A wise man once keenly observed that dead men don't wear plaid.

That helps explain both your current pulse—and your new sartorial fixation.

Introducing the just-released winter 2009 collection from The Tie Bar, a line that inspires us to dust off that old Preppy Handbook, put the clubs in the trunk and hit the links—or at least the clubhouse. It's so hard to find the ball in this snow.

An online tie boutique, The Tie Bar was launched five years ago by a married pair of Naperville law-firm dropouts who wanted to find a less-expensive way for men to keep sharp at the office, and manages to sell each of its 500 styles of silk ties for just $15.

That means you can afford to invest heavily in their preppy retro fetish—start with the madras-style plaids and iconic lion-profile crests (more East Coast boarding school than Scottish manor). If that's not sufficiently Andrew-McCarthy-in-Class for you, take things up a notch with one of the bowties, perfect for those more formal occasions.

Like shoveling the sidewalk.