquoise and fuchsia colorways when paired with small bright colored Bird Dog Bay gingham shirts.

While silk neckwear has been our bread and butter for years, we’re always looking to grow using the best materials possible. Composed of 45% linen and 55% cotton, this blend ensures the tie holds its hand and knot beautifully, all while featuring a lovely embroidered motif at mid-chest. Spring is just around the corner… and that means Easter, Father’s Day, and all the other colorful festivities that mark the arrival of warmer weather, flowers, and bright colors! Our new linen panel ties have a unique and handsome construction with an embroidered emblem placed strategically on the tie to add that extra touch of haberdashery. Steve also designed classic white linen pocket squares that pair with the tie designs. How much fun is that?… The single colored linen panel ties also pair fabulously with our Bird Dog Bay gingham check dress shirts to balance out your outift, and give you a little more pep in your step this Spring. Cheers!

Cufflinks are such a timeless, and classic accessory for gentleman. Bird Dog Bay has made a mark by creating our own unique shotgun shell cufflinks that make one heck of a statement. Imagine walking up to the bar to place a drink order, and upon your drink arriving, you take your hands out of your pockets and place them upon the bar. Anyone that notices your Bird Dog Bay shotgun shell cufflinks will know you dress like a man.

Our 12 gauge links are the perfect gift for the sportsman, the businessman, or both… They are a blast! literally… Try out the black 12 gauge links with a tuxedo, the red 12 gauge links with a sport coat, or the orange 12 gauge links without a jacket for a more casual look. Anyway you go, you are sure to be a big SHOT!

AFTERNOON ANGLER

Design #286 – Portfolio Entry #4

 

What does skiing have to do with fishing? Stay with me and I’ll explain. All Mayer stories come full circle and have a pay off, although some are better than others…

 

My grandfather, Ronald Macfarlane Clarkson, took up the sport of skiing at the late age of 44 in 1960. He took to it so quickly and naturally that he mastered all our Midwestern mountains–really, just glacial hills–before leaving for Canada and Europe to perfect his craft. His favorite place to ski in America was always Colorado and the buzz within the skiing community in the early ‘60’s

was centered around a new pass deep in the Rocky Mountains that was about to break ground: Vail Valley. He skied in Vail the first few years as the town and its popularity grew, and he knew he had stumbled upon something special. In those years, he developed a kinship with the mountain, the village, and the tight knit ski community who worked tirelessly to build a small mountain town into one of America’s largest and most popular ski resorts.

 

One day my grandfather got word that a swiss gondola was going to be built just down the street from downtown Vail Village and my savvy grandmother, swooped in and purchased a modest one bedroom townhouse in a building, that was still an architectural spec, a stones throw away.

 

Now, because of the townhouses desirable location and due to the growing popularity of Vail,  it rented practically every single ski day for the past forty three years. This meant if the Mayer family were to use it during the winter, we’d essentially be taking money from the rest of the family. So, my folks, sister and I had never visited Vail during a ski season until just recently. Though that wasn’t the case in the summers…

 

Vail Valley had a light marketing push for tourism in the summer season from the 1960s until about fifteen years ago. It seemed as if the town made so much money in the winter that they didn’t bother to promote how unique the summer experience was. They seemed content to get a few warm bodies in their establishments and stay afloat until the next fresh powder fell.  Or maybe they just wanted to keep this unique summer secret to themselves. Unfortunately, for a try-anything-once family like the Mayers the summer experience turned out to be a perfect fit. Every summer after the school season broke, we’d pack up the current family truckster and head West for Vail, staying until we had exhausted all the activities it had to offer. Not many kids from the suburbs of Chicago can say they grew up horseback riding, backwoods hiking, whitewater rafting, real mountain biking, and, of course, fly fishing for trout and steelhead in Gore Creek. My love for nature and the outdoors really took shape in Vail and are reflected in the illustrations for the Bird Dog Bay collections.

