Jennifer Berg

Last Thursday, downtown's swanky J Bar was tied up for a private launch party. Inside, clipboard-holding ladies manned the floor in gender-bending ensembles that would make Annie Hall proud. The accessory of honor: neckwear from Bird Dog Bay.

Bird Dog Bay creator Steve Mayer has always had a love for design; as a creative lad growing up in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois, Mayer worked with the raw materials his Midwestern habitat provided. By the time he could pack his own lunchbox, Steve's resume boasted a hand-hewn tree house, a nativity scene made entirely of pipe cleaners and more animal drawings than Napoleon Dynamite could fill a Trapper Keeper with. Throughout his youth, Mayer consistently respected the spiffing-up potential of a tie; as a high-school student, he would proudly sport one to most any occasion--swim meets included.

After studying graphic design at the University of Illinois, Steve took his knack-with-colored-pencils to the drawing board of a local tie manufacturer. After twelve years of designing neckwear for someone else, Mayer knew it was time to strike out on his own. Using Gus--his red Labrador Retriever--as a mascot and good-luck charm, he created Bird Dog Bay ties.

The company's name comes from a set of circumstances involving Steve's four-legged best friend: Owing to their hunting prowess, Labrador Retrievers are often referred to as "bird dogs." On days when Mayer had to head off to work, his pooch would press his nose to the bay window of Steve's house to watch his owner leave.

The handmade ties (each $75) of Bird Dog Bay combine fine silk with a punchy color palette and subtle, play-on-words subject matter: a tie with a pine-green background, featuring tiny white golf balls and cartoon-like gophers, is called Gopher Golf; a bull and a bear seesaw on a salmon-pink canvas in the Stock Yard Exchange tie; the cheeky Birds and Bees tie features both creatures buzzing about enthusiastically.

Bird Dog Bay ties are available for purchase online at www.birddogbay.com and are sold at Shirts on Sheffield, 2897 North Sheffield, (773)868-1600.

(2006-09-12)

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