The Men's Dress Furnishings Association was a trade association based in New York, New York which promoted men's fashion accessories with a primary focus on dress shirts and neckties. The group also educated consumers at high schools and colleges.
Founded in 1947 as the Men's Tie Foundation, they changed their name to the Neckwear Association of America in 1978. In 2003, due to a decline in its membership as a result of manufacturers closing, consolidating, or losing business to overseas competition, the Association added dress shirt manufacturers to boost their membership and became the Men's Dress Furnishings Association.
The group announced in 2008 that it was shutting down after 60 years. Membership in the group had declined from a high of 120 manufacturers in the 1980s to 25 in 2008. Increased competition from manufacturers outside the United States as well as the declining number of men wearing ties was cited.
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What art can wash her guilt away?
The only art her guilt to cover,
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And wring his bosom—is to die.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)
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My brother should sail a painted boat.”
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“An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)