I think he had me at "fuzzy frogs": Mark Simonson of Gilbert writes: "In the early ’80s when I was growing up, my mother found some bright orange fabric with fuzzy frogs and flies all over it. She thought it was pretty sweet at the time, so she decided it would look good as a necktie. Don’t you agree? This hideous but sexy tie, which doesn’t match anything on the planet, has been the conversation piece whenever I have risked wearing it in public."Simonson can look on the bright side, though: "I feel fortunate to have it … who else can look down at their neckwear and pet fuzzy little amphibians?" (I gave you a close-up a left.)Do you think this is the worst of the lot? Take a look at the other contenders after the jump — and leave your comments!(And remember: You’ve got only one more day to enter your own ugly tie for a chance to win 14 new ones from designers including Ermenegildo Zegna, Kenneth Cole, Nautica and Ike Behar. The instructions are at the end of this post.) The perils of the novelty tie! John Frederick writes: "My Australian-born wife bought me this tie for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I wore it faithfully on the flights" — he’s a pilot — "and happily while at the Games, but what on Earth do I do with it in Arizona? All my friends laughed every time they saw me wear it. My wife even laughs at it now and said I could do with a new one."How did Leonard Frederick of Chandler end up with so many heinous floral ties? (Another of his entries is further down.) "I don’t know how long I wore this one I purchased in the early ’90s," he wrote. "Until I realized it didn’t suit much of anything." John Pecoraro of Tempe stopped by with two possibilities for the Ugly Tie Contest. The one at left he found at a vintage clothing store in California — it’s from 1947 and handpainted. (He also bought a similar one that has a woman wearing, ahem, a bit less.) The one at right he bought when he was student-teaching and needed a green tie, and this was the only one in the store.Leonard Frederick’s other floral fantasy. "Back in 1980 I bought this tie for a family reunion," he wrote. "Now look how it fits." (The crop doesn’t let you see how short it is now.)John Frederick’s second entry — also a floral! — has matching suspenders, too. (To see the full effect, click here.) "My daughter from Oregon sent it … to me for Father’s Day several years ago," he says. "She thought they were wonderful so I couldn’t disappoint her and wore them often." Thane Walton of Mesa entered all three of these ties. Of the one on the left, he says: "Can you believe I actually purchased this for my engagement photo in 1981? Luckily for me the photographer vetoed it." The center tie: "Sometime in the ’90s I saw this and wore it with pride for about three years before my senses caught up with me." The one on the right: "I thought all the various color schemes would match anything I had."Click here to enter our Ugly Tie Contest for a chance to win more than a dozen new ones from makers like Nautica, Bird Dog Bay, Ike Behar and Ermenegildo Zegna. (Photos and descriptions of the prize ties are on the form, too.) The deadline is June 8. I’ll continue to post the entries; the winner also appears on the cover of our Arts & Life cover on Sunday, June 17 (aka Father’s Day).

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