Dress Like Sean Penn

Sean Penn walked away with Best Male Actor from this week's Oscars. Penn fought off competition from bookies' favourite Mickey Rourke to win the gong for his performance in the Gus Van Sant-directed movie, Milk.

Whilst Penn and his fellow Hollywood stars soaked up the glitzy ceremony, we were keeping an eye on the ties the fellows were wearing. As you can probably imagine, there weren't too many variations on the plain black tie or plain black bow tie.

Not to worry though, as the main man Sean Penn wore a tie with a subtle difference. Penn's narrow tie had a self-stripe to it adding a lovely texture to his outfit.

Want a tie much like Penn's? Try our Semi-Plain Black 7cm Skinny Tie!

Your Chance To Win...

Tiesplanet.com have teamed up with the Yorkshire Evening Post to give away six limited edition ties.

We have just launched our first ever exclusive tie range. Featured in this series of six ties are sights from the city of Leeds. Designed by University of Leeds graduate Claire McDonald, the images are manually screen printed on to elegant white satin ties.

Only ten of each design have been printed and can be viewed here.

And now for your chance to win one...

The Yorkshire Evening Post has six of the limited edition Leeds ties to give away.

To enter send a postcard with your name, address and daytime telephone number to Leeds Tie Giveaway, Features Department, Yorkshire Evening Post, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 1RF.

Entries should arrive no later than 12pm on Tuesday, February 17.

The first six entries drawn on the day will each receive one of the ties.

Fraternal ties

Grant Woodward reports... NEVER was there a bigger bane of a schoolboy's life than the hated school uniform.

And the worst part was always the tie - a striped symbol of the metaphorical chains keeping you shackled to dull maths lessons and dodgy school dinners.

Or was that just me?

Anyway, times change and though brothers Chris and Andrew Bragg were never too keen on neckwear either growing up, they're now making their livings out of it.

Read full story here.

Tiesplanet.com

It's Snow Joke, You Really Can Get A Free Pair Of Gloves

The UK is suffering its second day of disruption following the heaviest snowfall in 18 years. Over 4,500 schools have closed across the land, with one in five workers said to have not made it into work.

So, what to do with your day in the snow then? Build a snowman? Go sledging? Simply go for a stroll?

Whatever you decide to do, you'll need to keep those paws warm. With our free magic gloves offer, you have no excuse for cold hands!

Read all about the day's snow caused havoc here.

What Should I Wear To My Job Interview?

A common age-old question. And it is true, first impressions count for a great deal in job interviews. A vital part of that being your choice of attire. You should always dress up a notch whether you will be wearing smart clothes in the prospective job or not.

Alongside your new clean shirt and best dark suit comes your choice of tie. And yes a tie is vital for a job interview. Think about it. Two equally qualified people turn up. Each perform well in interview. One wears tie, one doesn't, who gets the job?

Here are the Ties Planet tips on what tie to wear:

• No novelty ties - Themed ties may be a fun Christmas gift, but they are not appropriate for job interview. By all means let your prospective employer know your interests in your CV, but don't emblazon it across yourself on the day of the interview.

• Choose primary colours - Yellow, red or blue are the way forward. You want the interviewer to notice you have taken the effort to wear a tie, but you don't want your neckwear to be the most recollected thing about you. So don't wear anything too loud like oranges or neon greens. By the same token a black or white tie will not leave any impression whatsoever. In fact, black might leave them thinking that you were that bit too serious about the job.

• Plain/Striped - Plain or striped ties are best. A plain red or blue tie will pretty much complement any shirt. Striped ties will work well with plain shirts, but not with striped or checked shirts.

• Skinny ties for women - For an ultra-smart look, women can wear a plain skinny tie with their best suit and blouse. Worn loosely or tied to the collar, a skinny tie will look great on a lady in interview.

Follow these simple tips and make sure you prepare for the interview and that dream job will be yours in no time!

Free Pair of Magic Gloves

What do Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Aaron Lennon and Kaka have in common? They all often wear black gloves to play football in.

If you fancy a pair of black gloves of your own then now is the time to get some. Why? For one the British cold snap is probably still months away from ending knowing our luck! But mainly because we are giving them away!

Yes, you can get a free pair of black gloves on Tiesplanet.com. Either add a pair to your order free of charge, or if you just want the gloves, then just pay delivery.

We can't guarantee you will then have the earning power of Kaka, but at least you will have warm hands.

Swansea Secure Fulham FA Cup Tie

It has been FA Cup 4th round weekend, with Swansea City earning the result of the round by defeating holders Portsmouth 2-0. As reward for their impressive victory, The Swans earned an home fixture against Fulham in round 5.

But it wasn't just the football ties that we were interested in. As usual we were keeping tabs on any ties being worn. Arsene Wenger, Dave Jones and Rafa Benitez, to name but a few, all wore fetching ties as they managed from the sidelines.

Legend defenders, Gary Pallister and Gary Mabbutt made the draw for the 5th round... and of course they decided to be smart... by wearing ties.

Want a tie to celebrate Swansea City's cup success? How about our Black and White Swans Silk Tie...