Bow Ties

[The real Henry]

That video helped a lot! Thanks much for posting!


Untill now I always tied my bow ties differen and maybe wrong, but well, it some how worked :

Regards,
Henrik

 

[Orgetorix]

I have probably helped six or eight men learn to tie a bow tie who hadn't been able to get the hang of it, no matter how many instructions they read or illustrations they looked at. Once I showed them in person, though, it became a piece of cake. Kudos to you, Henrik, for figuring it out from the video!

A few years ago I was volunteering for one of the Presidential inaugural balls. I went to the bathroom shortly before the festivities started and found a fellow there struggling with his bow tie. After a few minutes, when I could see he obviously wasn't getting it, I offered to help him out. After I tied it for him, he thanked me profusely and said it'd been 20 years since he'd last done it up. I complimented him on making the effort to wear a real tie, and we went on our way.

 

[The real Henry]

You're right! I personally would never wear anything else then self tie ties. You simply see the difference!


Regards,
Henrik

 

[Dapper Dan]

It is funny to think how ubiquitous bowties were at one point and are now almost never seen outside of evening wear (and even that's becoming less prevalent; don't even get me started). I think a lot of the reason for their banishment from sartorial acceptance has to do with their needing to be sized to the neck and the long, bare placket they leave exposed when a waistcoat is not worn. Still, there's an undeniable bonhomie and eccentricity to be gained from wearing them in today's world.

I personally have never worn one, I guess because I feel I already draw a lot of attention through neckties that I don't need to accentuate that through bowties. Also, they do have this connotation today of either a math major or an aging economist. Not that I have anything against Milton Friedman (RIP), but I don't look to him for sartorial cues.

 

[Thornhill]

Bow tie= Great form of birth control

Chicks do not dig the 'Barney Fife stepping out with Thelma-Lou' look.

[huh]

 

[Dapper Dan]

Roger Thornhill here is 100% correct. The chicks today aren't wild about bowties.

 

[Orgetorix]

Well, my wife quite appreciates mine, and did when we started dating last year.

 

[vonwotan]

Bow tie= Great form of birth control

Chicks do not dig the 'Barney Fife stepping out with Thelma-Lou' look.

[huh]

I beg to differ. My girlfriends, and several of their friends (by no means all), have frequently complimented my bow ties. One evening, while entertaining clients in a bar I would not otherwise frequent, a very attractive young woman stopped at our table to introcuce herself and proceeded to ask me how it was that I was wearing a bow tie and had I always done so? After a rather lengthy conversation about food and clothing, she invited me to dinner at a wonderful little restaurant the next evening. Several weeks later we found ouselves standing in Charvet on the Place Vendome where she purchased my favourite pocket square and bow tie.

This is cetainly not a universal reaction. However, how one wears the tie, size, shape, how well it fits the shirt collar and the entire outfit makes all the differnce.

 

[Fletch]

Whatever you do, never wear a bowtie while doing a crossword puzzle. Especially if you do 'em in fountain pen. That breaks Orgetorix' rule of over-the-top right there.

 

[redavis001]

I agree with Vonwotan. I only have one bowtie and just started to wear it this year. Now the ladies, even if they don't like the tie like the idea of straightening the tie. I think they pick it up form the movies. But they stop me in the hall and "fix" my tie on a regular basis. Same as with braces. They cannot resist a slght tug (of course since they are ribbon and not elastic it does nothing) but it does give them an excuse to chat. About town it gets the attention.

 

[Dapper Dan]

I think I'm dealing with a much younger woman here, though. As I've mentioned before, I'm a sophomore at university. Perhaps in ten years, though.

 

[vonwotan]

Dapper Dan makes a good point. Age, region, context can also make a difference. Now, I have been wearing bow ties since grammar school. I got tired of dipping my tie in the soup during lunch hour... Over the years I have moved quite a lot and, despite my protests, aged.

In grammar school classmated frequently saw this as my way of asserting my individualism; in boarding school, several of our southern students also wore bow ties and several of my classmates joined me in the hunt for sharkskin suits, two tone wing tips, and other clothing that fit the letter of the dress code, but were unusual enough to push the limits - these of course required a very different tie; finally in college, despite attempts at very casual dress, I found that I still preferred blazer or tweed coat, wool trousers, loafers and bow tie or ascot when wearing an open collar.

That said, over time reactions differed greatly depending on each persons taste, and it seemed that folks from certain regions or towns were more or less complimentary. There were some who were openly critical, but that is the case no matter what one wears. At any age I found young women who liked my bows. And, as redavis001 mentioned, many who liked to stop me to rearrange the tie. So much so that in my second year I took to wearing my bow ties to all of our mixers - at the very least it was a conversation starter whether or not everyone liked them.

