Boy, how time flies! On August 16th, 2006 --almost 5 years ago-- we received our first online order for some new-fangled magnetic collar stays by Wurkin Stiffs. While that 1.0 version of the product has long been upgraded, repackaged, upgraded again, expanded, repackaged again, and so on, you can still see what that original version looked like here. 

Anyone care to guess Wurkin Stiffs' first retail account? It was a young eCommerce company in San Francisco called On The Fly. As often happens, many years later, folks like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and others catch on and add the products to the their store. But I will always take special pride in being the first (and the only to offer Free Shipping on every order)!

It has been one of our best-selling products since we started carrying them, and they are one of our most addictive (defined as the number of customers buying them over and over).

Today, news broke that Wurkin Stiffs' founder & CEO, Jonathan Boos, will be appearing on ABC's entrepreneurial reality show, Shark Tank. We knew a few weeks ago that this would be coming since Jonathan politely informed us that he would not be able to attend the Grand Opening party for our new store/warehouse/global HQ on April 15th. But we'll hope he offers up some cool door prizes or giveaways to celebrate his newfound stardom!

Ever since Wurkin Stiffs introduced their silk "Knotz" in about 100+ colors, we've always touted them as a great emergency item. Any modern gentleman has probably found himself in a hotel with a French cuff shirt in his suitcase only to realize that he forgot to pack cufflinks. Rather than having to buy another pair, why not just keep a pair of silk knots in your suitcase or dopp kit all the time...just in case? 

Ironically, I recently found myself in Paris for a much needed vacation and arrived to realize I packed two French cuff shirts -- because I was going to France and it's the law -- and, viola! zero cufflinks. Fortunately, no trip to Paris was going to be complete without a visit to the Charvet store in the Place Vendome, and after picking out a beautiful blue striped dress shirt with French cuffs [because I was in France remember], the salesperson offered me my choice of silk knots as a gift to complete the shirt. It wasn't an expensive "gift", but it was certainly better than making me pay a few bucks for the privilege of wearing my new shirt. So my brain quickly started running through algorithms to determine the optimal color for all of the shirts that I brought that I would have to fasten with the same pair of free silk knots. I ended up with blue.

I decided then and there that no On The Fly customer should ever have to endure such mental anguish. As of today, any order for a French cuff shirt from On The Fly will include a complementary pair of exclusive On The Fly silk knots by Wurkin Stiffs.

Wurkin Stiffs made these knots for us in our company colors -- navy blue & cool gray -- and designed some cool packaging for them in the spirit of "In case of emergency, break glass." Unfortunately, we couldn't actually put "In case of emergency, break glass," because someone would actually do it, slice off their finger, and then On The Fly and Wurkin Stiffs would be sued. Such is the state of the world these days.

What Would Tony Stark Do? 

I'd have to think really hard about my favorite movie of the year, but I'm pretty confident that the most inspiring movie I've seen -- to the extent that it made me want to give up menswear to become a military industrialist -- was Iron Man. Granted, I haven't yet seen W., and that movie might inspire me to become President, but I'm not holding my breath.

Since I just don't have the engineering background required to design advanced weapons systems, I can at least wear the same silk knots that Iron Man might wear if he chose to wear silk knots. Knotz is the brainchild of Jonathan Boos, the inventor of the magnetic collar stays by Wurkin Stiffs, and the best thing to happen to men's accessories that you always needed but didn't know it. Seriously. No one needed magnetic collar stays until he invented them; once you try them, you wonder how you ever lived without them.

Knotz - colorful silk knots packaged in cool little cork-topped vials - are not in the same league since "monkey fists" [as they're also known] have been around since Charvet invented them back in the early 19th Century (thank you Wikipedia). But as a self-described, occasionally-absent-minded, modern gentleman, the value proposition for me is simple: I keep a pair in my dresser, my suitcase, my briefcase, glove compartment, gym locker, and at the office. Because, like you, I never know when I'll wind up wearing a French cuff shirt with no other cufflinks in sight. 

Knotz has a "Suit Collection" with dozens of color combinations for every suit you own, as well as collections for Birthstones, Holidays, and some cool shapes like the Barber Poles and Square Pegs. If you're like me, part-Clark Kent, part-Peter-Parker, you'll start by collecting the Superhero Collection...