Bow Ties

Harrison Ford's ability to make the fedora look extremely sexy in the Indiana Jones films helped boost hat sales a few years back. Now, style-watchers and retailers are hoping that the new ABC television series "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" will also establish some new clothing trends.Sean Patrick Flanery, who plays Indy as a teen-ager, seems most likely to inspire skipped heartbeats and sartorial styles. Likely bets include:* That fedora. Sure, Mr. Ford donated the one he used in the films to the Smithsonian, but Mr. Flanery has a new one that is almost as sexy as the original.

Welcome back, Gleeks! I hope y'all had a fantabulous holiday hiatus. In this first "Glee" episode of the New Year, we have William McKinley High School's first annual Sadie Hawkins dance, courtesy of a proposal from Tina. Meanwhile, in New York, Kurt realizes that NYADA is just like high school in that there are cliques everywhere and considers joined Adam's Apples (the school's show choir) to make new friends. Rachel, however, swears that doing so would basically be social suicide since the show choir ranks so low on the popularity totem pole.

"The only proper accessories for a man who wears bow ties are a big red nose and a beanie."Well, don't tell that to dedicated bow tie wearers."For business wear, bow ties give off several negative effects," said John T. Molloy, author of "Dress for Success" and guru of Wall Street executives, in a telephone interview from his New Jersey office. "You will not be taken seriously when wearing one. People don't trust a man in a bow. The only people who should wear them are outside commentators on society -- like clowns and reporters."

Dennis H.L. Sherman, a retired tailor who was also known as "The Tie Man," died Dec. 14 of pneumonia at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 87. "I first met him when I was in middle school. Back then I used to wear ascots, and he thought that was so cool," said Matthew "Bay Bay" Williams, a Baltimore portrait artist. "He was a most interesting fellow. " Dennis Howard Lee Sherman was born in Norfolk, Va., and raised in Petersburg, Va., where he graduated from high school. During World War II, he served in the Army as a private.

In semi-retirement, Sigmund Eckhaus has expanded his fashion horizons. He's now wearing colorful bow ties, suspenders and bold sweaters -- options he never considered as a full-time chemical engineer.As a consultant, though, he's relaxed his style and discovered an unexpected benefit:"People may not remember my name, says the Owings Mills grandfather, "but they remember the guy with the bow tie."At age 67, you must have seen many styles come and go. How did you decide what to try and what to pass on?

TC What's a 28-year-old doing in a bow tie and braces?Being Robert Knott, of course.Mr. Knott, director of annual giving for the Baltimore Archdiocese, takes pride in not looking like every other buttoned-down guy in Baltimore.With a collection of 60 bow ties and 20 pairs of braces (his wife counted), he's developed a reputation for his eye-catching ensembles.His attire has even caused some friends to label Mr. Knott, who lives in Rodgers Forge, a "slave to fashion.""That's not true," he says adamantly.

Bring on spring! It's the battle cry of parents everywhere, and not because of the weather or blooming daffodils. Sure, those are nice features of the season, but for parents used to seeing their children in T-shirts, jeans and a layer of grime, spring means something more. It signals the coming of Easter, and that means finally getting kids to trade in casual clothes for some dressy new duds. "New clothes signify a new beginning," says Rosemary Schneider, who with her mother owns Pied Piper, a children's clothing store in Cross Keys.

A short but sweet request came from Bill Brigerman of Baltimore. "I'd like a recipe for Polish Bow Ties," he wrote. Dorothea Wilfong of Lutherville responded with tester Laura Reiley's recipe choice and a note: "You might want to cut this recipe in half; it makes a million bow ties. This is a two-man job, one to roll and one to fry. Cookies are so rich they melt in your mouth." Polish Bow Ties Makes 30 bow ties 12 egg yolks 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 pint whipping cream 3 cups sifted flour vegetable oil for frying powdered sugar Mix together the yolks, sugar, salt and whipping cream.

We shopped local boutiques and retail stores to find some gift ideas for the fashion-lover on your list. Here are seven ideas, from stocking stuffers to grand indulgences. Charming bow ties Hit the party scene with a purple or blue bow ties from Carrot & Gibbs, $65 each. Or, come up with fun color combinations using the four-in-one ivory and black bow tie from Edward Armah, $105, available exclusively at Gian Marco, 517 N. Charles St., Baltimore, 410-347-7974; gianmarco.org. Emergency help The Ms. & Mrs. Mini Emergency Kit is a palm-size case stocked with essentials for women on the go, including lip balm, floss, clear nail polish and earring backs.

When people run into Jerry Bray, they often ask him to do the same thing: lift his pants leg.If that sounds odd, you've obviously never seen Mr. Bray, vice president of French Bray Inc. commercial printers, in a pair of Mickey Mouse socks.Fanciful socks, bow ties and glasses give him a memorable style, which works to his advantage with clients, he says."People don't always remember my name, but they remember the guy who wears the bow ties," says Mr. Bray, 37, who lives in Timonium.His family, however, is more divided about his look.

