Fashionably Weird

[Monkey@Arms]

This is a lengthy article about bow ties, from a small Massachusetts newspaper (Worcester Telegram - Worcester, MA) which has an interesting comment about kilts towards the end.

Fashionably weird

Bow tie wearers proudly carry on, despite the look’s fading appeal

By George Barnes TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gbarnes@telegram.com

Are they saying C. Everett Koop, Orville Redenbacher, James Bond and Boo Boo Bear are weird just because they wear bow ties?

OK, so bow tie wearers Pee-wee Herman, maybe, Jerry Lewis, likely, and Dagwood Bumstead, obviously, are a little on the strange side, but what about Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey? Those guys were bow tie wearers and were pretty cool.

But a study by HCD Research, a media research company, has some fairly difficult-to-swallow survey results, at least for bow tie wearers. It found people perceive bow tie wearers as a little weird, more likely to be employed as a store clerk, a Republican and older than 36. They’re also less wanted as a friend or co-worker than people who wear neckties or don’t wear ties at all.

The good news for bow tie guys is people think they are smarter than the necktie/no tie people, and fewer women than men surveyed think they’re weird.

Will the research stop bow tie aficionados? Television commentator Tucker Carlson no longer wears his signature bow ties and the MIT beaver mascot is now going tieless, but Joe Plaud remains a big fan. So do Peter Sargent and Andrew Myers.

Local bow tie wearers seem to disprove HCD’s research, at least when it comes to employment, level of weirdness and politics.


* * * SNIP * * *

Peter Sargent also extols the cleanliness virtue of bow ties. An engaging and dapper bow tie wearing lawyer from Gardner, he is far from dull or weird. He said he began wearing bow ties when he decided his life’s work as a lawyer would require him to be smartly dressed.

“Bow ties, for starters, are very classy looking,” he said. “Plus you can’t get your bow tie in your soup the way you can with what is called the four-in-hand tie.”

* * * SNIP * * *

Mr. Sargent is not at all afraid of embracing styles that are not supported by a majority in the popular culture. He wears dress hats, a style more common in the 1950s and early ’60s.

“I’m thinking of getting a kilt after the first of the year,” he said. “It’s long been my perception that kilts are the next big thing after tattoos and body piercings.”

How a jury might view Mr. Sargent wearing a kilt in court is still to be seen, but bow ties pass muster as several judges locally wear them. Mr. Sargent believes that if you walk out of your house uncomfortable with what you are wearing, it will show. With confidence, you can easily sport bow ties, kilts or a smart-looking Fairfax Hamburg fedora.

* * * SNIP * * *

Bow ties aren’t for everyone, but that’s fine with bow tie wearers. They aren’t looking to follow the crowd.

Full story with a picture of the dapper Mr. Sargent here

Best regards,

Jake

[Yaish]

It's a good look.

I can't stand ties period, but a bowtie is a bit less annoying than a regular tie. On the other hand, they look best when paired with a vest or jacket, and I don't plan on wearing either of those more than I have to.

[bikeolounger]

My name is Tom, and I sometimes wear a bow t OOPS wrong meeting!

I remember my grandfather wearing bow ties when I was a kid. He was a professor of Chemistry at William & Mary for almost his entire adult life, and a common tie would present its own dangers in a Chemistry lab. When he wore a conventional necktie, it was often a tartan (Armstrong).

I've worn regular ties for job interviews, but the last dinner that saw me wearing a tie saw me wearing one of my grandfather's old bow ties. I plan to obtain a tie in the Armstrong tartan soon, as that annual dinner is approaching. It's not a formal affair, so a kilt like a dark gray UK Mocker will serve nicely, with a solid pale blue or white shirt and the aforementioned tie, without jacket, will be just the sort of fashion "don't" folks expect from me.

[beloitpiper]

My dad wears bow ties. He's a doctor, and they don't get in the way. I think he looks great, and very distinguished.

Mr. Sargent believes that if you walk out of your house uncomfortable with what you are wearing, it will show. With confidence, you can easily sport bow ties, kilts or a smart-looking Fairfax Hamburg fedora.

That is so true. Be confident. It makes the outfit.

[ccga3359]

I personally don't like bow-ties and won't wear them, the same goes for hats. then again I probably can't pull the look off.

Mr Sargent, however can pull it off and does indeed look quite the gentleman (aside from his tie being slightly askew).

[McMurdo]

The trick to wearing a bow tie if you ask me, and I have also been known to wear one, is to wear a real bow tie. The kind that you have to tie yourself, not a clip on tie, please not a clip on tie.

[Rex_Tremende]

Mr Sargent, however can pull it off and does indeed look quite the gentleman (aside from his tie being slightly askew).

The trick to wearing a bow tie if you ask me, and I have also been known to wear one, is to wear a real bow tie. The kind that you have to tie yourself, not a clip on tie, please not a clip on tie.

Which is why it's OK for a real bow tie to be slightly out of kilter.

So, kilts are fashionable like body mods now? Imagine a kilt that you put on and can't take off without surgery...

[beloitpiper]

I personally don't like bow-ties and won't wear them, the same goes for hats. then again I probably can't pull the look off.

So what's that thing on your head in your avatar? Roadkill?

[macwilkin]

I personally don't like bow-ties and won't wear them, the same goes for hats. then again I probably can't pull the look off.

Mr Sargent, however can pull it off and does indeed look quite the gentleman (aside from his tie being slightly askew).

Grant,

Ah, but you want your tie "askew", so it doesn't look like a "pre-tied" one.

T.

[ManuFortiDB]

Very interesting! I have become a dedicated bowtie wearer - yes, the type you tie yourself, and no, there should never be too much symmetry! I wonder if there is a correlation between the kilted and the bowtied!

db