Soldiers Angels sells them for $7.95. It's a good organization that I use a lot. It's especially good for donating to strangers when my man is home and/or I have no point of contact. Bakemeawish.com has a buy one and send one to an anon service member program and cookiesdirect.net has a cookie program for anonymous donations.
The real issues with cool ties/scarves are the chaffing and color. Once those are dealt with I can't imagine why anyone would be concerned with "looking better." That's kind of subjective and definitely disappointing. Sorry.
I hope this hasn't soured you on deployment related projects.