Editing Bow tie

{{Short description|Variety of necktie}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2018}}
[[File:Bow-tie-colour-isolated.jpg|thumb|250px|A striped bow tie]]

The '''bow tie''' or '''dicky bow'''<ref name="Collins1">{{cite web |title=DICKY BOW definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dickey-bow |website=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |access-date=12 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240412101117/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dicky-bow |archive-date=12 April 2024 |location=[[Glasgow]] |language=en}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|b|oʊ}} is a type of [[necktie]]. A modern bow tie is tied using a common [[shoelace knot]], which is also called the '''bow knot''' for that reason. It consists of a [[ribbon]] of fabric tied around the [[collar (clothing)|collar]] of a shirt in a [[symmetrical]] manner so that the two opposite ends form loops.

There are generally three types of bow ties: the pre-tied, the clip-on, and the self-tie. Pre-tied bow ties are ties in which the distinctive bow is sewn onto a band that goes around the neck and clips to secure. Some "clip-ons" dispense with the band altogether, instead clipping straight to the collar. The traditional bow tie, consisting of a strip of cloth that the wearer has to tie by hand, is also known as a "self-tie", "tie-it-yourself", or "freestyle" bow tie.

Bow ties may be made of any fabric material, but most are made from [[silk]], [[polyester]], [[cotton]], or a mixture of fabrics. Some fabrics (e.g., [[wool]] or velvet) are much less common for bow ties than for ordinary [[four-in-hand]] neckties.

==Origin and history==
The bow tie originated among [[Croatia]]n [[mercenaries]] during the [[Thirty Years' War]] of the 17th century: the Croat mercenaries used a [[scarf]] around the neck to hold together the opening of their shirts. This was soon adopted (under the name ''[[Cravat (early)|cravat]]'', derived from the [[French language|French]] for "[[Croat]]") by the upper classes in France, then a leader in [[fashion]], and flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is uncertain whether the cravat then evolved into the bow tie and [[four-in-hand]] [[necktie]], or whether the cravat gave rise to the bow tie, which in turn led to the four-in-foot necktie.

The most traditional bow ties are usually of a fixed length and are made for a specific size neck. Sizes can vary between approximately {{convert|14|in|cm}} and {{convert|19|in|cm}} as with a comparable shirt collar. Fixed-length bow ties are preferred when worn with the most formal wing-collar shirts, so as not to expose the buckle or clasp of an adjustable bow tie. Adjustable bow ties are the standard when the tie is to be worn with a less formal, lie-down collar shirt that obscures the neckband of the tie. "One-size-fits-all" adjustable bow ties are a later invention that helps to moderate production costs.
[[File:Ziehrer.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Karl Michael Ziehrer]] wearing a 19th-century style bow tie]]

The [[lavallière]] is a type of cravat similar to the bow tie that was popularly worn in the 19th century in France. It is of a similar fashion to the bow tie but has a larger knot and drooping ends.

==Wearers==
{{Main|List of bow tie wearers}}

{{Quote
|text=To its devotees, the bow tie suggests [[iconoclasm]] of an Old World sort, a fusty adherence to a [[contrarian]] point of view. The bow tie hints at [[intellectualism]], real or feigned, and sometimes suggests technical acumen, perhaps because it is so hard to tie. Bow ties are worn by magicians, country doctors, lawyers and professors and by people hoping to look like the above. But perhaps most of all, wearing a bow tie is a way of broadcasting an aggressive lack of concern for what other people think.|author=Warren St John in ''[[The New York Times]]'', 2005<ref name="St John">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/fashion/sundaystyles/26BOWTIE.html |title=A Red Flag That Comes in Many Colors |last=St John |first=Warren |date=June 26, 2005 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 22, 2008}}</ref>}}

[[File:HowToTieBowtie VersionA.png|thumb|left|Instructions on a common way to tie a bow tie]]

Popular perception tends to associate bow tie wearers with particular [[profession]]s, such as architects,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hammel |first=Bette Jones |title=From Bauhaus to Bowties |year=1989 |publisher=Hammel, Green, & Abrahamson |location=Minneapolis, MN |isbn=978-0-9622610-0-8 |page=134}}</ref> debt collectors, attorneys,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/19/us/the-law-in-celebration-of-dignified-frivolity.html |title=The Law; In Celebration of 'Dignified Frivolity' |last=Cook |first=Joan |date=February 19, 1988 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 22, 2008}}</ref> university professors, teachers, waiters, and politicians. [[Pediatricians]] frequently wear bow ties, for infants cannot grab them the way they could grab a [[four-in-hand]] necktie. Bow ties do not readily droop into places where they would get soiled or where they could, whether accidentally or deliberately, strangle the wearer. Clowns sometimes use an oversized bow tie for comic effect. Classical musicians traditionally perform in [[white tie]] or [[black tie]] ensembles, of which both designs are bow ties. Bow ties are also associated with [[weddings]], mainly because of their almost universal inclusion in traditional formal evening-wear.

