How to tie a bow tie

Somewhere during the 1990’s a change occurred on the landscape of American business. For hundreds of years, business men — doctors, salesmen, accountants, hotel clerks — all woke up in the morning and put on a dress shirt, jacket, tie and headed out for the day. The business suit — or at least the dress shirt and tie — were the staple of American business and had been for two hundred years.

Then the hi-tech world exploded. With software companies, engineering firms and hardware designers starting up, many of these had extremely loose dress codes. In fact, the recruiting pitch was often, good salary, stock options and you can wear jeans and a t-shirt to work.

In order to attract the same technical talent, larger firms began to relax their dress requirements in specific departments, allowing their engineering, IT and technical people to wear chinos and golf shirts. But now a paradox was forming. Because the salesmen of these companies were wearing the traditional shirt and tie, but their customers — the engineers, the software designers, the technical supervisors — were all wearing polo shirts, there was a rift. Before this, the salesman was always seen as a problem solver, a team mate, one of us. But now, just from the act of wearing a shirt and tie, he stuck out. He was an outsider. So sales departments began to match their dress codes to their customers.

And from this, business casual was born.

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Now there are very few industries — outside of banking, law and politics — where the entire industry is required to wear a shirt and tie. There are a small number of individual companies that still do, but not many. Which means that men who would have normally had a closet full of dress shirts and neckties, now have a closet full of golf pants and dress shirts. Which also means that when the occasional wedding, Christmas party, Easter service or graduation comes up, there is less formal wear to quickly choose from.

Many men purchase what they call their wedding and funeral suit. Often a dark blue suit — black suits are too formal for anything other than a funeral —  white shirt and a few ties. This is pulled out when needed and then placed back in the closet until the next time.

Which brings us to the bow tie.

The aspect of the bow tie is that on those formal occasions when you need to wear a tie, you don’t need to wear a bow tie. You choose to wear a bow tie. Sometimes a tie is required but a bow tie — with the exception of it being part of a tuxedo — is always a choice.

A bow tie is that classic, standout, in your face formal attire that will always atract attention. Which is why it is only for those men who have the sand to wear one. You will be noticed and you will be seen.

And don’t think that the clip-on or a wrap around bow tie counts. It doesn’t. If you’re going to wear a clip on bow tie then just wear a traditional tie instead. Because you’ve just taken all the class out of it. The only reason to wear a clip on bow tie is because you don’t know how to tie one.

But now you will.

HOW TO TIE A BOW TIE.

The first thing you’ll need is the tie itself. Bow ties are pretty rare at department store men’s departments anymore, but you can find them at specialized men’s formal shops and they are all over the internet.

The top of the line for high quality bowties is The Brooks Brothers website — although these are very pricey, with each tie being just over $50.00 each. A much more reasonable selection can be found on a website called the-perfect-necktie.com. They have a great selection and each bow tie is around $12.00.

So tying the bowtie is not a complicated thing and is one of those skills where a diagram makes it easier than a video. I’ve looked at many videos and diagrams for tying a bow tie and by far the best one that I’ve seen is from Jasper at folds.net who gave me permission to use it here. What’s great about this one is that not only is it very easy to follow, but it is designed to be taped to a mirror so you can practice.

Using this diagram you’ll be able to tie a bowtie in minutes. Then keep the diagram. Because like any other skill, you’ll only be as good as how often you use it.

http://www.folds.net/bowtie/