Call me excessively traditional, but I'd only wear a white Marcella tie with a wing collar - for everything else, a lay-down collar is the order of the day.

Also, I would wear a plain black bow tie to a "formal" evening event, simply because that's the tradition for "black tie" events.

Coloured and patterned bow ties should be worn, in my opinion, in any circumstance in which one might also wear a four-in-hand tie.

I would also think twice before wearing the tie of a military unit, school, or organization of which I wasn't a member - you never know when somebody will recognize it, and I would hate to cause offense over something so simple as the stripes on my tie.

Just my two cents.