Bowtie
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Bowtie-red.jpg
Red bowtie
The bowtie is a 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. Ready-tied bow-ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip. The traditional alternative, consisting of a single strip of cloth, may be known as a "self-tie" bow-tie to distinguish it. Bowties are most commonly worn by men.
It originated among Croatian mercenaries during the European 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) 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.
Towards the end of the 19th century the free ends of the bowtie grew longer, and the necktie was born, and the bowtie slowly went out of fashion in all but the architecture classes where it has remained a defining item of the architects uniform.
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Although the necktie proves most prominent in today's society, being seen at business meetings, formal functions and sometimes even at home, the bowtie is making a comeback with fun-formal events such as dinner and cocktail parties, and nights out on the town. It is also still much more common to wear a bowtie with a tuxedo than it is to wear a necktie with one—previously the bowtie was the only proper neckware for a tuxedo.
The UK dress code of "black tie" (essentially the same as an American tuxedo) requires a bow tie, though, 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.
Bow ties are mostly 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.
Men Known for their Bowties
- Fred Allen
- Tucker Carlson
- Winston Churchill
- Louis Farrakhan
- Stan Laurel
- Matthew Lesko
- Irving Levine
- Groucho Marx
- Paul Simon
- John Paul Stevens
- Donald Tsang
- Steve Jobs (not so much anymore, but certainly in the 70's and 80's)
References
- Page with examples of the cravat slowly becoming the bow tie (http://www.vintageshirt.co.uk/Collars/items.htm)
External links
- How to tie a bow tie (http://www.ehow.com/how_2649_tie-bow-tie.html)
- How to tie a bow tie (http://www.how-to-tie-a-tie.org/bowtie.html)