Bow Tie

Short instead of long, tied at the collar and finished there, a bow tie hangs nothing down the shirt front. Shape is the first decision. A butterfly flares to 2.25 to 2.5 inches at each end and is the safe pick. A batwing runs straight at 1.5 to 1.75 inches and reads modern. Diamond point finishes in a shaped tip and ties slightly uneven, while a large butterfly near 3 inches is the theatrical one.

How it fastens matters more than how it looks. Self tie versions arrive as a flat strip with an adjustable slide covering roughly a 14 to 18 inch neck. Tying one leaves the two wings a little uneven. This is exactly the evidence that it was tied. Pre tied versions hook onto a band and sit perfectly even, and at conversational distance that evenness gives them away. Fixed size bows skip the slide and match one collar number, which looks cleaner at the back of the neck under a wing collar, the stiff upright collar with folded points, and leaves you nothing to adjust if your collar size shifts.

Black tie and white tie accept nothing else, which no other piece in this family can claim. Against a necktie the practical difference is exposure, since a bow leaves the shirt front on show, so studs, a waistcoat and the placket, the doubled strip your buttons run down, all become visible and all have to be right. Knitted and wool ties share the relaxed look a cotton or wool bow can reach, though they cover the front that a bow deliberately opens up.

Compulsory occasions come first: black tie, white tie, weddings and formal balls. Black silk in a matte or ribbed weave answers the first, and white cotton piqué, a stiff waffle textured cloth matching the shirt front, answers the second. Everyday wearers tend to be people who lean over their work, since a bow cannot dip into a plate, a patient or a machine. Short torsos read well in one, because no blade cuts the line in half. Skip it if you dislike being looked at, as a bow tie is noticed in every room it enters.

Buy the self tie version and practice at home rather than in a mirror on the day, since the first six attempts are poor and the seventh is fine. Pull both ends of the slide apart hard before you commit, because a slide that creeps lets the bow loosen through an evening. Untie it each night instead of slackening it and lifting it over your head, which sets a permanent bend in the band. Steam the wings back into shape and keep an iron off them, as pressing flattens the fold a bow depends on.