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As I'm sure most of my male business associates would agree, wearing a business suit to work every day begins to feel a lot like a modern-day version of a uniform.

Adding to the monotony are the limited choices of colors (typically black, gray and navy blue) and the standard dress shirt.

On a recent trip to JoS. A. Bank's at ABQ Uptown, I found 10 different-colored dress shirts, from black to yellow to ecru and everything in between. But my choice has always been the traditional white and blue.

The one clothing item we men can vary to add a bit of flare to our wardrobe, to celebrate a holiday or to mirror our personality is the modern necktie.

The earliest-known version of the necktie was found in the massive mausoleum of China's first emperor, Shih Huang Ti, who lived about 200 B.C.

Ti was buried among thousands of terra-cotta soldier figurines, some of whom sported scarves that resembled modern-day ties.

Although several sources indicate that the tie has taken on many forms since, like ascots, bandannas, bolos, bows, cravats, jabots, kerchiefs and scarves, the version we are used to today came into its own in Europe as recently as the late 1800s.

Americans now spend more than $1 billion each year to buy a staggering 100 million ties. That's about one tie for every male older than 20 in the United States.

Since purchasing my first necktie as a young man more than 30 years ago, I've been on a quest for the perfect tie.

To my surprise, I recently discovered a new store on San Felipe Street in Old Town. It's called Ties for Men and it has more than 1,500 ties to choose from.

As owner Larry Hurlbut said on a recent visit, "We actually have more ties in stock than we can display in the store."

To accommodate this additional inventory and sales, the store maintains an online presence at tiesformen.com.

Ties for Men has a tie for just about any occasion, industry or occupation. I would be quite surprised if you couldn't find a tie to match the individual taste of every man in the family, whether he be father, grandfather, brother or uncle.

So let's review the selection. In the whimsical category are cartoon ties featuring the Peanuts gang of Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy; Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam; and characters from Garfield, Scooby Doo, South Park and Spongebob Squarepants.

Are you a chef or food connoisseur? Then check out the ties featuring beer, coffee, martinis, pizza, seafood, wine and other foods and drinks.

You're an athletic sort of man? Then you'll like the 50-plus ties depicting baseball, basketball, bowling, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and tennis.

Do you need a tie for that special occasion like a birthday, holiday or religious occasion? There are ties you can wear for Christmas, Easter, Father's Day, the Fourth of July, Halloween, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Ties for Men also offers designs of animals, astrological signs, casinos, cities and states, flowers, military themes, musical instruments, national flags, popular bands, movie stars and scenes from classic movies. The list goes on.

Most interesting to me were the occupation-related themes: firemen, policemen, scientists or teachers, including restaurateurs.

In fact, Hurlbut said the store "regularly get calls from companies nationwide requesting ties for their retail operations. We even supply raw fish ties to a sushi bar in Switzerland." Another personal favorite theme is the line of Randa Corp.'s Originals ties. As Hurlbut explained: "They feature children's artwork from a national design competition."

For example, the Originals tie I purchased was designed by Dana, age 12. In turn, Randa Corp. donates 3 percent of its sales revenues to the Save the Children foundation, which helps children in need worldwide.

Beyond all the novelty ties, Ties for Men also offers several lines of designer ties, including the hard-to-find Jerry Garcia series.

And for my taller friends, the store offers extra-long ties up to 64 inches, well beyond the standard 56-inch to 57-inch tie.

Ties for Men lacks one kind of tie. Yep, you guessed it, the clip-on tie! Go figure?