Ahh, bow ties: dapper, distinctive, and practical.

Practical, you ask? What can be practical about a bow tie?

Well, just about everything, as millions of bow tie wearers can tell you.

 First of all, you can't spill anything on it.  When you consider that for some men,  ties seem to exist mostly to catch food that would have landed on their shirt, a tie that won't catch spills is a wonderful thing.

Slightly less obvious, but just as nice to know, is that, once you have adjusted the size on a bow tie (a matter of mere moments, in most cases, sliding a buckle) you can tie it and KNOW that it will look right every  time. Not a little short for these trousers, not a little long, EXACTLY right.

 It is also very hard to wrinkle a bow tie, either on or off the wearer, and ironing it won't hurt it. Don't try THAT with the vertical variety.

A bow tie takes up almost no room in your luggage. You could carry one in your wallet if you wanted to.  A half dozen woulld fit in the space  required for a can of shaving cream or a slender volume of modern English prose.

Bow ties are versatile. Depending on your shirt and jacket, the same tie can be  worn for a dressy day in the country (where I live, a non-dressy day in the country doesn't usually involve ties and may not involve shoes) a business meeting, and a formal wedding. And wearing it will make you look just that little bit better.

Some people think that bow ties look silly. Well, do remember that the most dressed up you are likely to get these days and nights is a tuxedo. And even the naysayers ( mostly people who didn't take that crucial half hour to learn to tie a bow when they were younger) even THEY will admit that a bow tie is the proper one to wear with a tuxedo.

You won't find any confusing diagrams here on how to tie a bow tie. If you don't know how, try these 5 easy steps.:
1) Get a bow tie
2) Adjust it so that it fits around your knee as it would around your neck- so that just the band is used to go around, and there is maybe an inch of that left over.
3) TIE IT LIKE YOU TIE YOUR SHOES. yes, the same bow. Practice doing it with your eyes closed.
4) Now go to the mirror and make sure you have adjusted it for your neck. Close your eyes and tie the tie.
5) Behold.

One added feature of wearing bow ties is that you will automatically join the Brotherhood of the Bow.  Sure, there are bow tie wearers  you don't want to be associated with, but Friend, there are people who wear pants you don't want to be associated with. As inspector Harry Callahan once put it, "You meet a better class of people in the dark." He didn't promise you would want them all to date your sister, but you have gone a ways in the right direction.  And that ways is horizontal.

I hope you have enjoyed this little guide and that you will take a moment to bestow on it the rating of "helpful". Please see my other guides and reviews on a wide range of topics.

WT