Bow Ties

The bow tie is a men's fashion accessory popularly worn with other formal attire, such as suits or dinner jackets. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar in a symmetrical manner such that the two opposite ends form loops. more...

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Ready-tied bow ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip. Some "clip-ons" dispense with the band altogether, instead clipping to the collar. The traditional alternative, consisting of a single strip of cloth, may be known as a "self-tie" bow tie to distinguish it. Bow ties may, like neckties, be made of silk, polyester, cotton, or a mixture of fabrics, although some fabrics (e.g., wool) are much less common for bow ties than for ordinary neckties.

Origin and History

The bow tie originated among Croatian mercenaries during the Prussian wars of the 17th century: the Croats used a scarf around the neck to hold together the opening of their shirts. This method was soon adopted (under the name Cravat, a name perhaps derived from the word Croat) by the upper classes in France (then a leading country in the field of fashion) and flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. The famous French writer Honoré de Balzac even wrote a book on the subject.

It is uncertain if the cravat then developed into the bowtie and necktie, or if the cravat gave rise to the bow tie, which in turn lead to the necktie.

Stereotypes of bowtie wearers

Architects are said to wear bow ties frequently, but the evidence for this is thin and based mostly on individuals than the profession as a whole. It has been suggested that one possible reason involves routinely standing over drafting boards, and the necessity of keeping dangling clothing away from blueprints. Nonetheless, the concept may be a meme rather than a substantiated fact.

Bow ties are commonly seen in popular culture as items of sophistication, such as those worn by fictional spy James Bond. However, they have also been adopted into the "uniform" of clowns and male strippers, and such associations have lent bowties a less serious image.

Current

Although the necktie proves most prominent in today's society, being seen at business meetings, formal functions, schools, and sometimes even at home, the bow tie is making a comeback with fun-formal events such as dinner and cocktail parties, and nights out on the town. Bow ties are still popular with men of all ages in the American south. It is also still much more common to wear a bow tie with a dinner jacket than it is to wear a necktie with one; previously the bow tie was the only proper neckware for a tuxedo.

The dress code of "black tie" requires a bow tie, although, paradoxically, it need not always be black these days. Most military mess dress incorporates a bow tie, which must always be of the self-tie type. For a military officer to wear a clip-on bow tie with mess-dress or dinner-jacket is regarded as a faux pas, and in many regiments the offender will be required to purchase a significant quantity of champagne for his fellows, by way of a fine.Oscar Wilde once said:

Read more at Wikipedia.org