Bow tie neat or imperfect?

[mercuryfelt76]

I have a bit of an obsession with my tie always being neat and correctly dimpled. But with wearing a bow tie I was advised that if it looks a little untidy then people know it's a real one and not a clip-on. But I'm too OCD about everything I wear looking immaculate. I simply can't go out unless my bow tie is symmetrical and dimpled properly on both sides. I really don't want people to think I'm wearing a clip-on but I can't leave it alone if it's not perfect. Does anyone else sympathise or am I being too picky?

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Do the best you can ...

It's easy to tie an imperfect bow tie. Heck! I do it all the time! Tying one that looks like it was tied by some poor south Asian drone working 20 hours a day in an unhealthy factory is really hard.

If you can tie one as well as the wage slave, I say, "Go ahead and do it!" I'd be really happy if I could.

 

[scottyrocks]

Now that you mention it, I find that I fiddle withmy ties constantly. Is the pinch right? Is the gap right? It's kind of annoying, now that I think of it.

 

[Feraud]

I tend to not obsess over the angle of my fedora, how the crease looks or the perfection of tie knots.
Tie it and go I say.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Kilo, I can tie a bow so that it looks perfect. It takes a bit of fiddling but I'll always get it looking perfect but I find silky ties tend to slip a bit whereas a rougher or patterned material will hold the knot perfectly. So when I'm wearing a smooth shiny tie, I have to fiddle or re-tie it several times a day... and that seems a bit silly. Is it normal for a gentleman to care this much about his appearance?

Scotty, you seem as bad as me. Even when I wear a straight tie I only ever tie it in a full Windsor knot and constantly check it in every reflection I happen to pass.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

I also bash a hat carefully until it's absolutely perfect...

 

[Yeps]

I think that purposefully leaving the bowtie imperfect is like leaving cuff buttons on a jacket unbuttoned. You are just looking sloppy to prove you are wearing the real thing.

Tie it as well as you can. If it gets a little sloppy, that is life, but I wouldn't try for it.

 

[dnjan]

If the tie is really tied "perfectly", I imagine it would actually look best about an hour later.
Whereas starting out a bit assymetric may look "good" initially but approach sloppy an hour later.

So I try for the best I can get, and then try to resist the fiddling temptation.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Thanks Yeps, I think I have my answer.

 

[David Conwill]

I think that purposefully leaving the bowtie imperfect is like leaving cuff buttons on a jacket unbuttoned. You are just looking sloppy to prove you are wearing the real thing.

It could also be what those of us who can't manage a perfect bow tell ourselves to feel better.

But hey, thanks for taking that away!



-Dave

 

[SteveAS]

I think that purposefully leaving the bowtie imperfect is like leaving cuff buttons on a jacket unbuttoned. You are just looking sloppy to prove you are wearing the real thing.

Tie it as well as you can. If it gets a little sloppy, that is life, but I wouldn't try for it.

Exactly my view of both issues, Yeps.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I used to be way more of a perfectionist on such things, but have relaxed. I've realized that anywhere I go, they're just impressed you're wearing a tie.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Dave: ha. It's actually quite easy to get it perfect, you just have to fiddle for a while. I wore a brand new bow tie today and it held it's knot so well that I didn't have to adjust it all day. But I see some people feel the way I do - tie it up as neatly as you can and if it's not perfect at least people will realise you made the effort.

 

[John in Covina]

It has been a long time since I had a self tie bow tie, but I can say that I really strived to get it just right when tying. I also would fiddle with it in front of the mirror later on. With a regular tie I like to get it right but when pressed for time will allow a certain amount of imperfection. I will also fiddle with it later on and my re-tie it if I see the need.

 

[Tomasso]

I think that purposefully leaving the bowtie imperfect is like leaving cuff buttons on a jacket unbuttoned. You are just looking sloppy to prove you are wearing the real thing.

Actually, it's more like choosing the asymmetrical four-in-hand knot over the symmetrical Windsor knot. .

Your analogy would include something like this.......

 

[Tomasso]

I prefer the tie on the left, with its imperfections, to the tie on the right..

 

[Feraud]

The bowtie on the left has character.

 

[flyfishark]

I've always thought a bow tie expressed individuality. It would seem a perfect tie would defeat that "look." I like mine with a bit of asymmetry (and my wife likes that look, which is a big plus for me).

 

[Fletch]

There's also the matter of overcoming the popular stereotype.

Especially with a bow tie, being too neat implies that you're wound up tight and playing a role, just like our pal Pee-wee.

A better model might be Daniel Boorstin, the historian and public intellectual.

Altho he seems at a quick glance to embody several bow-tie stereotypes - writer, lawyer, professor, librarian, all of which he was - he knew how to wear the tie with splash and spontaneity.

We might take a cue from his own 1961 book, The Image, where he lamented a trend in advertising and public life - "the reproduction or simulation of an event becoming more important or real than the event itself." And sure enough, today most people think of Pee-wee's simulated bow tie, not Boorstin's real one.

It's our privilege as bow-tie wearers to subvert the paradigm. A bow tie ought to be a quiet event around the neck - shifting, flopping slightly, organic, human-tied.

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Fletch, thank you for that - you plead a good case.

With regards to the examples of 2 bow ties above: I don't like the look of either of them, however I wouldn't be seen dead in the one on the right. Maybe that's a little harsh. But what that example has taught me is that I do want a little amount of asymmetry because it genuinely looks better. Ok I admit it my bows don't look like the one on the right so I'm happy with the way I tie them.

Maybe I should include some photos... this may take a while...