We shopped local boutiques and retail stores to find some gift ideas for the fashion-lover on your list. Here are seven ideas, from stocking stuffers to grand indulgences. Charming bow ties Hit the party scene with a purple or blue bow ties from Carrot & Gibbs, $65 each. Or, come up with fun color combinations using the four-in-one ivory and black bow tie from Edward Armah, $105, available exclusively at Gian Marco, 517 N. Charles St., Baltimore, 410-347-7974; gianmarco.org. Emergency help The Ms. & Mrs. Mini Emergency Kit is a palm-size case stocked with essentials for women on the go, including lip balm, floss, clear nail polish and earring backs.

Watch out now, "Glee" is all grown up! Season four kicked off tonight and picked up right where we left off. First, we find ourselves inside the dance studio of NYADA (New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts) where Miss Rachel Berry is literally getting her butt kicked by a Miss Cassandra "Cassie" July, geniusly played by Kate Hudson. Cassie tears into Rachel within the first five minutes of the show. For the record, Ohio is worse than Iowa. It's like a turd that Michigan "can't quite pinch off," according to Cassie.

Writing about me for a profile in the Christian Science Monitor , Richard O'Mara quoted an unnamed colleague, "He dresses like a floorwalker. " Indeed, Tuesday through Friday, I'm at the paragraph factory in suit and tie. Only on Saturday, when a skeleton staff toils in the the echoing newsroom, do I go casual. The formality is a personal preference, from a lingering sense that a grown-up man ought to dress like a grownup.  There is no dress code for the newsroom; my fellow managers on the news desk, Steve Young and Phil Klinedinst, are determinedly casual.

PHILADELPHIA — Nolan Ryan once found himself on a game show with the legendary Satchel Paige. The two killed time talking baseball, and for Ryan it was another chapter in his hardball education. Paige asked Ryan at one point if he knew the best pitch in baseball, and the self-conscious Ryan didn't want to embarrass himself. He said he wasn't sure. "Bow tie," Paige told him. "I never heard of it, Satch," Ryan said. "What kind of pitch is that?" "That's when you throw a fastball right here," Paige answered, running his hand across his Adam's apple, and smiling wickedly.

Dr. Russel E. Kacher, a former longtime English and philosophy professor who had taught at Anne Arundel Community College, died Jan. 26 of cancer at his St. Michaels home. He was 67. Dr. Kacher, the son of a Bendix draftsman and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on Moyer Avenue in Parkville. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1960, he earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1964 from what is now Towson University. Dr. Kacher earned his master's and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Someone walked off with my dictionary. Rather, my dictionary walked off, not quite of its own accord, but on its own two feet, carrying the contents of a desk and sporting a black fedora. It was not an ordinary dictionary. It was not, to use one of the dictionary's least favorite cliches, your father's dictionary. It was your great-grandfather's dictionary, one partial to fountain pens, bow ties and - the most charming anachronism yet - the proper use of the English language. Baltimore Sun copy desk director John McIntyre was laid off this week after 23 years at the paper.

THE BROOKLYN Bridge Christian Coffeehouse has found a new home, at the rear of 5517-C Ritchie Highway, in the Arundel Village Shopping Center. Founded in 1999 by Brooklyn native Russ Tenhoff at Maryland's Church on the Rock, Brooklyn Bridge has become one of Baltimore's leading venues for Christian music. "It just spread like wildfire," Tenhoff said. "A lot of it was by word of mouth and by distributing fliers. We are also a member of the Christian Music Connection, which is a national association and a great resource for artists and managers to locate places to play.

Welcome back, Gleeks! I hope y'all had a fantabulous holiday hiatus. In this first "Glee" episode of the New Year, we have William McKinley High School's first annual Sadie Hawkins dance, courtesy of a proposal from Tina. Meanwhile, in New York, Kurt realizes that NYADA is just like high school in that there are cliques everywhere and considers joined Adam's Apples (the school's show choir) to make new friends. Rachel, however, swears that doing so would basically be social suicide since the show choir ranks so low on the popularity totem pole.

WE THE people just lost one of the good guys. Paul Simon, the Illinois Democrat who always wore a bow tie and a smile, served in the state legislature and then spent 22 consecutive years in Congress - 10 in the House, 12 in the Senate. He died last week at age 75 after undergoing heart surgery and endorsing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for president from his hospital bed. Mr. Simon ran for president in 1988. He also sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee that heard the riveting testimony of Clarence Thomas and his accuser, Anita Hill, during Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991.

EMMITSBURG - Game No. 1,354 started just as the first one did nearly five decades ago for Mount St. Mary's basketball coach Jim Phelan. He shook some hands, offered some words of encouragement, tied his trademark bow tie in the locker room, then walked onto the court and kissed his wife, Dottie. Doing things any different just wouldn't have felt right. Phelan, 73, closed the book on his record-setting career in style last night as Mount St. Mary's defeated Central Connecticut State, 60-56.