The point of my long post is that individual tastes differ for any number of reasons. I do think that the last several years of dot com and "gangster" (not what I used to think of gangster) fashion have made jacket, tie, and suit less popular. However, I do find that a number of people appreciate when others are well dressed and will compliment me on my bow ties, but some qualify their statement with "I wouldn't have the guts," or "I just don't have the opportunity" - expressing their discomfort with deviating from the "norm."

Can you tell that I am trying to avoid the pile of work on my desk?

 

[Orgetorix]

Whatever you do, never wear a bowtie while doing a crossword puzzle. Especially if you do 'em in fountain pen. That breaks Orgetorix' rule of over-the-top right there.

Hmm...I do that on the Metro. [huh]

 

[undertaker]

--bow ties, hats, pocket squares, vests, two-tone shoes, seersucker suits, etc.--and limit the number of them that I wear at the same time. One of these is fine--most people won't notice. Two is more noticeable, and if I need to dress more conservatively I won't wear more than two (e.g. a pocket square and a bow tie). I never, ever wear more than three at a time. Once I made the mistake of wearing a bow tie, an odd vest, spectator shoes, and a panama hat all on the same day--even I thought it was too much.

Hmmm..... I guess I'm just an over the top sort of fellow.lol lol lol

I can hardly wait for summer. I just bought two new seersucker suits and I always wear a bow tie, pocket sqaure, hat, and either two-tone wing tips or saddle shoes. Of coarse I often hear... " I don't know anyone else who could pull that off. It just fits your personality"

Regards,
J.S.

 

[Orgetorix]

Hmmm..... I guess I'm just an over the top sort of fellow.lol lol lol

I can hardly wait for summer. I just bought two new seersucker suits and I always wear a bow tie, pocket sqaure, hat, and either two-tone wing tips or saddle shoes. Of coarse I often hear... " I don't know anyone else who could pull that off. It just fits your personality"

Regards,
J.S.

I understand. Part of my reasoning for my own habits is that I work in a government office with a fairly professional atmosphere, so I have to be somewhat more sartorially restrained than if I were self-employed or something.

 

[Ben R.]

Proper bow tie width

Hi all,

I plan to pick up some bow ties very soon and need a bit of advice from the group as far as width goes. I'm 6'2" tall and wear a suit coat in 54 long. I realize that a batwing or any style approximately 1.5 inches wide is simply not going to wear well on me. If, for example, I were to order a stock width from Beau Ties, I would be left with choices of Slimline/Standard 2.5 inches or the Butterfly/Jumbo at 3.5 inches.

I called Beau Ties twice today, and got two different opinions. Imagine that. The first lady suggested that a tall, barrel-chested fella like me should go right for the 3.5-inch butterfly. She promised that it wouldn't look goofy on a man of my stature. She also noted that the 2.5-inch standard might be an okay second choice. The second call reached a lady who said I would do quite well with either the 2.5- or 3.5-inch ties. She said it was really just a matter of personal preference and that either would carry properly. These are freestyle only.

For the sake of comparison, I clipped on what turned out to be a 4-inch-wide bow tie (more of a novelty at that size) that I wore during shows my band performed years ago in college. The parts of the bow that tapered to the knot rode slightly above my collar line. Not so hot. Given that freestyles are much less rigid in presentation than pre-tied or clip-ons, would I be safe with Beau Tie's 3.5-inch butterfly, or would I still look sensible in the 2.5-inch standard?

What is your opinion?

As you can see here, I'm tall n' thick:
http://home.cinci.rr.com/benr/37.jpg

I'm the one on the far left.

Thanks for the input!

- Ben

 

[Tomasso]

http://www.avon-miami542.org/pictures/awards07/images/37.jpg

The link isn't working for me, Ben.

 

[CharlestonBows]

Bow tie widths

For what it's worth, we sell a lot of athletes and coaches in the shop, and a few sport the bow (naturally ).

For my guys, I rarely need to cut a custom sized bow -- unless their neck size is much too large for my stock bows.

My standard bow size is 2 3/4 inch butterfly, and I find that it suits most fellas. It's not so much the width of the bow, in this case, but the size of the bow once tied.

3.5 is an awfully full bow. That's a hard one to sell me on. [huh]

- CB

 

[Ben R.]

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else?

Tomasso, here's a link that should work (I'll edit my original link to fix it):

http://home.cinci.rr.com/benr/37.jpg

I'm the one on the far left.

 

[Ben R.]

After some searching, I found a good representation of how the various standard sizes might look on a shirt:

http://www.kottydesign.com/widths1.html

The 3.5-inch bow looks like it peeks out above the collar line, as does the 2.5-inch bow. So it seems that either might be appropriate for a guy of my build. Anyone else care to weigh in?