 

I know this long winded story just expressed that I’m inspired by the outdoors, but really the point of the story is that without my particular experiences in Vail, there most likely wouldn’t be a Bird Dog Bay. The possibility to build a very unique life for myself with the opportunity to some day live part time in Vail, Colorado in the off-season, in what is now my folk’s townhouse, is what inspired Bird Dog Bay. To this day, several years on, I wake up at the break of down on the third week of August with my trusty Tahoe packed with my design studio and equally old dog, Gus, riding shotgun and we roll away like a classic Bob Seger song.

 

While I’m gone, my team holds down the fort back in our Chicago loft while I primarily focus on illustrating, designing, and coloring the following Fall’s collection from the same maple kitchen table my grandparents purchased before I was born. When I’ve finished and have submitted the collection to the silk mill a month or so later, I pack up the Tahoe and Gus and head back home for the holiday season. Mission accomplished.

 

Anyway, to return to design, the tie you see here, Afternoon Angler, is something I designed after my sister, Jen, and I returned to the townhouse after a guided wade trip in Red Cliff last year. While she hooked seven impressive trout, I slipped into the drink, filled half my waders with the Colorado River, and spent the bulk of my time untangling bird nests from the bank … all in all, a solid fly fishing experience with her!

 

If you are ever lucky enough to visit Vail, swing by the Landmark Resort and take a look at the framed photo of my svelte grandfather on the peak of the mountain in the late 1960’s. It is mounted in the “Ronald and Florence Clarkson” locker room which is dedicated to my grandparents. A beautiful tribute to the two people that inspired me to take this life gamble, launch my fun yet challenging company and continue to inspire me year after year.

Here is another photo of Gus the dog, and his new favorite food, Seaweed…well maybe not. It looks like he might not be a fan. He is adorable none the less.

Good Morning! This is Steve Mayer, the guy behind the Bird Dog Bay brand. Frequently, the question I’m asked to field most when chatting with fans is “What’s your inspiration for your designs?” After years of our marketing manager hammering me to write a weekly blog describing my illustrations and the stories behind them, I’m now waving my white flag. Every week, I’ll provide fans with a bit of a glimpse into the hundred or so designs I create each year. I’m known among friends to be a bit of an embellished story teller, so bear with me: short and sweet is not the Mayer way! Anyway, I hope you find it interesting as the rest of my team thinks you will enjoy it…

SHARK WEEK

 Design #254 – portfolio entry #3

The second most frequently asked question I’m asked is “Are you ever concerned you’ll run out of ideas for your silk designs?” The answer is usually an impish grin and the following explanation … were you ever to visit my studio and flip through my design files, you’d understand why running out of designs is the least of my problems–dealing with custom jobs, maybe–but thinking of the twenty-seventh way to draw a clever golf tie? Not so much.

As of today, there are thousands of random sketches on scratch paper, pub coasters, old Polaroids, Victorian Christmas ornaments, and vintage hunting licenses, not even considering the thousand of ripped out pages from home decor and sporting magazines. What started with a simple accordion folder when I was a teenager is now several file cabinets some twenty-plus years later. Really, I would say collecting inspiration for silk designs is my one real hobby, and I add to it every day. Just this morning, in fact, I sketched a design of a blockheaded English labrador retriever mid-flight from a dock jumping competition, inspired by a photo from the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC. Stay tuned as that baby might show up in next Spring’s collection…

Well, anyway, last year I came across a sketch drawn on a Key West snorkeling brochure tossed into one of the cabinets a million years ago. My illustration had a load of different shark breeds swimming in circles and in Sharpie I wrote “Tiger, Nurse, and Hammerstein.” Clever? I don’t know, but at the time I thought it would make a good tie for lawyers. Granted, I wasn’t sure I was going down the right path, so when I finally put pen to paper I drew in a little “Scuba Steve” to play it safe … well, maybe not so safe in these silky waters.

