Piano key tie gets reinvented as a washboard

Washboard Tie: no starch required...
Washboard Tie: no starch required...

Apart from being a timeless fashion statement, the piano key neck tie is pretty useless. It looks amazing, but you can't actually play it. So, it's time to ditch the cotton for steel and adorn your fingertips with thimbles: the Washboard Tie is here.

Like all the greatest fashion-destroying accessories, it's been doing the rounds on the underground circuit for years. Until a keen eye at the annual Toy Fair in New York snapped it into the mainstream.

You can own a Washboard Tie yourself (including a set of thimbles) for $18, or watch one in action via 'loopist' Robert Fishbone's video below - circa 2006. See? Underground…

(Via: BoingBoing)

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).