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Bow Ties

JonnyO

A-List Customer
Messages
463
Location
Troy, NY
GHT, go back one page and follow the link on the the first post on the page. I learned how to tie a bow tie from a video provided by Brooks Brothers, but the one posted that I mentioned seems to be a lot better.
 
Makes a mental note not to wear a bowtie with a spearpoint collar.

Fellas, does anyone know of an easy to follow instuctional video that makes tying a bowtie a piece of cake?
The paper pattern instruction that comes with new bowties is pathetic. I've spent hours in front a mirror,
with the computer to one side trying to follow the YouTube "How to," instruction.
Perhaps it's me that's pathetic. I can get to the finished result, but it always looks like a bedraggled limp affair,
as though I had been caught in a downpour. It takes the deft fingers of my wife to get it looking as smart as
Merlin's. I am sure it's a question of practice makes perfect, I've always tied a neck tie with the Windsor knot,
something that some friends find impossible, but I can do it without a mirror. So I guess that the bowtie has to
be similar.

The most important part of tying the bowtie is remembering to go back through the loop you made. This is the best video to learn how to tie a bow tie:
[video=youtube_share;AEjF-MzzqaE]http://youtu.be/AEjF-MzzqaE[/video]Charles French is really quite good in these instructional videos.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,793
Location
New Forest
Charles not only makes it look simple, although I haven't given it a go yet, he has, unknowingly, shown me where I'm making the mistake. By turning to profile, and demonstrating that loop, through which the tie is thread, has lifted the scales as though it were. Previously, my problem has been to think of the bowtie as a necktie, with the finish being a slip knot that draws the tie up to it's final position. Seeing Charles' demonstration makes it obvious that the first part of the knot is essential to get the tie's position correct. Or am I talking a load of gobble-de-gook?
Whatever, I understand, much appreciated for posting that link.
 

MikeBravo

One Too Many
Messages
1,301
Location
Melbourne, Australia
.
Perhaps it's me that's pathetic. I can get to the finished result, but it always looks like a bedraggled limp affair,
as though I had been caught in a downpour. It takes the deft fingers of my wife to get it looking as smart as
Merlin's.

Forget the bow tie, nurture your marriage. You've got a keeper there :D

Besides, it's good to be a little helpless at some things, women like to help us clumsy males. :)


I am sure it's a question of practice makes perfect, I've always tied a neck tie with the Windsor knot,
something that some friends find impossible, but I can do it without a mirror. So I guess that the bowtie has to
be similar.

Practice is indeed the key. Last night I tied one bow tie the first time without a hitch. I then decided to wear a different one and tied that one first time too. It's a good feeling.
 
Charles not only makes it look simple, although I haven't given it a go yet, he has, unknowingly, shown me where I'm making the mistake. By turning to profile, and demonstrating that loop, through which the tie is thread, has lifted the scales as though it were. Previously, my problem has been to think of the bowtie as a necktie, with the finish being a slip knot that draws the tie up to it's final position. Seeing Charles' demonstration makes it obvious that the first part of the knot is essential to get the tie's position correct. Or am I talking a load of gobble-de-gook?
Whatever, I understand, much appreciated for posting that link.
Charles is a whiz at teaching the proper tying of any neckwear. If his shop were close to me here then he would definitely have me as a customer. :p This video is essential to really understanding how to tie the bowtie for beginners and experts alike because you have to understand how the tie is tied using the loop at the back. Everyone else just figures you will know it is there without showing you how to do it. I bet if you try it now with that in mind you will nail it perfectly. :p
 

MikeBravo

One Too Many
Messages
1,301
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Charles Eames demonstrating how bow ties don't work with soft, long pointed collar sports shirts:

charles_eames_zps0cb23c72.jpg

That shirt just cries out for a cowboy (ribbon) tie

carnival-accessoriessatin-tie-cowboy.jpg
 
Last edited:

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
I must say that I don't recall a season where so many designers/brands/shops were offering bow ties. And many, if not most, for the first time. I"m curious to see how many see any action.
 

SteveAS

Practically Family
Messages
841
Location
San Francisco
I've observed the same thing, AC. Aside from the hipsters, who wear bow ties ironically, I see very few here in the Bay Area (where I see very few ties, period). But I was in Washington, DC last month and saw many men wearing bow ties as part of their professional ensembles.
 

Guttersnipe

One Too Many
Messages
1,942
Location
San Francisco, CA
I've observed the same thing, AC. Aside from the hipsters, who wear bow ties ironically, I see very few here in the Bay Area (where I see very few ties, period). But I was in Washington, DC last month and saw many men wearing bow ties as part of their professional ensembles.

How much time do you spend in the San Francisco Financial District? I work in the FiDi and see bowties almost daily, usually worn by older gentlemen, but also by younger men who aren't being ironic. Unless, you consider the young, trad/ivy league/neo-dandy look ironic. Today being casual Friday in the District, I saw two!
 

Raiserliebe

New in Town
Messages
1
Location
Detroit
Fellas, does anyone know of an easy to follow instuctional video that makes tying a bowtie a piece of cake?

Oh man, I looked and looked all over. NOTHING made sense; not the vids, not the pictures, and for sure not the words.

Then I saw
http://www.blacktieguide.com/Style_Basics/Basics_Tying_a_bowtie.htm, particularly the video at mid-right side. They teach you to practice the knot by tying it around your thigh, just above the knee. That makes the knot's relationship to the shoelace knot plain. Of course, you have to transition to tying it around your neck, in the mirror, but still, this was the one that lit the lamp for me.

Cheers!
 

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