It is mid-February and Bird Dog Bay is located in Chicago, IL. Needless to say, it is cold. It is bone chilling cold. To get to the loft today, I put on Snow boats, 4 layers of earth, my faithful Bears snowcap and ski goggles. I was still freezing… Yet, it was beautiful out. It also made me wish I was skiing. Then I got to the office and went to check out what Ski ties we have… We have several!!!! My favorite is an oldie but a goodie… It is called “Fresh Powder”… It is a great ski tie and I really like the dark forest green color. The downhill skier just pops on it! Steve actually sketched this one while sitting at his folks’ kitchen table in Vail, inspired by a photo he saw in that morning’s Vail Daily while on a ski trip with his buddies last spring. He would have been carving the back bowls that day, though he tore his rotator cuff showing off his very limited skiing skills to his friends and ended the remainder of his trip with a #2 pencil, sketch pad, and a sixer of Coors Light. His pain is your gain… It is a great ski tie! Just look at the detail!

 

 

Another great ski tie we have is from this past Fall/ Winter Collection. It is called ski school, and it offers a little more of a geometric/ subtle approach.  Stve describes it as, a beautiful step and repeat featuring sticks, planks, and flakes, Ski School is a gnarly addition to even the most seasoned bum’s formalwear, and a surefire way to make you even cooler this winter… It is a handsome tie, and would complement any outfit, even a linen shirt in the summer!

Good afternoon! This is Steve Mayer, the guy behind the Bird Dog Bay brand! Frequently, the question I’m asked to field most when chatting with fans is “What’s your inspiration for your designs?” After years of our marketing manager hammering me to write a weekly blog describing my illustrations and the stories behind them, I’m now waving my white flag. Every week, I’ll provide fans with a bit of a glimpse into the hundred or so designs I create each year. I’m known among friends to be a story teller unafraid of a bit of embellishment, so bear with me: short and sweet is not the Mayer way! Anyway, I hope you find it interesting as the rest of my team thinks you will enjoy it…

SETTER SHEILD
Design #285, Portfolio Entry #1:

After years of living outside Chicago, my folks became snowbirds and began splitting time between my hometown, Sleepy Hollow, and Sarasota, FL. In late-October, I headed to the suburbs to help pack two cars to the brim before they headed South in another chapter of their always entertaining fifty year partnership. One thing that didn’t make the cut while packing? My dad’s mentally questionable English Setter, Prince the Dog.

Can you guess where Prince the Dog found his new digs? Pun intended.

Let’s just say having a untrained hunting dog in downtown Chicago is not all roses I’d hope it would be. Yeah, my Labrador and company mascot, Gus, has a new buddy at home. But, in all my years of never seeing an Irish or English Setter walking the streets of Chicago, I now know why…

Prince, or “Black and White Dog” as fans and foes now call him on the block, is a real piece of work. Already a staple in my West side neighborhood, Prince spends his days in the yard, barking at everyone and everything. A baby stroller? Bark. Stray cat? Bark. Snowblower? Bark. Pigeons and squirrels? Bark. Whether it’s a three ton V8 engine Uhaul or a floating plastic bag in the wind, everything that travels past my front wrought iron fence is fair game for Prince’s endless hollering. It’s as if coming up with new and inventive ways to scare the living daylights of all things on my block is his personal twisted game, considering he happily wags his tail in complete delight while doing so.

When not barking outside, Prince likes to stare at me while I work in my home studio. Always judging, endless staring… plotting my demise. I can feel it in my bones while he peers at me through absent, black doll eyes. Now, I know all those holes he’s dug in the front yard these past few months are most likely to dispose of my remains.

As I write this, he has finally taken a break from his terrifying ambitions and is fast asleep on my studio floor. His mouth gaping and his right paw, twitching; whether he is dreaming of sweeping open fields while flushing pheasants or my eventual demise, I’m not sure. At any rate, this design is a nod to Prince’s wistful sporting dreams and my hopes for the day I don’t need to lock my bedroom door when I sleep…