Question For Practitioners

Where do you stand on bow ties? I think there are a few dapper gentlemen who pull them off very well and I would cross a room to talk with them. But most wearers of bow ties, sloppily tied or not tastefully selected, come off looking like kooks or law professors. (Not that there's anything wrong with either -- in fact I'm very fond of both.)

Comments

[Bill Altreuter]

You have put your finger on the whole point of the bow tie look. And yet, it seems like a criticism.

[Tung Yin]

Yeah, it makes you look like a law professor. . . .

HEY!!! What's wrong with that?!? ;-)

[Dedman]

Unless you're George Will or Tucker Carlson . . .

[Richard Ames]

Bow ties are cool. Every now and then I get the idea I'm going to get a couple and start wearing them, but my follow-through hasn't been very good. However, I think the secret of being a "true" bow tie wearer is that you don't even consider if it's fashionable or not, so I'd probably look like a fraud in one. Like quantum theory, the very act of observation can change the outcome I guess.

[WBarletta]

I differentiate between wearing a bowtie to work and wearing one for a social event. The former you have pegged pretty well. The latter usage (as long as the bow is tied perfectly)cuts a broader, "look-at-me" swath . Excepting the wearing of a bowtie with a tuxedo - that is conventional. But then I am a very occassional practitioner

[Lena]

In law school I learned very early on that if the guest lecturer wore a bow tie, you would want to sit near the door for a quick exit. (And that rule has been handy ever since!)