Bow ties, or slight variations thereof, have also made their way into women's wear, especially business attire. The 1980s saw professional women, especially in law, banking, and the corporate world, donning very conservative tailored suits, with a rise of almost 6 million units in sales.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wd7vey/the-history-of-the-pantsuit-456 |title=The Revolutionary History of the Pantsuit |first=Erica |last=Euse |date=March 21, 2016 |website=Vice.com |access-date=March 11, 2019}}</ref> These were often worn with buttoned-up blouses, some with pleats up the front like tuxedo shirts, and accessorized with bow ties that were slightly fuller than the standard bow ties worn by their male counterparts, but typically consisting of the same fabrics, colors, and patterns as men's ties.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

[[Russell Smith (novelist)|Russell Smith]], style columnist for Toronto's ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', records mixed opinions of bow tie wearers. He observed that bow ties were experiencing a potential comeback among men,<ref>{{cite book |title=Men's Style |first=Russell |last=Smith |page=135 |publisher=Macmillan |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-312-36165-5}}</ref><ref name=Smith>{{cite news |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |title=Rock the bow tie without looking nerdy |first=Russell |last=Smith |date=November 15, 2008 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/rock-the-bow-tie-without-looking-nerdy/article67729/ |quote=Bow ties are tricky. They carry strong connotations: conservative, newspaperman, high-school principal. They are instant signs of nerddom in Hollywood movies. They look fastidious but not exactly sexy.}}</ref> though "the class conscious man recoils at the idea" of pre-tied bow ties and "[l]eft-wingers ... recoil at what they perceive to be a symbol of political conservatism." He argues that anachronism is the point, and that bow tie wearers are making a public statement of their disdain for changing fashion. Such people may not be economic conservatives, he argues, but they ''are'' '''social''' conservatives. In Smith's view, the bow tie is "the embodiment of propriety", an indicator of fastidiousness, and "an instant sign of nerddom in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] movies", but "not the mark of a ladies' man" and "not exactly sexy".<ref name=Smith/> He attributes the building of this image to the association of the bow tie with newspaper editors (because of their fastidiousness with words), high-school principals, and bachelor English teachers. Most men, he observes, only wear bow ties with formal dress.

==Types==
===Self-tie===
There are usually two shapes of self-the bow ties available: the "bat wing", which is parallel-sided like a [[cricket bat]], and the "thistle", also known as the "butterfly". An example of each can also be seen below. Which is worn is a matter of personal preference. Some other shapes do exist; for instance, the Diamond Point, with pointed tips at both ends. This is a double-ended type, with both ends shaped, though occasionally, ties are tied in the single-ended type, in which only one end flares out to give the batwing or thistle shape, and the other remains thin. To tie one of these requires careful consideration, to ensure the broader end finishes in front of the thinner one.

<gallery caption="Self-Tie Bows" widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:2 Silk Bow Ties.JPG|Silk bow ties. Fixed length with "thistle" ends (left) and adjustable with "bat wing" ends (right).
File:Yellow self tie cotton bow tie, designed and made in the UK.jpg|Bright Yellow patterned self-tie bow tie, made of [[cotton]], designed and made in the UK
File:Bowtie_Butterfly.jpg|Bow tie, type Butterfly, silk
File:Bowtie_Batwing.jpg|Bow tie, type Batwing, wool
File:Bowtie_Diamond.jpg|Bow tie, type Diamond Point, silk
</gallery>

===Pre-tie===
Shown below on the right is one style of pre-tie/ready-tie bow tie. Wearing a ready-tied bow tie at formal occasions requiring a black or white tie dress code is usually considered a [[faux pas]], though at occasions such as Schools Leavers' [[Prom]]s or ones at which the participants are unlikely to have had much experience wearing bow ties, it may be commonplace.

As shown in the pictures below, another type of ready-tie bow tie is the [[wooden bow tie]], a fairly new product made mostly in the U.S and Canada. Other materials are also in use. An example would be bow ties that are made of natural bird feathers; this too is a fairly new product made mostly in the U.S. and Europe (in Poland).

<gallery caption="Pre-Tie Bows" widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:BOWTIE red velvet pretied clipon.JPG|A pre-tied bow tie
File:Colourful Bow tie.jpg|Informal bow tie
File:Wooden bow tie 1.jpg|Wooden bow tie, made in Canada and U.S
File:IMG Z9805.jpg|Bow tie made of feathers, made in Poland
</gallery>

===Clip-on===
{{Main|Clip-on tie}}
A clip-on does not go around the neck but clips to the collar points.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Johan Krouthén - Självporträtt 1904.jpg|[[Johan Krouthén]] wearing a bow tie.
File:Jim-rogers-madrid-160610.jpg|[[Jim Rogers]], wearing a bow tie in 2010.
File:Elio Di Rupo 2012.jpg|[[Elio Di Rupo]], former [[Prime Minister of Belgium]], is a regular wearer of bow ties.
File:Bill Nye with trademark blue lab coat and bowtie.jpg|[[Bill Nye]], on [[Bill Nye The Science Guy|his show]], wore a powder blue lab coat and bow tie.
File:Pee-Wee_Herman_(1988).jpg|[[Paul Reubens]] as [[Pee-wee Herman]] wore a trademark red bow tie.
File:Donald Tsang WEF.jpg|[[Donald Tsang]], former [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]], is well known for wearing bow-ties.
File:MichaelMaxey2.jpg|[[Michael Maxey]], president of [[Roanoke College]] is well known for wearing bow-ties.
File:Tucker Carlson (5222916).jpg|[[Tucker Carlson]] wearing a bow tie in early 2004.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bow ties}}
* [http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Bow-Tie wikiHow on How to tie a bow tie]

{{Clothing}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bow Tie}}
[[Category:17th-century fashion]]
[[Category:18th-century fashion]]
[[Category:19th-century fashion]]
[[Category:20th-century fashion]]
[[Category:Neckties]]