subject: Bow Ties - The Good, The Bad And The Eccentric [print this page] Bow-ties are the neckties you mostly see with tuxedos. They don't drape down the front of your shirt but tied just at the front of your Adam's apple, forming what looks like a butterfly. They are also known to be paired with shirt and pants with suspenders, as well as the three piece suit, the one with waistcoat or vest.
The history is pretty much the same with that of neckties'. The Croatian mercenaries wore a piece of cloth tied around the collar of their shirts to keep them from opening. This practice was picked up by the stylist Parisian and turned into fashionable clothing practice known as cravat. Nobody knows for sure however, whether the cravat was followed by necktie which then turned into bowtie, or if the cravat was followed by the bow tie and then the necktie.
Unlike neckties, bows come also with sizes since they need to fit individual necks of the wearers. The sizes follow collars' sizes, 14 to 20 inches. All-size adjustable bow ties are available these days however, as factories develop them to cut costs.
Bow-ties come in a variety of colors and patterns. While solid black bows are preserved for waiters and groomsmen, everything else is up for grabs. Tip: Avoid big patterns. The piece of clothing is relatively small, compared to the rest of your outfit; big patterns, be it big dots or thick stripes, will make your tie look comical.
Solid colors like yellow, pink, peach and sage green are considered good colors for wedding bowties, especially if worn with matching pocket squares. Black tie events call for solid black bowtie worn with crisp black and white tuxedo. If you don't want to be mistaken as one of the waiters, you can always pick a silver, white or midnight blue bow tie.
Other selections for more playful moods include bow ties with paisley patterns, stripes, checks; plaids, polka dots, tartan, herringbone or even cartoon prints.
The art of tying the bow ties is not as preserved as the neckties'. The more popular choice is that of the clip-on bows even though some people consider it a fashion sin to wear the readily tied bow ties.
Despite their original connection to formal wear like tuxedos, where violation on which may cause fashion elitists to scream sin, bow ties have acquired somewhat of an eccentric image attached to them. Hollywood stereotyping leads to identifying bow ties wearers as forgetful scientists, fashionably challenged old stage performers and even low class comedians.
On a more serious subject, left wing people identify bowties as conservative symbols and practically balk at the idea of wearing bows. Out of the realm of Hollywood, in real life it was not really scientists who wear them, nor stage performers or comedians. Pediatricians are the professionals most known to wear bow ties since they need an accessory not easily pulled by children. Other professionals preferring bow ties include politicians, university professors, attorneys and architects.
