We have been asked to take over the cases," Wesley explained, straightening his designer tie.

This trip is the beginning of the designer close tie with Japan that will culminate with marrying the artist and illustrator Aoi Kono.

His shirt matched, and his expensive designer tie gave him a sophisticated cosmopolitan look.

For example, he wanted his wardrobe - double-breasted Italian cut suits, cotton shirts with soft collars, designer ties - to evoke "the Sean Connery look."

And some young men are sneaking in the occasional designer tie.

Blagojevich, who is fifty-three, looks fit in his crisp navy and gray Oxxford suits and designer ties.

He was wearing a fine gray Armani suit with a dark blue shirt and a designer tie, expensive loafers, and socks with a diamond pattern.

"The county had no cash," said Mr. Bennett, whose Cerutti suit and designer tie added a bit of style to his government-issue office.

The BMWs, the Breitling watch, the designer ties.

Van Gundy took his black dress shoes off afterward, loosened his red designer tie and slumped back against a locker-room cubicle.